After Tiger started the thread for tracking Rothes and Mallachie I thought that we could do with a thread for the tracking of ospreys fitted with transmitters by Roy Dennis. As the "summer" marches on it won't be long before the only way we can get our osprey fix is to follow their migrations.
This year we have the opportunity of following all three tagged birds from last year: Nimrod, Beatrice and Morven. It will be fascinating to find out if they will winter in exactly the same place as last year, and also whether they take the same route.
Added to that Roy has tagged two more adult males this year, Red/white 8T (an Abernethy bird) and Morven's other half (Logie's ex fella). I'm not certain whether Roy has any further transmitters or will attempt to catch any more adult males but, including Rothes and Mallachie, we will be able to follow at least 7 ospreys on their incredible journeys this autumn.
Roy Dennis has updated Rothiemurchus' data, and he roosted on the nights of 11 and 12 Sept at a point 6 klm SE of Arouca. On GE, if you find Arouca, then look SE for a place called Sao Pedro du Sul, his roost is about 1/4 of the way down from Arouca towards Sao Pedro du Sul. It is extremely rugged terrain there, and a river runs down and around the mountain spur to the south east. This is where he's been spending his time, hopefully fishing.
I've put a marker at his roosting spot, and when you look at the respective positions of Rothiemurchus and Mallachie, My fanciful notion of them meeting is starting to look more possible! (To me, anyway!)
Smiles, Jan.
Thanks so much for the updates everyone. Off to check Roy's website
Glad they are both safe. What amazing journey's.
I'm sure Rothie has learned so much already on this trip
Replying to FlyingC (12Sep09), http://www.faune-aquitaine.org is not only (and actually not mainly) a site for photographers. Its main aim is to enable local birders to share their last sightings and participate in various types of synthesis (atlas of breeding birds etc) and they can joint photographs or sounds if they want to. Some do, and some of these are very talentuous! This project has been put forward by the local LPO but many more participants are now registered and active.
We are happy to share your love for ospreys, since we see them zooming through our region for years and decades! We hope one day a pair could settle here to breed but so far this did not happen...
Morven has definitely started her migration. She has been flying strongly down through England (up to 77km/h) and Roy thinks she will carry straight on over the channel. Unfortunately, as we know, her transmitter is working intermittently so lets hope that wherever she goes it's sunny!
Another update - Morven flew straight to Spain!! Looks like she was battling the easterly winds as she crossed the Bay of Biscay and, like Red 8T and Rothie she just managed to make landfall. Phew!
wow, thanks Sandy. I missed her completely. She snuck under the radar!!
Glad she made it
Gary, after I noticed the first update and my first post I decided to check her migration last year. During her journey through France she passed right over Rothes place on the Gironde. I was just about to put that on the blog when I checked Roy's site again and it had already updated and this year she didn't even go near France!
what a flyer:) Thanks again Sandy
Roy was pretty pessimistic about the chances of younger birds escaping the perils of the Bay of Biscay. As (I think) you said, so glad our two are over there already.
Looks like Beatrice and Rothes had the right idea when they set off so early thus avoiding those nasty winds. So sorry for any birds that won't make it. Can't bear thinking about it.
APUMEL: Welcome to our group and thanks for the explanation. It just seemed to me that the members of Faune Aquitaine were taking some truly exceptional photos but I realise that the love of birds is a primary reason for the group. All of you must have some amazing archive pictures of ospreys (as well as other birds) taken over the years and I expect you have accumulated much fascinating and constructive information. Brilliant!
You never know, one of these days you might get a pair deciding to stay put. Look at Rothes - she has been in your area for a month or more (can't remember her exact date of departure...) and clearly thinks she has found her ideal spot!
On the faune Aquitaine site yesterday there were 16 sightings in total of ospreys. I wonder if any of them were Rothes?