I offered yesterday to start a new Topic once Bynack had fledged, but as we now have the updated Satellite Tracking page, and biography pages for Tore and Bynack, and there are some tracking results for Tore on Google Earth, I’ve gone ahead with it.
A brief introduction to the ospreys we’re tracking – first, the class of 2011.
Tore – link to her Biography
Tore is the elder of this year’s juveniles, her ring is blue/white 48. She fledged on Tuesday 12th July aged 54 days, and has started to do a little exploring.
Bynack – link to his Biography
Tore’s younger brother, ring blue/white 47. Bynack is aged 53 days today and has yet to fledge.
Edit: He has fledged, at 10.18 am today 16/7.
Rothes – link to her Biography
Rothes is the eldest of EJ and Odin’s offspring, hatched at Loch Garten in 2009. Her ring is white/black PJ. She migrated as a juvenile to Guinea-Bissau, and spent her formative months on the small island of Unhocomozinho, in the Bijagos Archipelago. Now a sub-adult, she has travelled north to Europe for the first time this summer and is currently in the Gironde estuary in SW France, where she also spent 6 weeks on her way south in 2009. So far, she has not returned to the UK.
Rothes' earlier travels were followed in this thread, now closed.
Tore is on the Lynher estuary:
"The Lynher and its tributaries are largely used for rod and line fishing, particularly for brown trout and Atlantic salmon. Its estuary is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and also a Special Protection Area. Many species of animals can be found here, including the kingfisher, otter, dipper, avocet, and black-tailed godwit; the triangular club-rush (scirpus) also grows on the banks."
[I haven't had time to read these pages so sorry if this is a repeat...]
Just a hunch here, but I think Tore has corrected herself, and the SW direction from Minsmere to Portsmouth is a correction of the SE direction she took from Anglesea to Minsmere. I'm going to go out on a limb and say she will follow Rothes' route down west coast of France in 2009.
It is also possible that the winds on the 20th blew her east of her desired route, and blew Bynack east a day later on 21st. I did a quick search but couldn't find historical wind data.
I believe Tore is being cautious and sensible. A stop in Devon would certainly improve her fishing and give her some rest while she intuits the best route. Not a bad idea.
Bynack has proven he can be Bold and we hope that his pluckiness will be ameliorated with wisdom, not rash and impulsive actions.
We really don't know whether they are cautious or paranoid / bold or rash. Only time will tell. I fervently hope they spend the time to work things out gradually to find their feet -- I mean antennae.
One more conversation with myself! Here's a really bizarre idea:
Has anyone noticed that on Aug 21 Tore and Bynack were essentially heading close, if not totally towards each other, to a point that could have converged on the Suffolk coast? How about if they were being drawn to each other?
I told you it was a wild idea.
I've enjoyed your conversations with yourself, SB ;-D One thing I'll particularly carry with me is "fervently hope" - I'm going to use the phrase in the place of "desperately hope", it's not so defeatist ;-)
IMAGICAT
Hi Singing Bird,
Think you were just posting while everyone was asleep. Tore's trip to Suffolk is still a mystery to me, the subsequent SW route may be a correction but there's something else odd about it. Previous tracking has shown that ospreys, like many other birds, tend to gravitate towards headlands when setting off on a sea crossing. In Southern England, the best known ones are the Isle of Wight, Portland Bill and Start Point - but Tore flew past them all on 22nd/23rd.
There seems to be a "decision point" fairly early on the 23rd. At one point, Tore's altitude suggests she is perched on a tree in the plantation SW of the Hardy Monument on the Dorset downs - a place I've been earlier this summer. She would have had a very clear view of Portland Bill - but decided against making the crossing. Weather related? We can only await her next move.
Her latest location on the Lynher river.
Sue C, certainly in the small amount of RSPB data there has been nothing like it, and it does look strange. I regret I haven't absorbed all of Roy Dennis' extensive data yet. And we don't know what all the thousands of non-tagged birds have done over centuries. You make very good points.
Scylla, I heartily agree! It IS nerve-wracking and not helped by LIFE getting in the way right now. Sometimes osprey-watching has been a nice offset, but now it is compounding all the worries, one of which is called Irene, barrelling up the coast towards us...
Great site Sue C! But I'm curious why you think she was perched at the point SW of Hardy's monument. If I'm reading correctly it shows an elevation of 183m or about 600 feet -- too high for a perch surely?
The Irish Sea crossing seems entirely normal with no anomolies that might have been a bad experience. Perhaps she is just exploring or doesn't want to cross further south yet.
SB
The way I understand it, the altitudes given on GE are the height of the transmitter above sea level. Though I believe speed is also included in the data LG receive for each point, it isn't available on GE, so you have to work out from the context whether the osprey is likely to have been on the ground, in a tree or flying. In this case, Tore's altitude is 183m, running the cursor around the Point gives altitudes of about 177m and we can see there are trees (about 6m tall?), while the hilltop she's probably flown over to get there is 200m+; so I'd guess she is perched.
The way altitude is displayed on GE is a somewhat different matter. Points, which are a relatively recent addition to the RSPB displays, are all displayed as "Clamped to ground". Routes are shown as "Relative to ground". To be accurate, I think both should be displayed as "Absolute" i.e. relative to sea level. However, this would have a disadvantage - whenever there was higher ground between two points, the osprey's Route would often appear to tunnel through hills & mountains! As things stand, the Routes give some idea of Altitude, though the scale is exaggerated in mountainous areas. When taking screenshots, you can use the pull down menu alongside Altitude to line up Points and Routes, though GE will revert to the default settings set up by the RSPB developers, when you reopen it. Hope I've explained this OK.
Blog update from Richard:
Tore remains in UK, near Sheviock, in Cornwall as at 1pm Thursday 25th August
Bynack remains near Escaut, French/Belgian border area as at 9am this morning, Friday 26th
Rothes remains in Bordeaux area.