Osprey sightings 2013

A few more ospreys seen at Gibraltar :

24 Mar:  Cloudy skies with light showers in the morning breaking up to reveal some sunny spells throughout the afternoon.  Winds moderate to fresh west to north-westerlies.  Raptor passage picked up after midday with a variety of species crossing for a total of 482 Black Kites, 48 Griffon Vultures, 24 Short-toed Eagles, 5 Marsh Harriers, 2 Hen Harriers, 2 Montagu's Harriers, 28 Booted Eagles, 46 Sparrowhawks, 2 Ospreys, 3 Kestrels and single Egyptian Vulture, Common Buzzard, female Merlin, Eleonora's Falcon, and Lesser Kestrel.  Also counted were 146 White Storks, 16 Black Storks, a flock of 6 Cormorants, and single Tree Pipit, Bee-eater and Short-toed Lark.  Two Woodchat Shrikes and a Hoopoe were observed on Windmill Hill, and a Nightingale was sheltering in a fig tree by the Air Terminal.

23 Mar:  Very cloudy and overcast throughout the day with moderate to fresh westerly winds.  Rain showers throughout most of the afternoon.  Most migratory movement was curtailed due to the bad weather, but a few birds managed to cross and included 2 Black Kites, 3 Griffon Vultures, 2 Montagu's Harriers, 4 Sparrowhawks, 1 Osprey, 8 Swallows, 8 Red-rumped Swallows and 5 Greenfinches.

 22 Mar:  Light variable in the morning with some cloud and sunny spells, becoming light westerly later.  The first flock of Bee-eaters of the season, 13 birds, flew north over the Observatory.  Also seen were small numbers of raptors totalling 4 Black Kites, 14 Marsh Harriers, 2 Hen Harriers, 19 Sparrowhawks, and single Montagu's Harrier, Osprey and Peregrine.  A Black Stork, several Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Linnets also flew north.  The first Nightingale of the season was trapped and ringed.

My goodness, we owe a debt to the bird-counters, probably wind-swept, wet, and jotting with numb fingers :o

Thank you, ALAN :-)

Apparently one which is at Blagdon Lake has a white ring on right leg, info on DOP FB page!

A report from yesterday, from our local Chew Valley Lake/Blagdon Lake recorder.

There were three Osprey at Blagdon this afternoon, there was one trying to

lift a large fish off the water, which it didn't manage after several

attempts, with another standing by, and a third appeared. This bird seemed

to carry on across the lake, and may be the one that turned up at Chew

later. Later an Osprey caught a fish, and fed on a hedge, before flying to a

fence post, and eating most of the rest. Very exciting. Also a Wheatear +

two Swallows + and some Sand Martins

It seems it is white YA. Photo on www.blagdonlakebirds.com this site

Thanks Mike. I was just going to chase that up this morning. I saw the pic on the Avon birds website but could not read the ring number.

French migration watchpoints :

Col de L'Escrinet 25.03.2013 14 ospreys over.

Pointe de Grave 25.03.2013 1 osprey over.

French migration watchpoints :

Col de L'Escrinet 26.03.2013 11 ospreys over.

Pointe de Grave 26.03.2013 1 osprey over.

They're a coming!!! :) :) :)