Hi,
I was windsurfing at Grimwith Reservoir in the Yorkshire Dales this afternoon and saw a large raptor flying along the north shore carrying what looked very like a dead fish in it's talons. I was a keen ornithologist whilst a young lad (many years ago) and though I have forgotten so much, a think it must have been an Osprey. It was certainly too big to be a Harrier and the pale undersides and dark wingtips were visible.
I'm not sure when they migrate, but I am aware that they often fly up Nidderdale on their travels. Would one expect to see them in this area at this time of year?
Many thanks....RobH
They are migratring now RobH
Both Deshar and Nethy were east of Pately Bridge and west of Brimham Rocks during their migration last year. Deshar almost flew over Glasshouses.
If you have Google Earth you can see where they were. If you don't have the link for seeing their migration routes just go here and it tells you how to sort it
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/tracking/lochgartenospreys/googleearth.asp
Use whatever talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sing the best.- Henry Van ***
I saw an osprey a couple weeks ago near Malham Tarn, not too far from your sighting. Nearly crashed the car! Wouldn't expect one to be hanging round for long at this time of year so may have been a different bird also en route to Africa. However, ospreys now breed in the Lakes so surely it's only a matter of time...
If you're not certain that it was an osprey, there are buzzards in the area and these can be variable in colour - occasionally you get one that's quite different from the 'standard model' which can be confusing. There was one near where I used to live that was very pale and people sometimes thought it was a snowy owl!
Thanks for your replies Teresa and LuckyBustard.
The Google Earth thing is interesting - what's the story behind the one ending up mid-Atlantic?
It seems likely that my sighting was an Osprey then. Wow! I was sure it was carrying a fish, but didn't know whether to believe my eyes. The profile was all wrong for a buzzard; the wings were too angular and the neck too long.
I'll keep my eyes open for them in future. Can you confirm when the migration periods usually start and finish?
Thanks again...RobH
According to my RSPB Handbook of British Birds (which I got free when I joined the RSPB and has been my Bird Bible ever since - thanks RSPB!):
"They leave their nesting grounds in mid-August and head south on a broad front. They will stop at good feeding areas and reach their African winter quarters in late September. Adults return the following March, young may remain in Africa or follow more slowly."
So I'll probably bump into you in the Dales early March next year, looking out for them passing by!
L
RobH here is the blog from Thursday 3nd October last year with the details of the loss of Deshar:
"As promised here are the facts about Deshar's momentous flight. He started to show signs of movement at 9am on 26th September, he started at a course of 220 degrees at a speed of 67kph at 238m above sea level. If he had been at 210 degrees it is likely he would have hit France, I suspect the course was very much due to the weather conditions which showed quite a strong north-easterly wind on that day. He flew for 104 hours non-stop before unfortunately plunging into the North Atlantic Ocean at 17.00 on 30th September, on his 104 hour flight he covered 4,185kms (2600 miles). The satellite data for between 16.00 and 17.00 on the 30th shows that he had changed his course to 62 degrees at a speed of 18kph".
Deshar was the second of three chicks of EJ and orange VS hatched last year at Loch Garten. If you want to know more of the story check out the blogs for September/October 2008.
Deshar was a well loved bird and his demise was a great loss. Hope you find this of interest.
Julie
RobH
Mallachie finally left the nest at Loch Garten and was on the Northumberland coast on Saturday night at 9pm. You could still be lucky and spot her on her way south or it might be too late if she didn't stop off anywhere. Good luck anyway.
I am going down to Oxford later today so if she follows the same route as Nethy did last year I might just be lucky and get a sighting down that way. She will probably go a completely different way though based on my luck last year.