Highland Foundation for Wildlife

Logie's Autumn Migration 2008
DATE	NOTES
Resume	Logie arrived back late in the spring, not until 23rd April, when she had to fight off a female who had taken her place. (Later we caught this osprey - a four year old and she features in this website as Morven). Logie laid three eggs and reared two young. The oldest had flown by 7th August and the younger by 9th August. They are thriving and in last week are regularly see at the nest with Logie perched on the highest branch. Both young are satellite tagged and will follow later. Logie has visited Findhorn Bay to fish in the last couple of days and is ready to depart on her huge migration.
7th Sept	No signals at all - it looks as though we will have to wait until next April to see if she returns to her nest and the problem was a technical one with the transmitter - let's hope so.
4th Sept	Still no signals and looks as though transmitter has stopped working. Several people emailed in and some with possible sightings but none confirmed Logie's position.
30th - 31st August	Just back from Fair Isle, so a chance to catch up this morning on emails about Logie. There have been no signals from the transmitter, so I have no news on that front. Larry Griffin, from Caerlaverock WWT reserve, saw an osprey on one of Logie's perches from last autumn, but could not see a transmitter so did not think it was her, but they are keeping a look out for her on the Solway. An osprey was seen in Gloucestershire, which was satellite tagged, which was hopeful, but it could be another female from Scotland which was satellite tagged about 6 years ago. Her colour ring is yellow, and Logie's is white. Will check out other messages later today, and update. It was Nethy, one of the Loch Garten chicks tracked by the RSPB. An osprey was seen yesterday over Ardingly reservoir in Sussex but no transmitter was seen, so that would be clutching at straws for it to be Logie. Sadly, no signals nor confirmed so no news.
24th August (later)	In the evening I hiked to the wooded hill, where Logie's last signals came from. With my GPS, I located the position of her roost at 4.30pm (a class 3 signal) - it was a strainer post in a fence line running along the top of the wood, some 200 yards from the edge of the wood. I searched that area, and a new deer fence line but there were no signs of feathers or other evidence of problems. On top of the hill was a mobile phone mast, so I walked and checked that and then walked down hill checking the electricity transmission line, in case she had been electrocuted, but there was nothing to show, that she had not left this area on the 20th. No signals came in during the day so I am afraid it is a mystery.
24th August	Still no news and it's getting worrying. Except for a very brief signal at 12.25pm on 22nd August, no signals have come through. That signal only showed that there was insufficient volts to carry out a GPS reading at 6pm on 21st August, so we do not know where she was. The options are transmitter failure, because she has been in a location with no sun (an eagle in that general area has also failed to send out a signal in the last few days) or that the transmitter has suffered a fault, or very sadly that she has died and is in a place where the transmitter's solar panel is hidden from the sun. Taking the optimistic view, I've emailed contacts in the Solway Firth to keep an eye open in her last year's haunts - maybe she is already there and her transmitter is not working. Her colour ring is a white ring with black AN on the left leg and the transmitter aerial would be visible on her back. Please email if you see her. Keeping fingers crossed that she is now in a sunny location so her transmitter is charging and we will get news of her location.
22nd August	No news this morning - but it's still grey and wet over Scotland - we need some sun to charge the battery of her transmitter and reassure us she's OK. 6pm: one brief signal showing that there was no charge in transmitters to take GPS readings - may have to wait until later tomorrow for battery to charge and signals start again - here's hoping.
21st August	No news yet - but it's been raining all night with thick clouds so it's likely the transmitter battery is not charged so no signals - probably sheltering somewhere near Glenlivet from heavy rain. Back home at Logie's nest her two young were being buzzed yesterday by two young ospreys from a nearby nest - one even sitting on Logie's nest in the hope of getting a fish from the male.
19th August	Today was a miserable wet morning, mist and NE wind in morning - slightly clearer in the noon. Logie was still at her nest at 11am but transmissions coming in late evening showed Logie was close to Tomintoul from 4pm to 5.30pm perched at the edge of a conifer plantation at Inchcape, two miles ENE of Tomintoul, 30 miles from home. She appears to be following last year's autumn route round the east side of the Cairngorms, but she chose a poor day to start her migration - low clouds and poor visibility. She's 15 days later than last year. It's amazing to think she has been in Scotland for just under 4 months and now she's off on a 3000 mile plus flight to West Africa. Which way will she go? Will she stop-over in the Solway? Will she go to the same tree in Guinnea Bissau? Let's hope she has a successful migration.