16 April 2010

Talisman has been fishing in the trout lochs and often at his nest site. I was there at 8.42am this morning and he was on the eyrie alongwith a female, and they were nest arranging - BUT it was not Morven (his last year's mate) but a new unringed female. I saw this bird on the nest yesterday morning as well. And to confuse matters Morven has taked a trip to Caithness!

12 April 2010

He has been fishing in Findhorn bay and local trout lochs; and taking fish back to Morven at their nest.

09 April 2010

He left the roost after 9am and at 10am was flying N over Loch Builg after flying east and then north round the main mountains. An hour later he was flying at 64km/hr over Advie on the River Spey and by an hour later was home. I just missed him by minutes before going to the island of Mull. he was soon off fishing and then back at the nest in afternoon before roosting the night in Clubin Forest after fishing in Findhorn Bay. He arrive before Morven who arrived in the afternoon.

08 April 2010

He had moved north by 8am, when he was perched on the edge of Alemoor Loch, presumably fishing. An hour later he was over at Newark Castle and at 10am was flying north at 55 km/hr near Gorbridge, south of Edinburgh. He crossed the Firth of Forth at midday flying N past Inchkenneth at 50km/hr. At 1pm he was stopped by ponds near Charlottetown and an hour later fishing over Lindores Loch. He was Loch Clunie at 3pm and perched just inland of it an hour later - may be eating a fish. He headed north of Clunie Forest but had to turn back south of Loch Loch presumably by poor visibility in the mountains. He then roosted in a forest near Blacklunans. A journey of 187 kms.

07 April 2010

He had moved north by 8am and was beside the river at Newbridge. He then set off North over the Wirral and 11am was just east of Formby and an hour later just north of Warton. At 2pm he was flying NNW at 28km/hr 87 metres above Morecambe Bay, he then headed over the Lake District and was over Scafell at 4pm. An hour later he was North West of Carlisle and headed into the Scottish Borders parts of the Langholm. At 6pm he was perched beside a small loch in the hills SW of Hawick, where he roosted overnight. His day's migration was 289 kms.

06 April 2010

He was already under way by 0600GMT - he's keen to get home. At 0700GMT he was perched among wetlands south of Bouaye - probably eating a fish. Then he set off north through Brittany, crossing the coast at Cap Frehel at 1100GMT when he was flying NW at 88km/hr. At 1200GMT he was approaching Jersey flying N at 83km/hr at 842 metres and an hour later was north of Alderney at 1351 metres above the sea flying N at 76 km/hr. At 3pm he was in Weymouth Bay flying N at 79km/hr and then continued NNW by Wincanton, then west of Bristol, and at 5pm crossed the Severn at Lydney when he was flying N at 99km/hr. An hour later at Ludlow and at 7pm was near Oswestry and probably perched - may be for the night after another great day's migration of 780 kms. He roosted for the night a few miles further on just north of Whittingdon.

05 April 2010

Off again just after 0900GMT and at 1200GMT he was flying NE at 66km/hr at 1299 metres altitude near Valencia de Don Juan, Zamora. At 1700GMT he flew out over the Spanish coast at Castro Urdiales, west of Bilbao harboru flying NNE at 42km/hr at 1354 metres altitude. An hour later he was 1672 metres above the sea flying NE at 56 km/hr and kept up this high speed. At 2000GMT he was 45 kms off the Landes coast flying N at 53km/hr and he roosted the night at the north end of Ile d'Oleron, after a flight of 637 kilometres - excellent migrating.

04 April 2010

He set off north just before 0900GMT and follwed the border north. At 1200GMT he was flying N at 64km/hr at 1352 metres altitude near Segura, and at 1500 was flying N just north of Cuidad Rodrigo. At 1600GMT he settled on a promontory on a big reservoir at Mantamarta in Leon, where he spent the night. A journey of 315 kilometres.

03 April 2010

He left the reservoir sometime about 1030GMT and headed NNE in Portugal. At 1600GMT he was at the Caia Reservoir near Campo Maior, not far from the Spanish Border, and then roosted there overnight. 150 kilometre flight for the first day of renewed migration.

02 April 2010

Still stopping over.

31 March 2010

Still at the stop over reservoir all day.

29 March 2010

Talisman spent all day at the Roxo Reservoir, where Talisman stopped off last autumn on his way south. Another example of migrating ospreys using a favourite stop-over site on migration.

28 March 2010

By 0800GMT he was flying NW at 68kms/hr and two hours later was flying over the great sand dunes of the Coto Donana reserve (exactly where I had been three days earlier watching bee-eaters migrating north). He continued this NW track and passed north of Huelva, and then inland through Spain and crossed into Portugal south of Paymogo. At 1400GMT (last signal of the day) he was flying WNW at 49km/hr near Cabeca Gordo in Beja. By evening he had reached the Roxo Reservoir. The wind was west 13mph, partly cloudy. He is taking quite a westerly migration.

27 March 2010

After roosting in scattered trees in a forest east of Sid Bouknadel he headed NNW and by 7am had crossed the coast north of Kenitra heading out over the Atlantic to Spain. He was flying low and rather slow out over the sea - in fact as low as 4 metres above the waves - this is risky near land as mobbing by large gulls can force migrating ospreys into the water. At 1100 had travelled 90 kms out to sea before turning back SW and so to reach the coast again at 1200GMT. The wind was strong SW where I was in Andalucia and I guess it proved too strong to fly against. He then headed for Tangier and departed there at 1700GMT at 39kms/hr and 285 metres over the sea. He roosted the night in agricultural fields 11 kms east of Vejer de la Frontera and 14 kms SW of Barbate Reservori, where the young ospreys translocated from Scotland, Germany and Finland have been released in previous summers as part of the Andalucia Osprey Reintroduction Project.

25 March 2010

Left at 1000GMT and started through and over the Atlas Mountains late morning and by 1900GMT was roosting 75 kms NE of Marrakesh, after a good day's migration of 452 kms.

24 March 2010

Was already migrating N at 0700GMT and this afternoon flying north in souther Morocco, north of the west Sahara boundary. Roosted overnight in Morocco after flight of 326 kms

22 March 2010

Talisman was 50 kms north of his overnight roost at 1200GMT, when he was flying N at 83kms/hr at 910 metres and then made good progress NNE at altitude. At 1500 he was at 1286 metres flying N at 61 kms/hr and at next two hours he was at 1389 and 1417 Metres altitude, so may be at that height he was less influenced by the dust. By the last signal at 1700GMT he had flown 307 kilometres.

21 March 2010

Gavin Meldrum very kindly sent me the following: Hope this doesn't bother the migrants! Gleaned from a weather newsgroup:-

For the past couple of days there has been a very extensive and thick duststorm over a large part of the Sahara. On visible imagery the dust canbe seen spreading in a vast plume out over the Atlantic and southwards > over the Gulf of Guinea. These images (infra red difference between spectral channels 4 and 5) from today's noaa19 overpass show the extent of the dust (the white areas on > the images)

http://www.woksat.info/etcsc21/sc21-1401-e-apt-s.html http://www.woksat.info/etcsc21/sc21-1221-j-apt-s.html

We can now see why Talisman has been struggling on migration - what a dust storm to fly through and get lost in. No wonder crossing the Sahara can be dangerous.

21 March 2010

Talisman did not get going until after 10am, and then flew east and presumably was blown south as he was 8 kilometres SE at 1200GMT. He then headed north but hios heading was west for two hours, and it was not until 1600GMT that he was flying north at 47kms/hr at 1013 metres. May be earlier he was having problems with dust storms and north winds. Then he noved NE and after 1800GMT he settled in big dunes to roost for the night. Only 122 kilometres today and it was a struggle to make headway - he is now in very inhospitable desert in Mauritania.

20 March 2010

Talisman set off after 1000GMT and by an hour later had crossed the River Senegal and was heading north in Mauritania. His morning flying was leisurely and low level, but after midday hea climbed altitide and at 1400GMT he was flying N at 52kms/hr at 568 metres. He then turned NNE and by the last signal of this batch at 1700GMT he was still flying high to the NE at 44kms/hr into the Sahara Desert. He is now on his desert crossing.

19 March 2010

Not all the data in yet, but this evening's roost site is just south of the Senegal River near Richard Toll and tomorrow he will head into Mauritania, after a day's flight of 163 kilometres.

18 March 2010

Talisman left his roost after 0900GMT and by 1000GMT he was 16 kms to the north in The Gambia flying at 41kms/hr and an hour later he had crossed the River Gambia, close to where Rothiemurchus was a few days ago, and was flying NNW at 125 metres altitude. At 1300GMT he changed direction to direct North and had climbed to 1358 metres altitude and an hour later was flying north at 91kms/hr over Kaolack. His afternoon flight was high level at 1000+ metres until before 1800 GMT he was perched in scattered trees in an agricultural landscape 17 kms north of Touba, in Senegal, and one kilometre west of the road N3. His day's migration was 220 kilometres.

17 March 2010

Talisman started his migration today. He has wintered on an unnamed small island in the Bijagos Archipelago in Guinea Bissau. Throughout the winter he spent his time in a very small area on the south side of the island. He would have gone for his normal early morning fishing trip in the warm waters around the islands and after eating he set off on his great migration to Scotland just before 1100GMT.

At 1200GMT he was flying N at 59kms/hr 16 metres above the sea to the mainland of Guinea Bissau. An hour later he was at 604 metres flyng at 70kms/hr and at 1500GMT he was crossing into Senegal flying north at 54 kms/h at 1396 metres altitude. An hour later he crossed the River Casamanche 50 kilometres east of Red 8T's wintering site (who is still wintering there) and at 1800GMT he was roosting for the night in scattered trees 6 kilometres from the border with The Gambia. He has 5000 kilometres (3000 miles) to go to reach Scotland and we will be able to follow his migration in detail via the tiny Microwave Telemetry GPS transmitter.

Sincere thanks to Talisman Energy in Aberdeen for their much appreciated funding of our Osprey GPS tracking project.