DATE NOTES 4th August at 1pm, flying at 46 kms/hour through the Lecht into Aberdeenshire. 5pm: flying SSW at 29 kms/hour past Alyth, Angus. 9pm: roosting in a wood near Kinfauns, Perth. Day's journey 136 kms

5th August 5am: still at roost; 9am perched by a loop in the river Earn, possibly eating a fish or fishing. 1pm: just west of Cowdenbeath. 4pm: onwards - roosted in a wood N of Cobbinshaw Loch, to the SW of Edinburgh. Day's journey 65 kms

6th August 5am: at roost; 9am: 13 kms to SE flying at 53 kms/hour, just north of Dunsyre. 1pm: flying SW along Tweed Valley, near Glenbreck.5pm: in middle of Nith estuary, south of Dumfries, presumably fishing. 9pm: perched on post in estuary near Caerlaverock shore: day's journey 99 kms

7th August 5am: roosted overnight in Shambellie wood near New Abbey 7th -22nd August The female has made an extended stop-over on the Nith Estuary and surrounds; roosting in a favourite woodland site and fishing regularly across the Nith estuary and the Solway Firth, as well as at Loch Kinder. She has also used day time roosts in Kirkconnel Flow NNR nearer Dumfries

15th August her movements from dawn to dusk 27th Aug She is still stopping-over in the same area on the Solway

On 22nd August, Edmund Fellowes went and checked out her favourite localities and sent these photos. Top left Kirkconnell Flow NNR; top right Loch Kinder with favourite perch tree; and two views of the Nith Estuary and the Solway Firth. Thanks Edmund. 2nd Sep She is still on 'stop over' on the Nith estuary - although moving more widely to forests NW of New Abbey and fishing along the Caerlaverock merse. This is now a 27 day feeding rest on migration, which seems quite long, but females have plenty of time because they leave the nest site early. This allows the young to get all the fish brought in by the male. I saw both chicks on the eyrie yesterday - one eating a big trout - the other waiting for its meal.

6th Sep She's still there - but spending more time along the shores of the Caerlaverock Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust reserve. Yesterday morning, Larry Griffin, WWT scientist at Caerlaverock, checked her positions and found her eating a fish on a washed up dead tree on the mudflats. Attached is a photo from his mobile phone! Both young still at the nesting site yesterday - one perched in an oak tree watching the antics of a red squirrel.

Interesting that she is there, because Larry and the WWT are using similar satellite transmitters to track barnacle geese and they are just starting their journey back from Spitzbergen to winter at Caerlaverock, while the osprey will head to Africa. See www.wwt.org.uk/barnacle 7th - 9th Still living in same area

10th Sept ENGLAND WALES FRANCE At 6am she was still at a new roost on farmland south of Kirkconnell but an hour later she was 33 kilometres away on the Cumbria coast near Flimby. This was the start of a 756 kilometre flight to the north coast of France! Hourly fixes showed us her journey in detail.

From the coast of the Lakes she flew down the Irish Sea - being 10 kms SW of Blackpool at 9am and over the South Wirral at 10am. She was travelling at a speed of 50 to 60 kph, probably taking advantage of clear skies and following wind, mostly 150 to 270 metres altitude. Flying south through Shropshire, she was just west of Monmouth in South Wales at 1pm. An hour later she was over a 1000 metres above the centre of the Bristol Channel heading for Clevedon.

She continued to migrate south or SSE over Glastonbury and Dorchester, so by 5 pm she was 39 kms SSE of Portland Bill in Dorset, out over the sea flying south at 51kph and 460 metres above the sea. An hour later she was just north of the Channel Islands, still travelling south at 50 to 65kph.

She had reached landfall on the north Brittany coast in FRANCE by 8pm. 11th Sept FRANCE SPAIN From 5am to 6am she was 11 kms south of last night's position, probably at her overnight roost. and then moved another 9 kilometre south and probably feeding. By 10am she was back on her migration heading south at 41kph. She crossed the Britanny peninsula and set out to sea heading SSW past Noirmoutier. Her flight across the Bay of Biscay was direct and purposeful, although probably with a wind in her face. Mainly travelling SSW at between 58 and 72 kph she was covering just over 50 kilometres per hour over the sea at altitudes from 100 to 300 metres above sea level. At 8pm when fixes ceased she was just 40 kilometres from the Spanish coast in eastern Astorias. She had covered 628 kilometres to reach SPAIN.

Migration track over Bay of Biscay (from GoogleEarth)

12th Sept The first GPS fix at 0400GMT was 1.2 kilometres from the coast near Villahormes.

12th Sept Migration to date from north Scotland to north Spain

12th Sept At 0500GMT she was still at the overnight roost, then from 0600 to 0800 GMT she was perched in mountains 1.8 kms to the SSW. By 0900GMT she had restarted her migration, flying at 26kph at 1107 metres along mountain ridges. An hour later she was 23 kms further east skirting the highest mountains of Picos de Europa, before turning SE and then south over mainland Spain. Migrating slowly south at 34 to 60 kph, at altitudes of 970 to 1950 metres above sea level, she passed a large reservoir (Aguilar de campoo) at 1300GMT and passed to the east of Vallodid in the late afternoon. She was on the edge of woodlands at 1800GMT, nearly 50 kilometres to the SSE of Vallodid, after completing 275 kilometres. An hour later she moved to roost further into the woods not far from the Castillo de Coca in Castillo y Leon province.

13th Sept She stayed at her roosting site until 0700 GMT, then moved back to her first position of last evening, where she stayed on the edge of the woods until 0900 GMT. An hour later she was flying SSW at 55kph, and by 1100GMT she was moving SSW to reach the Sierra de Gredos mountains to the west of Madrid at midday. At 1200GMT, she high above Avila with its great medieval castle walls, crossing the mountains at heights of nearly 2000 metres she continued flying SSW and the last of this batch of GPS fixes was high over the river Tietar.

13th Sep At 1500GMT she was migrating south at 62kph at Talavera de la Reina, continuing over the mountains, she changed heading at 1700GMT to pass round a large mountain and then drop down into the large reservoir of Embalse del Cijara. She roosted on a wooded headland in the reservoir. Her day's journey was 213 kilometres.

14th Sep Still at roost until 0600GMT, from 0700 to 0900GMT she had moved one kilometre towards the point of the headland and was resting there - possibly having fished. At 1000GMT she was 10 kms SW on the edge of a smaller reservoir near Castilblanco. By 1100 she was flying south again at 45kph. She flew steadily all day across Badajoz - mainly at 23 to 40kph, passing Monterrubio de la Serena at 1400GMT and by 1700GMT was west of Lora del Rio in Seville province. By 1800GMT she had reached her roost site in riverine trees beside a large river in farmland 30 kms 4 kms west of Tocina to the north of Seville. Her day's flight was 208 kilometres - a leisurely day.

15th Sep At roost beside Guadalquivir river until 0600GMT, then moved 150 metres down river until 0800GMT - query eating fish.

Aerial view of roost site.

15th Sep At 0900GMT was migrating SSW at 60kph and an hour later was just north of Dos Hermanes, SE of Seville. Carried on leisurely south, passing Lebrija before 1200GMT and passing west of Jerez at 1300GMT. Headed SSE to perch in old salt pans near Santa Maria and then moved 9 kms SSE to perch on old salt pans between road and river east of Puerta Real at 1600GMT. An hour later she was perched on edge of small wood 7 kms east and at 1800GMT had reached her overnight roost site in trees south of a small lake near Laguna del Comisario, where she stayed until 1900GMT, but at 2000GMT she was 400 metres further into the edge of the lake.

16th Sep Still at roost until 0600GMT, then moved 140 metres north. By 1000GMT she was back in the marshes on east side of the Bay of Cadiz, a good place to fish but also with dangers for ospreys because of monafilament nylon nets which are used to protect fish ponds. At 1100GMT she was 7 kms away, migrating SSE at 41kph; an hour later she was a further 19 kms flying east of Conil at an altitude of 519 metres. 16th Sep At 1300GMT, she was high over the Atlantic coast just south of Barbate and an hour later she was 38kilometres due south flying over the sea at 70kph just 2 kilometres from the Moroccan coast, 5kms west of Tangier. Interestingly, she started the flight at 672metres altitude but by the time she reached the African coast she was only 42 metres above the sea. Low flights over the sea at the Straits of Gibraltar can be hazardous to large raptors because of harassment by yellow-legged gulls, which can occasionally force them into the water. 16th Sep MOROCCO At 1500GMT she was flying south over the hills of Morocco at 58kph and an hour later she was still flying fast to the SSW near Laamarine but only covering 25 kms on thr ground, so she was either flying into strong winds or spending time soaring over the peaks. 16th Sep She reached her overnight roosting area at 1800GMT in low wooded hills south of Chkaifien. The roost site was in a scattered trees on the hill top and the degree of detail on GoogleEarth was incredible, even showing individual trees.

See below: 17th Sep She stayed near the roost trees until 0900GMT, then headed on south passing over agricultural lands, gradually rising from flying at 237 metres to 594 metres altitude to the east of Keniha. At 1400GMT she was flying at 40kph some 24kms east of Rabat on the Atlantic coast. The travelled distance over the ground again suggested she was soaring as well as carrying out direct flights. Over the next three hours she travelled hourly distances of 45, 40 and 40 kms, and by the last signal of the day at 1700GMT she was at 1095 metres over the mountains near Dovar el Tssouf, heading for Marrakesh. She had flown 265 kilometres since 0900GMT.

17th Sep Her flight over the Straits from Spain into Morocco

17th Sep At 1800GMT she was perched in woods on north side of a mountain south of Oulad Attou; an hour later she was roosting 140 metres away in the wooded slopes. 18th Sep At roost until 0800GMT; two hours later she was flying over a big lake - Barrage El Massira, 21 kms to the south. 18th Sep At 1100 she had started a strong migration, flying SSW at 55kph. Over the next two hours she headed south, passing just 7 kilometres east of Marrakech at 1300GMT, the she headed into the High Atlas mountains. At 1400GMT she was flying SW at 69kph at 1373 metres above sea level near Amizmiz, and an hour later was cresting the summits at a height of 1994 metres and passing the hill top village of Assif El Meht. At 1600GMT she was flying down through a big valley at 815 metres altitude, travelling at 38kph to the WSW. 18th Sep She continued her flight until 1800GMT when she choose a roosting site among scattered bushes and tree in semi-desert 3 kms ESE of Tamloukt. Her day's flight was 268 kilometres, including a major mountain crossing. But she must have passed this way many times before - I wonder if she uses the same fishing and roosting places on each annual migration. 19th Sep Still at her roost on latest transmission for the day at 0500GMT and stayed there until 0700; an hour later she was 4km south, flying SSW at 55kph over irrigated farms. At 0900GMT she was on same direction over Taroudant, and an hour later perched 15 km south. 19th Sep At 1100GMT she was flying up into another range of mountains and at 1300GMT had changed direction and was flying at 39kph to SSE and heading for water. At 1500GMT she was perched at the water's edge of a large lake Youssaf Dam 19th Sep At 1500GMT she commenced a S to SSW migration over mountains and deserts, at 1700GMT she was flying at 62kph at an altitude of 1732 metres in the mountains. Two hours later she had cleared the mountains and dropped down into valleys where she roosted the night in stony deserts about 30 kilometres SE of Guelmin. Her day's journey was 228 kilometres. 19th Sep Roost site in desert

20th Sep 0500GMT still at roost - migration journey to this date

20th Sep Stayed at the roosting area until 0900GMT. At 1000GMT she was 22 kilometres south, flying at 27kph and presumably soaring over a mountain ridge as her heading was NNW. At 1100GMT, she was heading south up into the mountain plateaux, and it looked as she was cutting the corner to fly the direct inland route over the Sahara Desert to West Africa. An hour later she was flying at 69kph in a SSW direction. The weather was clear with 15 to 20km/h northerly winds. At 1300GMT she was continuing the fast migration as she was 44 kilometres further south, flying at 64kph at 1800 metres above sea level over the western Hammada. 20th Sep Western Sahara At 1400GMT she was over Western Sahara heading south and an hour later she was 56 kilometres south migrating at 81 kph over very remote and inhospitable deserts; and a further hour later she was 50 kilometres further south near Tfariti. I wonder if she is travelling by herself or with another osprey; generally ospreys are loners and do not migrate in flocks like honey buzzards or black kites. 20th Sep At 1700GMT she had passed into northern Mauritania between Bir Mogrein and Ain Ben Til, outposts on trans Saharan trails. An hour later she had stopped to roost in a large expnase of stony desert, with rock outcrops, boulder and occasional bushes. She is now 3585 kilometres from her nest site in Moray - shortest distance. The weather forecast is clear skies, hot sun, temperatures up to 44C and NE winds of 17-22kph, at least she will have a tail wind south. 21st Sep During the night she moved her roosting site by one kilometre, presumably she was disturbed by an animal or a bird, and with a bright half moon in open desert it was easy to change position. 21st Sep At 1000GMT she was 45 kilometres to the SSW, flying over the desert at 75kph, with presumably a strong tail wind! She continued on this SSW course through the northern Mauritanian deserts through the rest of the morning and the whole afternoon in baking heat and cloudless skies. 21st Sep Between 1500 and 1600GMT, she veered her track to avoid passing over one of the largest iron mines in the world at Zouerat, and Fderik, where the whole mountain is iron ore. The freight trains carrying the ore to the Atlantic coast are 3 kilometres long.

The encroaching sand dunes of the Sahara on bottom right of picture.

21st Sep At 1700GMT she was migrating over the desert at 68kph, heading SSW. In the 8 hour flight between 0900GMT and 1700GMT, she had travelled 494 kilometres, at an average speed of 62 kilometres/hour. Clearly there was a strong tail wind but this is impressive flying and helps get her out the inhospitable deserts, where there is no chance to catch fish, as quickly as possible. It's at these times she needs the fat she put on at excellent stop-over feeding places such as the Dumfriesshire coast. 21st Sep at 1800GMT she was just south of Choum, still fast at 72kph, but 7 kms further SW she stopped at her roosting before 1900GMT. she roosted overnight in open desert west of a large dry river bed. Her day's journey was 572 kms.

22nd Sep At nightime roost at 0600GMT but an hour later she had moved 3 kms SW where she stayed until at least 0900GMT. At 1000GMT she was 23 kms on her flight, travelling at 40kph SSW. Her migration continued in this direction and at 1200GMT she was 39kms west of Atar, flying at 66kph to the south. The Adrar mountain plateaux is a remote region of gorges and shifting sands, with a very small human population.

Stuart Benn, who travelled in the Atar region of Mauritania a few years ago, has sent me the following two photos showing the type of country the osprey was flying over today.

22nd Sep At 1500GMT she was now flying at an altitude of 1977 metres above sea level over the high plateau, at a speed of 37kph; the tail winds of yesterday were clearly less. She continued at this altitude for the next 3 hours in a generally SSW direction at speeds of 33 to 40kph. 22nd Sep She stopped to roost in sandy desert, a few kilometres from a rocky ridge, 28 kms further on and much lower altitude, before 1900GMT. Her flight today was 323 kilometres over extremely rugged desert terrain, but she is now less than 300 kilometres to the Senegal river and hopefully her first fish for 3 days.

The map shows her flight over the Mauritanian mountains - to the top right is the incredible circular outline of the Richat geological structure.

23rd Sep She stayed at the roost site in the desert at the southern foot of the Adrar highlands until 0900GMT, then set off on a new track SSE, and an hour later at 100GMT was 14kms away flying at 37kph. Over the next three hours she covered hourly flights of 15, 17 and 25 kilometres in a SSE then S direction. 23rd Sep At 1400GMT she was a futher 30 kms south, flying south at 54kph, and an hour later had reached sparsely vegetated deserts. She continued the southerly track to reach her roost site before 1700GMT 23rd Sep After a day's flight of 161 kilometres, she was perched 4 kilometres north of the shores of Lac d'Aleg, an important inland wetland. Being so close to the water it is possible that she went and fished at the lake between the hourly signals. A change of direction from last night's roost suggests she knew the location of this lake. Interestingly, the young marsh harrier from Scotland visited this lake on 3rd October 2004, and a male osprey from Strathspey was located, using the old style satellite transmitter, near this lake on its northward migration on 19th March 2001.

Below is the description of this wetland included in the Marsh Harrier pages; I do not have any more recent data although the wetland is thought to be the northern most wintering site of Aquatic Warblers from Europe. Does anyone have a photograph of Lac d'Aeg? Description of Lac d'Aleg from Birdlife International website

BirdLife IBA Factsheet for MR013 Lac d'Aleg, Mauritania (Edited down version).

Area: 4275 ha; Altitude 30m. Lac d' Aleg is situated 5 km to the north-west of the town of Aleg in the south-west of the country. The lake is a closed depression in an old course of the Senegal river fed by rainwater run-off from Oued Katchi, which drains a catchment of 3,420 sq km. The Katchi is a seasonal watercourse which was formerly a tributary of the Senegal river, but now cut off from it by dunes. The lake is endorheic and semi-permanent and typically varies in depth from 1 to 2 m at the end of the dry season to a maximum of 3 to 4 m at the end of the rains. At its maximum size, usually attained in October, it is 22 km long and 4 km wide. The area of the lake varies considerably from year to year depending on rainfall. The vegetetation of the lake forms concentric rings. The banks are characterized by woody species and grasses. The southern edge of the lake is bounded by the Nouakchott to Aleg road. There are various conservation problems.

More than 116,000 waterbirds were recorded here in September 1987. Peak counts are Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) 2380; Fulvous Whistling-duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) 9000; Spur-winged Goose (Plectropterus gambensis) 5000; Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 33000; Garganey (Anas querquedula) 50350; Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) 760; Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) 1613 and Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia) 2000. 24th Sep She appeared to fish in Lake d'Aleg being close to the north and south shores, but by 1000GMT she had restarted migration to the south, flying at 28kph. An hour later she was 14 kilometres SE, flying at 62kph. 24th Sep SENEGAL The next fix was three hours later when she was 84 kilometres SSW, having flown from Mauritania into SENEGAL. During this flight she had passed over the River Senegal and its extensive riverine marshes. This is an area rich in fishing opportunities, but she was obviously heading for her own wintering quarters. She continued SSW and by 1800GMT was roosting in open dry scrub about 85 kilometres south of the Senegal river. 25th Sep She remained at her roost until 0900GMT; an hour later she flying SSW at 48kph. By 1200GMT she was climbing altitude and was flying fast at 60kph, probably into an easterly wind, as her track was south. 25th Sep By 1400GMT she was turning more to the SSW, flying at 51kph at 969 metres above sea level. At 1500GMT she was 26 kilometres further south and two hours later she had reached her overnight roosting area in an area of woods, fields and cleared areas. The roost was in a cleared area near a small wood.; south of east of Wore.

26th Sep During the night, she had moved 3.3 kms south; presumably she was disturbed during the night but with a full moon it would have been easier for her to choose a new perch tree. By 1000GMT she was migrating SW near Boulel, and an hour ler just north of Kaffrine. She continued south and then after midday she turned south west towards the Gambia river. At 1400GMT, she reached a tributary of the river and followed it SW.

26th Sep GAMBIA At 1600GMT, she reached River Gambia, and stayed near big marshes on the north side of the river near Tendaba. This is about 100 kilometres up river from Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Her latest track is shown below.

27th Sep Senegal The River Gambia was clearly not her chosen destination because she set off south after apparently fishing over the marshes between 0900 and 1000GMT. At 1100GMT she was near Kwinella about 11kms south. She continued south and flew into southern Senegal, being over the large river in Casamanche at 1500GMT. By 1600GMT, she had passed into Guinea-Bissau over the river Cachea, and an hour later was flying south at 57kph, just north of the capital Bissau. She then headed out over the broad estuary of the River Gaba and at 1900GMT was perched over shallow water. She then flew a kilometres north to roost on the island of Bolama. 27th Sep Guinea-Bissau The complex series of islands, shallow seas, mangroves swamps and marshes, as well as the south Atlantic Ocean, on the coast of Guinea-Bissau might be her wintering site - it is a favourite wintering area for European ospreys.

Since her migration started she has flown 5667 kilometres south; her daily flights have ranged between 65 and 756 kilometres. The longest being her first flight, after her extended stop-over on the Solway, from southern Scotland to France. Her average daily distance flown over this 18 day migration was 298 kilometres; her average flying time was 8 to 9 hours at a speed of 33 to 37 kilometres per hour. The shortest direct distance between her wintering site and her nest in Scotland is 5198 kilometres (3229 miles)

28th Sep She stayed at her roost until 1000GMT, but her journey was not finished. At 1100GMT, she was 27 kilometres SSW over the shallow seas flying at 65kph towards the Ilha Roxa. In the afternoon she had settled at the south end of the island, near the coast. On two occasions she was perched out in the shallow sea, and she roosted that evening in scattered trees.