When Deshar arrived in Algeria on 10th September, we were concerned that she was much further east than the route favoured by experienced adult Ospreys from the UK. It meant that, if she was to reach the fish rich coastline of West Africa, she would have to make a very long flight across the vast and desolate Sahara.
Fortunately the latest data shows that Deshar is making good progress. The latest update we have – from the evening of 17th September showed that she had almost completed her epic flight across the desert and was in southern Mauritania.
And what a superb flight it has been so far. After leaving her roost site in northern Algeria on the morning of 11th September Deshar flew 2608 km (1620 miles) over the course of seven days – that’s an average of 372 km (231 miles per day). During this period she maintained a remarkably direct south-westerly heading through Algeria, before crossing into North-west Mali on the afternoon of 14th September and then into Mauritania next afternoon. She’s well on course to reach the West African coast – and we very much hope that will be the case when we receive the next batch of data from her transmitter.
Deshar flew 2608 km (1620 miles) across the Sahara in seven days
While crossing the Sahara Ospreys roost on the ground, and usually delay the start of their daily flight until thermals star rising. Deshar’s transmitter, which logs her location once every minute as she flies across the desert, shows that, despite her inexperience, she has utilised these thermal updrafts well, sometimes circling up to staggering altitudes of 3400m before opening her wings and gliding forwards until she reaches the next thermal. This saves valuable energy during a period when she is unable to feed.
By circling up on thermal updrafts and then gliding forward, Deishar saves valuable energy as she crosses the Sahara
You can check out Deshar’s flight across the desert on our satellite tracking map.
Deshar also features in our latest podcast. Click the link below to listen.
