Having been present at Lalla Takerkoust, a reservoir situated to the north of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco for just over a week, we began to become concerned about Carr on 23rd September. It was clear from the latest data that either the young Osprey hadn’t moved for at least three days, or his transmitter had become detached. Although the locations we receive are highly accurate, they could not explain what had happened. The only option was to try and find someone who may be able to go and have a look for us.
After a week at the reservoir we became concerned when the satellite data indicated Carr hadn’t moved for three days.
We put out an appeal for help on Monday morning, and within a few hours Adil Boulahia had found two Morocco ornithologists – Karim Roussleon (Moroccan Association for Falconry and Raptor Conservation and member of GREPOM) and Dr Mohamed Radi (Groupe de Recherche pour la Protection des Oiseaux au Maroc (GREPOM) – BirdLife International’s local partner in Morocco) – who were prepared to go and search for Carr. That evening Karim visited the site and found a pile of Osprey feathers at the location we had directed him to. Sadly it was clear that Carr had been predated by a fox or a dog while he had been perched on the ground.
Karim found a pile of Osprey feathers at the last known location of Carr (photo by Karim Roussleon)
Close-up of the feathers (photo by Karim Roussleon)
Carr had obviously been perched on the ground when he was predated by a fox or a dog (photo by Karim Roussleon)
Carr had spent over a week at the reservoir north of the Atlas Mountains (photo by Karim Roussleon)
Although it was clear that Carr had died, Karim was not able to find the transmitter that evening. Mohamed kindly offered to search again on Wednesday, and this time managed to locate it nearby.
It is extremely sad that Carr had died, but the reality is that at least 70% of young Ospreys do not survive the first two years of their life. Many die on their first journey south, while others perish once they reach the wintering grounds. Even though Carr had been flying strongly for two months and had made an excellent migration to Morocco, he was still very inexperienced – and this led to him perching in a place where he was at his of being grabbed by a mammal predator. This is one of the many hazards that young Ospreys face as they migrate south for the first time. In fact one of this year’s Poole Harbour Ospreys suffered the same fate just as it was about to depart on migration at the beginning of this month.
Whilst the outcome is not what we had hoped for, we are extremely grateful to both Karim and Mohamed for their valuable help and assistance this week. This kind of information adds greatly to our knowledge of Osprey migration – and the threats the young birds face as they migrate south for the first time. Sincere thanks to both Karim and Mohamed for their help.
Although Carr has not survived his first flight south, we are pleased that his sister Deishar is now in West Africa. You can check out her latest update here. You can also view the flights of the two birds on our interactive map.
Carr and Deishar also feature in our latest podcast. Click the link below to listen online.
