Ospreys on migration

I was going to follow Logie on her migration back to West Africa but it appears either the transmitter has fallen off/stopped working or Logie has, I'm hoping its the transmitter and not Lodie that has suffered the demise.
We will have to wait until Spring next year to see if she turns up at her nesting site or not.

So I am going to be following these Ospreys instead

Loch Garten ospreys take flight



Loch Garten's two osprey chicks have upped and left for their 3,000 mile journey to West Africa for the winter - and anyone can log on and see how they're getting on for the first time here

Nethy and Deshar - named after local primary schools - began to fly South late last week. Nethy seems to be flying strongly, making a beeline South, crossing the Forth and reaching Durham by last Thursday. She then flew South over Bradford, Huddersfield and the outskirts of Coventry.

Deshar, on the other hand, had a bit of a nightmare start, with a couple of further hiccups on the way. At the beginning of his marathon journey he headed almost due east far out over into the North sea before realising he'd made a mistake, and coming back to dry land to start again.

Since then he's made solid progress down the country, passing directly over Leeds, down the backbone of England over the Pennines to Nottingham, before heading south east over Cambridge. He then flew straight over Colchester and again charged out to sea over the Greater Thames estuary, before deciding against it and turning back towards Margate and on to the west of Folkestone.

Both birds had reached the South of England last night, and are expected to be over France today.

Nethy and Deshar have been travelling at speeds of up to 35 mph, and may take four to five weeks to reach their destination. Until that time, people in the UK, Southern Europe and Northern Africa will be able to see whether the birds will pass near them on their way. For the first time, we'll have an accurate idea of where these birds winter and how long it takes them to get there. As well as teaching us more about their behaviour, we hope to link up with people and schools along the migration route, to share information and enhance protection for these magnificent birds throughout the year.

Richard Thaxton, RSPB Loch Garten Visitor Centre Manager said: 'The new webpage builds on the blog and the live nestcam in opening up the enjoyment of following these birds to a huge online community. These innovations have proved hugely popular, with the nestcam alone receiving a phenomenal 200 000 unique visitors this year. We hope that the birds do make it to West Africa, and for the first time ever we'll know whether or not they have.'

It’s been a successful year for the Loch Garten nest, especially after last year’s disappointing season when no chicks survived. This year, three chicks were born to parents EJ (female) and VS but unfortunately, the third one proved to be just too weak to survive. However the two older chicks are very healthy, and this year has to be regarded as a success in the illustrious history of the Loch Garten nest.


Actually one has been in Gloucestershire and the other in Kent (Hythe area)for the last 12 days! Inclement weather and lots to eat has delayed them. This I think is a good thing as they left a fortnight earlier than they should have done.

Lets see where they go next.

NB An Osprey has been seen in the Hythe/Dungeness area altho I didn't see it on Sat!