Falchi pescatori a Loch Garten, Scozia

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[lucky6550]

Già con il gps...? Pronti al volo dunque.
Luciano .

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Millicent (AN0) - Seasca (AN9) - Druie (AN8)

Ringing, tagging and poo-ing!
richard thaxton
30 Jun 2014 11:33 AM

As by now you are no-doubt aware, on Saturday evening we leg-ringed and satellite tagged our young ospreys here at Loch Garten.

If only you knew what an anxious time it has been. Well you're about to know, because I shall tell you. Tagging was looking a bit touch & go there for a while. The tags only arrived on Friday at 5pm. Though ordered from USA in good time, entered into the Company's production schedule, and we had assurances that they would be here by mid-June, when I got back from leave on Monday 23rd June there was no sign of them!

I immediately e-mailed the US to enquire as to their whereabouts to be told that they had not yet been shipped! They were promptly shipped the next day, but with a likely 6 day delivery schedule it was looking like they wouldn't arrive until 1-2 July. Even then, that could just mean that they had arrived in Blighty but were sat at Stanstead Airport or some such, but had not been released by HMC until any duties had been paid. After a few phone calls I was assured that they would be with us here by 6pm on Monday 30th June. That would have made things very tight time-wise as the birds were already beginning to flap about, plus if we then happened to get held up by inclement weather, as has happened before, tagging could be in jeopardy. Panic hadn't quite fully set in, but we were getting worried about getting the tagging done. However at 5pm on Friday 27th June they arrived, giving us options and some leeway. Phew!

Once on the ground, the younger, smaller chick was fitted with a metal BTO ring.......

It was only our intention to tag two of the brood of three, choosing the bigger of the two. The smaller of the brood would, in any case have been that bit less advanced in its growth and size to take a tag, and if we waited for it to catch up, chicks one and two would or could be that bit closer to fledging. So all there young ospreys were brought down from the nest. The smallest was weighed, measured and leg-ringed then promptly put back in the nest. This would help reassure EJ circling high overhead. The other two were taken back to the Osprey Centre to be fitted with their bling.

Back at the Centre, the tagging went well. All three were found to be in good condition. Checks were made for "checks" in the feather growth, lines that indicate days of less food being provided and there very little sign of this, Odin, the boy done good, in providing plenty of fish, so far.

Roy demonstrated this and other checks made on the birds to those assembled Below he shows the blood-filled feather sheaths of the growing tail feathers.

And the details are as follows:

Chick 1 (longer in the wing and the tail at this stage, though a bit lighter than chick 2)
Sat Tag No. 139178
Colour ring AN0 (left leg)
Metal ring 141072
Wing 364mm
Tail 162mm
Weight 1720g

Chick 2
Sat Tag No. 139177
Colour ring AN9 (left leg)
Metal ring 140601
Wing 348mm
Tail 136mm
Weight 1885g

Chick 3
Colour ring AN8 (left leg)
Metal ring 1410670
Wing 302mm
Tail 110mm
Weight 1690g

The names? Well, there are two significant events that we wanted the names to celebrate.
All being well, the first of these three to fledge the nest will be the 100th osprey to do so from the Loch Garten nest - a hugely successful milestone in the osprey's story here. So we toyed and conjured with 100-type relevant names including Century, Centurion, Furmium (100th element in the Priodic Table!) and also derivations from Cent (as in 100). Had the largest chick been deemed male then we might have run with VinCENT, get it? But as it was a girl we've opted for Millicent (AN0), henceforth Millie for short, no doubt.

To mark 2014 being the 60th anniversary of the osprey's return to Scotland in 1954, the name of the second chick is the Gaelic word for 60, Seasca (AN9). The third, smallest chick, ringed but not satellite tagged has been names Druie (AN8) as in the River Druie which flows through the Rothiemurchus fish farm from whence no doubt most of their nourishment has been purloined!
It'll be just our luck eh, if Seasca now goes and fledges before Millicent?! Hey-ho.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... 30/uu.aspx

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First young osprey fledged yesterday, they say on LG-Blog: ---> Millicent

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... 12848.aspx

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Druie-AN8 - fledged yesterday, now back again

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... 12906.aspx

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... 32219858=8

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2014 SEASON, MEMORIES, PHOTOS, VIDEOS OF MILLICENT, SEASCA, DRUIE, EJ & ODIN

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... spx#898993

Loch Garten osprey diary - Rachel Coyle, 24 Aug 2014 1:16 PM

...But what a journey Seasca has made! As we expected she left the nest site around 13.00 GMT on 19 August and flew S. She was E of Loch Morlich around 13.30 GMT and then flew over the Grampians and crossed into Perth and Kinross at around 14.00 GMT. At around 16.00 GMT she flew over Bannockburn continuing in a southerly direction. At 17.00 GMT she was over New Stevenston, E of Glasgow finally coming to roost at 19.00 GMT in a farming area W of Coalburn in S Lanarkshire. She travelled 190 km on this day – not bad for a bird who had only flown 9 km over about 8 hours a few days before!

On 20 August Seasca made an early start again flying S. She passed over Glenbuch Loch on the Aryshire/S Lanarkshire border where she may have stopped for refuelling. At 09.00 GMT she was flying over the Irish Sea and passed over Douglas, Isle of Man. 12.00 GMT saw her crossing into Anglessey and at 15.00 GMT she crossed the coast again into Cardiganshire, W of New Quay. She again crossed the coast leaving Wales at 17.00 GMT E of Tenby and at around 18.45 GMT crossed into Devon, W of Bideford travelling SSW to roost overnight just N of Bodmin. Another mammoth flying day of 570 km!

She did not appear to be such an early riser on 21 August. At 07.00 GMT she crossed the coast E of St Austell, Cornwall into St Austell Bay and then flew across the English Channel. At 12.45 GMT she crossed the French coast near Kerrachen, Finisterre passing W of Plouvien at 13.00 GMT and at 13.30 GMT was over Brest before crossing the coast of France W of Plouhinec at around 15.15 GMT into the Baie D’audiene to start crossing the Bay of Biscay. She was still flying over the Bay at 21.00 GMT. Another great journey of 501 km.
Overall, Seasca has flown 1260 km since leaving the nest travelling at recorded speeds of 11-42 kph and altitudes of 24-94 m.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... fault.aspx

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... s-one.aspx

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Seasca's route

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You've heard this opener from me before: You'd better sit down.....

by richard thaxton

I think you know what's coming, but why did it have to be so gut-wrenchingly soon?! Before our osprey season at Loch Garten is even over, it pains me to report that it's not looking good for one of our young ospreys, Seasca, the middle one of this year's Garten-Sisters .

The last recorded data point we had last Thursday was at 21.00 GMT 21 August when she was flying at an altitude of 110m over the Bay of Biscay with around 300 km still to go before achieving landfall on the Spanish mainland. The mere mention of The Bay I'm sure gives us all the jitters, and we, like you no doubt, have had an anxious weekend awaiting further news.

Our hope was that the opening title of this latest blog post would begin; Phew! She made it, but it is looking very much like she hasn't made it. The route across The Bay is a high risk journey. We know it can cut up rough out there and can be something of a Bermuda Triangle for migrant ospreys, and we fear it has claimed another.

The map below shows Seasca's route. Having flown over the coastal tip of France, what possessed her, the silly mare, to press on further that day, heading out into the Bay of Biscay?! At her last data point, she had already travelled 500 km that day, so with a further 300 km to go before reaching Spain, it would make for an 800 km-day of flight for her, a tall order for a young, inexperienced osprey... There is though, a glimmer of hope, but I repeat, just a mere glimmer.

However, we do have some data collection problems with Millicent (see below) and this just may be the situation with Seasca too. Mike has looked at the Argos site and there does not appear to be a problem with any of the satellites and there was certainly not an issue with satellite passes over Seasca’s last recorded location. However, the data download for Millicent is incomplete with lots of data missing 22 and 24 August. This is not unusual and usually it gets sorted at the next data download.

... It just may mean that Seasca’s download has also been affected by missing data, but seriously, honestly and with hand on heart, I suggest you don't hold your breath. The next data download on Thursday 28 August will clarify the situation, for sure.

Thankfully there is better news concerning Millicent. She left the nest on Saturday 23 August around 11.00 GMT. At 13.00 GMT she was over the Grampians flying at 52 kph and 950 m altitude. She passed over Dundee, flew 5 km W of St Andrews and crossed the Firth of Forth before crossing the coast over N Berwick. She eventually came to roost E of Gavrald in E Lothian. Most of the data is missing for 24 August but we know she came to roost in woods 1.5 km N of Rowsley in Derbyshire. Let's hope that she continues on this more eastward route meaning she'll hopefully cross into France and avoid the osprey graveyard that appears to be the Bay of Biscay to the west.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... fault.aspx

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As we thought........ 14 hours ago - by richard thaxton

Seasca is lost. There is no further data for her in the latest download so we must assume the worst that she has literally ‘sunk without trace’.

Her last recorded speed on 21 August was 25 kph so to reach landfall in N Spain would have taken around 12 hours (less if she speeded up) but still over 6 hours. We can only assume that she just got exhausted, landed on the sea and drowned. This would explain no satellite signal after 21 August.

Millicent's missing data for 24 August is now available so I have attached an image of her whole route from Loch Garten to the current location. She roosted on 26 August in S Wales.

The detail is as follows: At around 10.30 GMT on 24 August she passed into England just N of Catcleugh Reservoir, Northumberland where she may have had a refuelling stop. At 13.00 GMT she was W of Barnard Castle and crossed into S Yorkshire just after 15.00 GMT travelling S to pass between Bradford and Leeds before finally coming to roost at 19.00 GMT in woods N of Rowsley and E of Bakewell in Derbyshire. She travelled 310 km on this day.

There is limited data for 25 August but she appears to have had a late start at 11.00 GMT travelling SSE. She may have spent some time exploring the River Derwent in the Matlock area. She may have only travelled 12 km or so during the day. On 26 August at 09.00 GMT she was travelling SSW from Cromford, Derbyshire passing over Birmingham and Ross on Wye before coming to roost at 19.00 GMT in woods on the Gloucestershire/Monmouthshire border, 6 km SSE of Monmouth. Millie travelled 170 km today and overall around 490 km for the three days. She has also reached some real heights of 1320 m and speeds of 41 kph!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... fault.aspx

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Better news, and better luck...by richard thaxton

Not just better news, but fantastic new!

Millicent has made it to Spain - and having done so by crossing the Bay of Biscay! Compared to poor Seasca, luck was mercifully on Millie's side.

This is a huge relief to us all, I'm quite sure of that, but for the near-departing Team LG 2104, it's a massive relief. Since losing Seasca so soon, and before our season here was over, understandably we were despondent and very worried for Millie too. We took some comfort from her chosen more easterly route, fetching up in Derbyshire. We hoped that by continuing to head due south from there, this would drop her nicely down to the Channel coast and then make for a convenient, short, risk-averse sea crossing into France, then in time, surely down to Spain, before a likely short hop across the Strait of Gibraltar into Africa.

But oh no! Instead she chose to scare the living daylights out of us by veering more south-west from Derbyshire to the Gloucestershire/Monmouthshire border area. All a bit too far west for my liking, appearing as it did, to be tee-ing herself up also for a possible Bay of Biscay onward leg. I kept my thoughts on this from the team, and they no-doubt kept theirs from me, and each other, fearing for a risky crossing of the Bay, like Seasca.

Thankfully though, luck was on Millie's side, or maybe the weather was just more favourable out there for her at the time, than it was for Seasca, or simply that she took the sensible option of stopping for roosting mid-afternoon over the last few days to gather her strength, to brace herself for the next leg. This probably put her in good stead for what was a mammoth overnight flight across the Bay of Biscay.

On 27 August she flew some 170 km travelling W of Bridgewater, N Devon at 09.00 GMT, W of Exeter at 11.00 GMT where she stopped. She then flew S stopping again at 13.00 GMT W of Widecombe in the Moor before changing direction to a more southerly route coming to roost at 15.00 GMT in woods 2 km W of Buckfastleigh at the edge of the Dartmoor NP. She was close to water at the reservoir on the River Avon and a lake in Buckfastleigh.

She started early at 05.00 GMT on 28 August setting off in a SW direction towards Bigbury Bay, S Devon changing to a SE direction to fly over Salcombe before leaving the coast at 07.00 GMT to cross the English Channel. At 11.00 GMT she changed direction to S and crossed the French coast at around 12.30 GMT near Plouézec in the Côtes d’Amour region of Brittany. At 15.00 GMT she came to roost in a wooded area just N of Pleto having covered a total of 235 km for the day.

The 29 August was to see her complete an incredible journey of 635 km. She left early and flew S, perching at 09.00 GMT near a lake at Le Quélennec and may have also stopped at Le Blavel River which she passed over at around 15.00 GMT. At around 16.45 GMT she left France passing close to Quiberon before starting what turned out to be a 13 hour night flight over the Bay of Biscay! She initially headed for the short route to N Spain but at 21.00 GMT changed to a SW direction. She eventually arrived on the N Spain coast between Avilés and Candas at 05.00 GMT on 30 August.

At 07.00 GMT on 30 August she was perched a little distance further S then flew S over an industrial area of Avilés where there are some large bodies of water. The last downloaded data point had her flying S at 11.00 GMT over a mountainous region. Overall, Millie had flown around 1100 km over the last 3 days.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... -phew.aspx

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Millie's latest moves.....richard thaxton, 3 Sep 2014 4:06 PM

It looks like we could be in for another roller coaster ride with Millie! She seems to be taking a similar route to Alba in 2012 and may be poised for a long or hopefully a short trip across the Atlantic to N W Africa. Alba did make the fantastic long trip of around 1200 km from Portugal to the Western Sahara between 28 and 29 August 2012. Millie seems to have visited several feeding spots over the last 3 days and has been going to bed relatively early so she should be fit for any journey.

The detail is as follows. We left Millie in N Spain at 11.00 GMT on 30 August. She was crossing the Cantabrian Mountains at 2580 m altitude at 13.00 GMT then flew SW over the Rio Boeza. She crossed into N Portugal’s Bragousa Region at around 15.30 GMT, traversing the Serra De Montesinho NP before coming to roost at 19.00 GMT in a wooded area E of Barrocas in the Vila Real Region. Overall, a journey of 300 km for the day.

On 31 August she set off around 07.00 GMT travelling SW. Around 09.00 GMT she crossed the large Rio Douro where she may have stopped for breakfast and entered the. At around 12.00 GMT she stopped for about 2 hours on the Rio Paiva, E of Arouca.. She roosted at 18.00 GMT in woodland on the E outskirts of Sever de Vouga. Today was a short stint of only 90 km.

Millie left the roost at around 06.00 GMT and at 08.00 GMT spent around 2 hours on the Rio Vouga for perhaps a breakfast stop. She stopped again at 18.00 GMT near a quarry with pools before coming to roost at 20.00 GMT in woodland on the NW outskirts of Abuxanus, Rio Maior Municipality having travelled 165 km for the day.

A slightly later start of 08.00 GMT on 2 September saw her travelling S 15 km from and parallel with the coast. At 12.00 GMT she flew over Lisbon and the Rio Tejo estuary and stopped just S near Sexal over a Rio Coina tidal estuary. She roosted in woodland 4 km N of Lagoa Albufeira and a large lake. The roost was less than 1 km from the coast. Today’s journey was a modest 90 km making a total of 645 km for the last 3 days.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... atest.aspx

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Posted by ALAN PETRIE on 6 Sep 2014 7:15 PM -

Millie reaches Africa after a long sea crossing

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/places ... 8=4#899032