Heading North!

He's gone north not south! 

I'm biting my nails here. Maybe he'll hitch a lift at Aberdeen airport!

He flew as far north as 4 miles south of Keith in Banffshire yesterday. Last night he roosted near the Cabrach and this morning he's flown south and the latest data at 9am showed him on small river north of Bellabeg in Strathdon. Roy reported that it's a nice day now but a strong SW wind. The weather is improving with high pressure. 

He should go or he could be the last osprey in Scotland!

23rd September...back upstream on the River Dee

23rd September...

Ozwold flew back to the River Dee and made his way upstream to the Linn of Dee. He's been flying over the Balmoral estate and across Braemar.

He'll have just missed the Highland Gathering...the Highland Games held on the first Saturday in September, and regularly attended by a member/s of the Royal family since Queen Victoria first visited in 1848. I wonder if she saw any ospreys fishing along the Dee back then. I guess numbers of ospreys were rapidly diminishing, as the Victorians were indulging in egg collecting and shooting the ospreys out of the skies, eventually emptying Britain of all ospreys. It's incredible to think of the recovery of the osprey in the past 60 years. I wonder if in another 60 years we will be breathing a sigh of relief at having rescued the tiger from extinction...or will the tiger have passed into folklore and legend by then?

River Dee

In the same area

17th to 21st September

Ozwold is still exploring the same area, making one trip along the River Feugh towards Banchory. Roy Dennis has seen two ospreys fishing near Findhorn bay. Other Scottish ospreys are yet to start their migration. 

Better weather will be arriving in Scotland at the end of the week and Roy thinks he might make his move then. 

He's still in Scotland!

Below catalogues Ozwold's movements over the past 10 days. He's still in Scotland revisiting some of his fishing haunts, making a flight back up north near Aviemore. Hopefully, all this is giving him sufficient time to build up fishing skills and strength and stamina for the long journey ahead. With the days drawing in and the temperature dropping, I wonder when he will head south. On the weather forecast tonight, gales are forecast in northern Scotland on Wednesday, so I hope he waits for a clear patch in the weather and makes his move at the safest opportunity. 

September 10th - 12th ... back north to the River Dee

Ozwald flew north on the afternoon of the 10th September to Ballater and spent the rest of the day and the next day on the River Dee and up the River Gairn towards the Bridge of Gairn. By 4 PM today he had flown up the river and was on the River Dee between Braemar and Inverey (at 8pm). It's interesting that he's flown back up north to an area that he has visited previously.

September 14th...on the River Dee

There were no signals on 13 September because the weather was so poor that the battery was not charged by the sun. On the 14th, the transmitter gave the first position at midday in Glen Quoich, near Braemar. And then he moved down onto the River Dee, east of Mar Lodge, and he may have been fishing. In the afternoon he was on the River Dee further upstream and roosted overnight in Scots pine trees beside the river just downstream of the Linn of Dee.

September 15th...heading back north! to Aviemore and River Spey

He was beside the River Dee until at least 8 AM, when he flew further upstream and at 11 AM was flying NNW over the west shoulder of Braeriach, in the Cairngorms, then headed over Loch Einich. An hour later he was perched beside the River Spey at Aviemore, and may have fished at the Rothiemurchus fishery - a favourite place for fishing ospreys. He carried on down the river and at 1 PM was flying over the river Spey at Broomhill Bridge(the old railway station Glenbogle for Monarch of the Glen fans). At 2 PM and 3 PM he was perched beside the small River Gheallaidh north of Tulchan and then moved further east to roost overnight in Scootmore forest near Ballindalloch, after a day's journey of 70 kms.

September 17th

No signals in yet for the 16th but today at 9 AM he was on the River Avon near Tomintoul, an hour later he was downstream beside the river at Fodderletter. At 11 AM he was on the Conglass Water north of Tomintoul. It's another cold wet and windy day, so Ozwald is best to hang around and wait for better weather to start his migration proper.

Other tagged ospreys...Ozwold really is one of the last satellite tagged ospreys to set off on migration. Male ospreys and young ospreys do usually leave sometime in mid September, so I expect there are other ospreys still in Scotland...but below I listed some of the UK Satellite tagged ospreys. 

The Highland Foundation for Wildlife www.roydennis.org

Red 8T... currently in Morocco

Morven...in northern France

Rothiemurchus...tracking slowly down the French coast

Joe...in central Spain

Beatrice...in her wintering grounds in Spain. 

Dyfi (Welsh ospreys) www.dyfiospreyproject.com 

Einion...Morocco

Dulas...nearly reached Africa

Leri...in France

Still in Scotland

Slowly south to Fife

29 August 2011 Ozwold left Glenmuick in the morning and at 2pm was perched at the south end of Glen Clova in Angus. At 4 PM he turned south and flew over Forfar and an hour later was circling over two small lochs at Monikie. He then headed out over the Tay estuary from Broughty Ferry and at 6 PM was flying east towards Tayport. At 7 PM he was roosting in a small wood just north of Cupar in Fife. His day's flight was 82 kms.

Turned back north

30 August 2011 Instead of carrying on south, Ozwold turned back north and at 10 AM was over Dundee flying NNE. At 11 AM he was flying north at 22km/hr east of Forfar and an hour later had settled on the River South Esk between Finavon Castle and Brechin. He was still beside the river but a little further east at 2 PM and had flown just 46 km during the day. Stopping over in Angus 02 September 2011 Last night he was roosting beside the river a little further west near Justinhaugh. The weather has been overcast and he has been settled along the river for three days.  Still in Angus 06 September 2011 Ozwold remains in the same area of Angus, although on 4th Sept he set off NE and at 1pm stopped by a small river north of Strathcathro Hospital. He flew on up in to Glen Esk and at 3pm had turned and was flying back down the glen at Auchmill. At 4pm he was perched by the river north of Edzell and then flew to roost overnight in a farm shelter belt of trees SW of Edzell. Next day he flew back to his favourite haunts and was still there today. With bad weather arriving in scotland Roy Dennis hopes he stays put and feeds before starting to migrate when the weater improves.

28th August...from Speyside to the Deeside.

After spending several days making exploratory flights from a small tributary of the river Spey, Ozwold appears to have set off south again. This time he has flown south, about 34 miles, in the region of the town of Ballater. I was relieved to see that he has been moving around successfully after the high winds and heavy rains that have hit northern Scotland in the past few days. (This satelitte picture is west of Aberdeen).

One of the places Ozwold may have flown over on his journey south to Ballater is Corgarff Castle. This castle, set on lonely moorland has had a long and bloody history.

It was built originally by a branch of the Forbes clan as a tower house around 1550. But a spot of feuding between the Forbeses and the Gordons (who lived north over the mountains) saw Adam Gordan a-galloping with his men to capture Forbes of Towie. Laird Forbes was away, and his wife Margaret refused Adam entry and shot him in the knee, whereupon Adam set fire to the castle burning everyone to death. It is indeed a gruesome tale. The tradegy is remembered in the ballad 'Edom o Gordon'.

The castle was rebuilt and used as barracks by the redcoats in 1746 after the battle of Culloden. The striking pentagon star shaped outer walls were added at this time. The redcoats patrolled Strathdon hunting down Jacobite sympathisers and also illegal producers of whisky for nearly a hundred years.

Ozwold is on the move!



16th August 2011

These are the first remarkable images plotting the journey of Ozwold as he starts on his very first migration.

Roy Dennis readjusted Ozwold's starting location to the town of Nairn, to keep the nest site secret.

Ozwold took us by surprise by starting his migration earlier than anticipated. Many osprey chicks stay at the nest site until mid September and leave about the same time as the adult males, the females having left earlier in August.

In the map below we can see that Ozwold set off on quite a direct line south, a distance of approximately 70 miles to the Grampian mountains.

I hope Ozwold has learnt to fish successfully on his own already, without relying on supplementary feeding from his dad.

17th August 2011

Another fairly straight line south. At the Firth of Forth, Ozwold hugged the coast and headed east, north of Edinburgh and flew south again, a total distance of just over a hundred miles.

18th August 2011

Ozwold headed south, then took a suprise west flight along the southern coast of Scotland, and then north to the remote hill country and high level lochs of the Galloway Forest Park. One loch Ozwold visited was the Clatteringshaws Loch. 

Distance, approx 70 miles.




19th August 2011

Another suprise as Ozwold headed west and north across the island of Arran and on to Kintyre. He finished the day near West Loch Tarbert, a long sea loch, perfect for a spot of fishing.

Today's distance, approximately 90 miles.

16th - 22nd August 2011

Since first leaving the nest on the 16th August, Ozwold has flown a remarkable full circle almost back to his nest site. He is currently fishing on an area of the Spey river favoured by ospreys.

All this data helps to build up a picture of the behaviour and flight patterns of young ospreys as they take their first flights from the nest. During this flight, Ozwold will have been building up an important memory map of Scotland that will be essential for feeding areas and potential nest sites on his eventual return. Roy Dennis is relieved that Ozwold made a full circle, rather than heading out too far west. If ospreys leave landfall and are blown out across the ocean, they can die from exhaustion.

It will be interesting to see when Ozwold makes his next move south.

Total distance 16th to 22nd; nearly 500 miles! He's certainly been putting in the miles and building up his flying fitness for his migration south.