Bassenthwaite Osprey Project 2013 (1 Viewer)

[June Atkinson]

Young ospreys have both fledged

Both the young Ospreys have now fledged successfully. The male on 6th August and the female 2 days later.

Check the Facebook page for updates:

http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

 

[HelenB]

Both the young Ospreys have now fledged successfully. The male on 6th August and the female 2 days later.

Check the Facebook page for updates:

http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

The young male, 14, has been flying around and they have been able to track his flights with the satellite transmitter. See the Facebook page for a map:
Http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

 

[Seatallen]

I wish them all well. I supose they will be on the move soon.

 

[HelenB]

Visited the Ospreys today and learned that all 4 birds are still there. The young ones are practising their flying skills, but still being fed by the parents. Saw 3 of them on various roosts from the upper viewpoint.

The viewpoints will be manned until the 1st September if anyone is planning a visit. The birds are not expected to leave for a couple more weeks, as they were about 3 weeks late in beginning to nest. Viewpoints will remain open, but there will be no volunteers or scopes available in September.

The Ospreys were difficult to see with binoculars!

 

[Dave Williams]

Far better to park in the lay-by on the A66 and view from there although there might not be room when you need it !

 

[HelenB]

Far better to park in the lay-by on the A66 and view from there although there might not be room when you need it !

Yes, we did that last year, but they're not on the nest much now. The staff had the scopes trained on their favourite perches. It was a rather hazy day, so the visibility wasn't great to start with!

 

[HelenB]

KL, the mother Osprey, has not been seen since last Monday, 26th August, so it is presumed that she is on her way to West Africa. We wish you a safe journey!

 

[HelenB]

The LDOP's 13th season ended on 1st Sept, but both of the young Ospreys are still at Bassenthwaite, due to the late start to the nesting season this year. Their satellite transmitters show that they are around the nest, but also exploring more over the lake. The viewpoints can still be accessed all year, but they are no longer being staffed, so there are no scopes for viewing or volunteers to answer questions.

 

[HelenB]

Migration for No 14 has begun!

No. 14 left on his migration on Tuesday, 10th September. At 10am he was logged over Derwentwater, then he continued south reaching the Severn Valley by mid-afternoon and was over Gloucester on Tuesday evening. An epic first leg of his journey!

On Wednesday, 11th September, he continued south heading out over the English Channel at Purbeck. On Thursday, 12th Sept he was flying over Brittany and the last signal was received from the northern coast of the Bay of Biscay at about 3pm.

 

[A jones]

Good Luck No 14, Travelled some distance there

 

[June Atkinson]

A strong first leg on his journey

What a splendid inaugural flight for this young osprey!! Well done littl'un!
Fly south, fly safely....................

No. 14 left on his migration on Tuesday, 10th September. At 10am he was logged over Derwentwater, then he continued south reaching the Severn Valley by mid-afternoon and was over Gloucester on Tuesday evening. An epic first leg of his journey!

On Wednesday, 11th September, he continued south heading out over the English Channel at Purbeck. On Thursday, 12th Sept he was flying over Brittany and the last signal was received from the northern coast of the Bay of Biscay at about 3pm.

 

[HelenB]

The young female, No 15, left on her first migration on Saturday, 14th Sept. She left at about 10am, heading south over Derwentwater and Coniston, and then she was recorded near Preston at 2pm.

Maps will be posted soon on the Facebook feed: http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

 

[June Atkinson]

A first migration

It is amazing to think that this second youngster is leaving Bassenthwaite's safe valley to fly on her own all the way to Africa.
Like your brother, fly free, fly safely, littl'un.

The young female, No 15, left on her first migration this morning, Monday, 16th Sept. She left at about 10am, heading south over Derwentwater and Coniston, and then she was recorded near Preston at 2pm.

Maps will be posted soon on the Facebook feed: http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch

 

[HelenB]

No. 14 left on his migration on Tuesday, 10th September. At 10am he was logged over Derwentwater, then he continued south reaching the Severn Valley by mid-afternoon and was over Gloucester on Tuesday evening. An epic first leg of his journey!

On Wednesday, 11th September, he continued south heading out over the English Channel at Purbeck. On Thursday, 12th Sept he was flying over Brittany and the last signal was received from the northern coast of the Bay of Biscay at about 3pm.

The second update on the migration of No. 14 (on the blog) gives a slightly different version of his first day of migration. It says that he crossed the Channel on the first day and his first roost was just north-west of Cherbourg on Tuesday night - 10th September. At 2pm on Saturday afternoon (14th Sept), he was south-east of Bordeaux, heading towards the Pyrenees.

 

[HelenB]

More news on the journeys of Nos 14 and 15 was posted on Facebook and the OspreyWatch blog on 18th Sept.

The male, no 14, is now in North Africa, having travelled down through France, crossing the central part of the Pyrenees, then hugging the east coast of Spain, before crossing the Mediterranean from the Cartagena area and landing in North Africa, near Oran in Algeria.

The female, no 15, is now in France. Since the last update at Preston, Lancs, she followed the M6 and then the M5 south as far as Worcester. From there she took a southeasterly course towards Brighton and crossed the Channel, making landfall near Dieppe. She then flew over Paris and stopped to roost on the southeast outskirts. Hope she adjusts her route more to the south on the next leg of her journey!

 

[June Atkinson]

No 15 in France

I love the word "Balbuzard", the French for osprey...........
But our girl needs to head southwestwards if she's to conserve her energy.
And she certainly needs to avoid the Périgord and Auvergne regions, where they shoot anything which moves!
The young male is doing really well. I still can't fully comprehend the wonders of migration and how these young birds intuitively know where they must go.
Fly well, fly safely, our Bassenthwaite pair!

More news on the journeys of Nos 14 and 15 was posted on Facebook and the OspreyWatch blog on 18th Sept.

The male, no 14, is now in North Africa, having travelled down through France, crossing the central part of the Pyrenees, then hugging the east coast of Spain, before crossing the Mediterranean from the Cartagena area and landing in North Africa, near Oran in Algeria.

The female, no 15, is now in France. Since the last update at Preston, Lancs, she followed the M6 and then the M5 south as far as Worcester. From there she took a southeasterly course towards Brighton and crossed the Channel, making landfall near Dieppe. She then flew over Paris and stopped to roost on the southeast outskirts. Hope she adjusts her route more to the south on the next leg of her journey!

 

[HelenB]

Another update:
No. 14 (the male) has been crossing the Sahara Desert and was recorded in Western Mauritania, 800 miles from the coast. If he keeps going south, he will probably end up in Liberia or Sierra Leone.

No. 15 (the female) has flown down central France, into Spain and was recorded west of Barcelona. The latest map shows that she has crossed into Morocco.

See the Ospreywatch feed for maps and more details.

 

[HelenB]

More interesting news on the migration routes of our 2 young Ospreys.

As of 5th Oct, no 14 had continued south and was in the Ivory Coast, having passed through Guinea and was heading east, his last position being 5 miles from the Ghana border. This is much further south and east than the usual areas of Senegal and Mauritania, where our Ospreys usually spend the winter.

No 15 has continued south across the Sahara Desert and has moved into Mali, parallelling the route of her brother, but a bit further east! It will be interesting to see if she keeps going in the same direction.

See their positions on the map below:

 

[HelenB]

Very sad news from the Bassenthwaite Osprey Team

Yesterday (Sunday, 13th October), the team announced that no 15, the female chick, has died in the Sahara Desert, in northern Mali. Her position had not changed for 8 days and they think she perished of natural causes on 4th Oct. After leaving the Atlas Mountains she had travelled over a thousand miles, with 6 roosting stops and no chance of finding water or food in this harsh part of the Sahara. Apparently she was only about 150 miles from water when she died.

Her brother, no 14, is safe in the Ivory Coast, near Ghana.

See the Facebook feed for updates: http://www.facebook.com/ospreywatch?ref=stream&hc_location=stream

 

[June Atkinson]

No 15's valiant attempt

So sad to hear that she didn't make it through the harsh and arid conditions of the Sahara. RIP little one....................