Homeward bound - By Kayleigh Brookes on March 16, 2015
Great news – our satellite-tagged female, 30(05), is now officially on her way home! We have been waiting impatiently over the last few days to find out where she is – during the winter the tracker only sends us data every five days. This morning we received what we had been waiting for: the excellent news that she is on her way. And over on the other side of Atlantic two other Ospreys that we’re following as part of World Osprey Week have also set-off.
30 began her journey on Tuesday 10th March, leaving the idyllic coastal site in Senegal where she has spent the winter months, and set off resolutely homewards! She passed to the west of the large Lac de Guiers, then crossed the Senegal river in the afternoon. Landmarks such as these are important in an Osprey’s migration, as studies have shown that they use them to navigate.
She flew quite late into the evening, then roosted just north of the Senegal river. In her first day of migration, 30 travelled a total of 226km (140 miles). Day two took her into the desert of Mauritania, where she flew for 269km (167 miles) to a roost site. The next two days she continued through the Sahara, travelling 406km (252 miles).
Her direction of flight had shifted slightly north-west, and the next day’s data gave us a scare when it showed she was much further west than we would have anticipated. The wind must have been blowing strongly from the east and pushed her off-course. Luckily her data points show that she has turned back to the east and is now getting back on track.
The last data point we have for 30 was yesterday morning at 10am. During the four days of migration she has already undertaken, she has covered a distance of 901km (560 miles), averaging 225km (140 miles) per day. At the moment she is travelling at quite a leisurely pace, flying at an average speed of 26kph (16mph).
We should receive more data tomorrow or the next day – it will be interesting to know where she is!
http://www.ospreys.org.uk/homeward-bound/
