Rutland Ospreys

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30 gets closer to home - By Tim on March 27, 2015

A look at the weather maps in Europe shows that we shouldn’t be too worried that Maya still isn’t back at the Manton Bay nest. France and Spain have been very wet over the past few days and it will certainly have held many Ospreys – and other summer migrants – up as they head north. One of the birds that we know has been delayed - she is now several days later than last year – is 30(05). The latest satellite data shows that at 14:00 this afternoon she was flying north through the western part of France, 100km north-east of La Rochelle.

Although we are still waiting for some data to come through, we now know that she crossed the border from Spain into France on Wednesday afternoon. That evening she roosted beside a small lake, 13km east of the town of Dax, after a day’s flight of 221km from the La Rioja region of Spain. As in previous migrations she passed well to the east of our friends at the Urdaibai Bird Center in the Basque Country.

Over the course of the past two days 30 has made slow but steady progress along the west coast of France; roosting to the north of Bordeaux on Thursday evening and then continuing north past La Rochelle today. Quite when she makes it back to the UK depends on the weather over the next few days. The forecast looks very unsettled and so it may be that she will not arrive back in Rutland until Monday or Tuesday next week. We should get another update from her transmitter over the weekend – so watch this space!

Much further south, another Osprey from the UK is also heading north. Roy Dennis has just received the latest data from Blue ’s transmitter and it shows that the Scottish Osprey has made it across the Sahara. The track below is from 16:13 to 17:42 this afternoon when he covered 65 km north-north-east. The data for the last 5 days will be slowly downloaded through the system (Blue has a GSM transmitter) and this will show his route over the Sahara Desert. He now has the Atlas Mountains in his sights. Thanks to Roy for the update.

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/30-gets-closer-to-home/

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The winner revealed - By Kayleigh Brookes on March 28, 2015

It has finally happened – the first Osprey has landed on the Manton Bay nest! We all expected that the first Osprey on the nest this season would be Maya, the resident female. Last season this was indeed the case – she arrived on her nest on 17th March. This season has been different, however. It was not Maya who landed on the nest – she is still not back. There is no need to be concerned just yet, as we know the weather on the Ospreys’ migration pathway has been inclement to say the least.

So who was it who landed on the nest yesterday? Tim revealed the answer in his update - it was 5N(04). 5N is a breeding female who has been back in Rutland for about a week, and is still waiting for her partner to return and join her at her nest site. She also visited the Manton Bay nest last season, along with several other breeding females looking around at other nests.

5N was the first Rutland-fledged Osprey to breed, and it was the Manton Bay nest on which she bred for that first year – 2007. She moved to another site after the failure of her nest in 2008.

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/the-winner-revealed/

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Ferenz

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Le voyage lent - By Kayleigh Brookes on March 29, 2015

30(05) is still in France! Since she roosted near the River Charente on 26th March, she has only travelled 209km (130 miles). On 27th March she left her roost site just after 8am and flew across the city of Saintes. She then headed north-east, travelling at speeds of about 30kph (18mph), until she reached the town of Le Chardonnet, where she roosted that night, having travelled roughly 139km (86 miles). The next day, 28th March, she set off at about 7am and, at speeds of 17kph (10mph), she continued north-east for a further 68km (42 miles), then settled down to roost again.This shows us that 30's path is still not trouble-free, and she is struggling to make any significant progress. The reason for this is similar to the problems she met in Spain – rain. As you can see from the map below, the weather on the northern coast of France looks bad for today, so perhaps she will remain where she is for the time being, and continue when the weather improves.

The conditions look a little bit better on Monday, so hopefully 30 will be able to make more progress northwards. She has another 565km (350 miles) to go to reach Rutland. The weather has really affected the speed of her return this year – she is already a week behind the time it took her to get home last spring, which was an amazing eleven days! We are looking forward to her arrival in the next couple of days.

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/category/satellite-tracking/

Europe Weather MeteoSat today


http://www.dwd.de/bvbw/appmanager/bvbw/ ... nnn%3Dtrue

Details:

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25(10) on the Manton Bay nest



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCkR7w_3tJM

There was still no sign of the Manton Bay Ospreys today, but we had a bit of excitement in the Centre when another Osprey landed on the nest! This time it was 25(10), another female who returned last week and is, like 5N(04), waiting for her mate to return.

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/watching-and-waiting/

Still sitting in the nest...

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[Ferenz]

Correction: It’s 28(10)!

By Kayleigh Brookes on March 29, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-46kOCJLGTY

There has been some more excitement here at Lyndon today – another Osprey is back! It’s male Osprey 28(10)! He arrived in Manton Bay this afternoon and sat on the leaning perch - the one without the camera on it!

28 was first spotted by Barrie Galpin, and soon after was identified by John Wright. He is only a day later than last year, so he must have been just ahead of the bad weather that is holding up 30(05) and presumably many other Ospreys.

Eventually 28 came to the nest, and here are a couple of videos of him, on two different cameras!

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/its-2810/

[Ferenz]

[Ferenz]

Couldt be 5N(04) with silver Band at left leg.

5N is a breeding female who has been back in Rutland for about a week,
and is still waiting for her partner to return...

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/the-winner-revealed/

...and this osprey has no bands

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.....ma si saranno accorte che qualcuno è tornato??????

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Let’s hear it for the boy - By Kayleigh Brookes on March 30, 2015

There has been so much going on in Manton Bay today, it was unbelievable! We have had not one, not two, but three Ospreys in the Bay!

The excitement began at about 10:00… I was in the wonderful Waderscrape hide, opening up for the day, when a high-pitched call broke the silence of the empty Bay. It was 28(10) flying in, carrying a fish and being chased by gulls!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm0WyY2IwNg

25 flying into the nest, followed by 28 who flies overhead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra-iSilrlzQ

At about 14:30, 25 was sitting on the nest, then 28 appeared above her and attempted to mate with her, as the video below shows. As you can see, it was not a successful attempt, but 25 seemed receptive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFtGo-1EkVM

Eventually, at about 15:15, both females disappeared – presumably back to their own nest sites – and 28 was alone in the Bay once more.

25 and 5N are clearly getting impatient waiting for their respective mates, and are touring the area, looking around at other nest sites. Both birds have dropped in on Manton Bay before just recently (5N on Friday, 25 on Saturday), but did not stay for more than a minute at most. This time they stayed longer, probably because 28(10) was here, and the presence of a male would encourage them to stay.

What an exciting day! I can only hope tomorrow is just as exhilarating!

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/lets-hear-it-for-the-boy/

[Ferenz]

Enjoing the sun

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The WOW race hots up! - By Kayleigh Brookes on March 31, 2015

As we wait expectantly for the next Ospreys to arrive at Rutland Water, it is extraordinary to think that, all over the globe, Ospreys are making similar journeys back to their breeding grounds. The latest update on the Ospreys we’re following as part of World Osprey Week shows how much the birds’ journeys can be affected by the weather.

As we have seen through 30(05)‘s data, her journey so far this year has been severely impaired by the weather, and her progress has been slow. The same is true of her latest day’s travelling. Yesterday she travelled only 129km (80 miles), and, as of yesterday evening, she is still in France, 119km (74 miles) from Calais.

She left her roost at 08:00 yesterday morning, flew over Louviers and across the River Seine. She stopped at 14:00 at a location near Senarpont, on the River Bresle, and it was there that she roosted last night. As you can see from the photo below, there are several lagoons in the area, which makes it a very sensible spot for 30 to stay.

The wind has been rather severe over France, with winds predicted to gust at 43mph later today. This is clearly why 30 is still travelling slowly and decided to stop yesterday afternoon. It is comforting to know that she is being sensible – roosting early, flying slowly and avoiding flying through the bad weather fronts. She will get home eventually!

Judging by her latest position, it looks as though 30 is taking a similar route to the one she took last spring. In the map below, you can see (furthest right green line) that 30 crossed the English Channel at almost its narrowest point, between Calais and Dover. It is interesting to see that she is heading the same way this season. The other two lines on the map show her autumn migrations in 2013 (green) and 2014 (purple).

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/the-wow-race-hots-up/