The Flight of Osprey T08 (2000)

Osprey T08 is a female. It was translocated from a Forestry Commission forest in North Scotland to Rutland Water on 11 July and released on 1 August. Just before release this bird weighed 1740g and had a winglength of 460mm. BTO ring number 1367846.

T08 was the dominant bird in its pen before release but then surprisingly reluctant to take to the air. It carried a solar-powered radio transmitter.

T08 followed a route southwest- through central France, crossing the Pyrenees on 4/9. It probably crossed the Mediterranean on the afternoon/evening of 8/9. It held a steady course, roughly SW for over a week. On 10/9 it spend the night at an altitude of over 2000m at a pass through the highest parts of the Atlas mountains.

The map indicates that on the morning of 14/9 T08 may have been at a seasonal lake (Sebkhet Oumm ed Drous Guebli ) which appears to be about 35km long. We do not know whether it would be holding water at this time of the year, or whether there would be fish in the lake. T08 arrived at the coast on 16/9 and its flight across the desert had lasted 4-5 days. Through NW Africa its route and timing was remarkably similar to that of S18 until it paused south of the Senegal River.

For 7 weeks it stayed near the Ferlo river, an area probably still containing numerous flooded areas and ephemeral pools after the rainy seaon. (It is well worth zooming in on the interactive map.) Perhaps shrinking pools provided easy pickings, probably rich in floundering catfish and barbel fish struggling in the shallow waters. On 6/11 it moved south through the Saloum Delta, crossing the Gambia and southern Senegal on 7/11. Then it flew on along the coasts of Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Transmissions ceased on 12 November.