Heading south
Our Ospreys have now not been seen on the nest for over a week, but we have been getting regular daily sightings of Ospreys fishing on the Solway in front of our Saltcot Merse Observatory. Some days have been seeing one or two birds, other days there have been up to five, so as well as our resident Ospreys we know others must be joining them, using the Solway as a very convient rest and feeding stop on their southwards migration from Scotland to Africa.
The fascinating science of Satellite Tracking is revealing more about Ospreys migrations all the time and this year we have an amazing total of eight Scottish Ospreys , two English and three Welsh birds wearing transmitters. We know that at least two of these birds have passed through our area already on their autumn travels southwards- for more information see our UK Osprey News page.
It is incredible to think that our two chicks are now ready to migrate being just three months old- and facing that huge task of navigating to Africa alone. We can only wish them well and hope that eagle eyed observers further south might spot them and their distinctive leg rings on route, or even in Africa, to give us news of their fate. We probably won't see them back here in Scotland for a couple of years ( gap year in Africa is the Osprey norm) even if they are sucessful. Good luck "ZY" and "HL"!
