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Bynack's finally done it! He's picked up the pace and made it over into Africa to join Tore and Rothes. Where has his journey taken him? What peril lies ahead? Has Tore reached her final destination already? Check out the Loch Garten osprey diary to find out.

The last update from Loch Garten saw Bynack finally getting his act together and heading south with purpose and Tore flying full steam ahead through Africa, but there were some rather worrying signs coming from Rothes satellite tag. No one was entirely sure what was going on and it's been a tense...

Libellule : According to GE the nearest fix we have for Rothes in 2011 is outside the Vitrezay reserve. But I would assume that a visit there is most likely.

There is a new-ish reserve at Vitrezay http://www.en-charente-maritime.com/tourisme/visites/poles-nature/vitrezay , three creeks south of Port Maubert. It consists of several large lakes & as well as nature trails & hides, it also features fishing as an activity to learn about. Maybe Rothes should...

Black Jag: Remember that Rothes is incapable of catching a sturgeon, at 10 -15 Kg, so I think it is the security offered by this type of premises and the surrounding land is not too populated by humans, which has attracted him/her. I am guessing that Rothes will stay there as long as possible, outstaying...

Here is a 2d/3d rotating map of the Port Maubert area, the fish farm is prominent, and the estuary as well. It does look that the area is a safe place, as also borne out by Rothes' long stay there since 30th June. The map also shows many of her perches, dotted around the area. Courtesy of Google...

Sunday 18th September. After lunch at a restaurant inland, we decided to make a detour to Port Maubert. After only 10 minutes scouring the skies, we spotted her coming towards us across the reedbeds to the north of Port Maubert. Aboout 200 metres from us, she turned & headed back to theGironde river...

Cirrus : What with the debate about Rothes' sex, future travel plans, need for a moult and new plumage with white being the in colour for 2012, we are in for more twists and turns in his/her story. A sophisticated bird with a taste for the Gironde, which we all know is the 'St Tropez' for...

Rothes did not start moving south until 24th September 2009. I guess we will have to wait to the end of September to get an idea. I think it is possible that he/she will not go back to Africa. I get the impression that the bird that came north not the bird that went south.

What are the implications for Rothes ? A message received from the LPO in France. "(Ospreys are sedentary in Corsica). In Continental France, 5 to 10 birds over-winter each year since 2000. We have 6 records of osprey in Charente-Maritime in december since 2009." So in Charente-Maritime...

Rothes is set for nice weather next week, so not much chance of her drifting south? Royan forecast (just to the north of Rothes). Will she, won't she, or should that be, Will he, won't he. :o)

The bird was carrying a fish. She was also a long way off, hence the poor quality.

another in the Port Maubert set

Rothes near Port Maubert, Gironde Estuary on Friday 23 July 2011. PJ clearly seen on left leg on zooming in. Poor light so not a great photo

Good evening. This is the weekly osprey news, brought to you by Katie from the Web Team. Well, we've not heard from Mallachie again this week, so her whereabouts remains a mystery. As Richard mentioned in his last blog post , it's possible the transmitter has stopped working or fallen off...

This osprey sighted 130909 by Claude Feigne of faune-aquitaine, at Chenal du Gua, Saint-Vivien-de-Medoc. Exactly on the boundary of Rothes' known tracking area. The observer reports the bird as an adult! Not on migration, but just in flight.

Well, you can probably predict the situation. The latest data we have shows - a drum roll, please - Rothes : still in residence near Fontaine, north of Bordeaux Mallachie : still around the nest she calls home. The weather forecast for Aviemore shows high winds and rain coming soon, which will...

No, not pens and pencils, but Rothes and Mallachie, neither making any exciting movements as far as we can tell from today's batch of data. Rothes has been mostly sitting by her favourite fishpond. At the Birdfair, Richard spoke to Naomi, the wife of one of the RSPB's directors, who was just...

Hello. Mallachie really has made my job as temporary basher-in of data for the map rather easy. She has managed this by not going very far. When I receive the data, I scan through it looking for coordinates different from the norm (there wouldn't be much point in putting in all the identical...

Well, not a lot new to report today, I'm afraid. Mallachie still hasn't roamed very far from the nest. At 5 am yesterday she went to the shores of Loch Garten again, but the data doesn't show her exploring any further afield as yet. Meanwhile, as of 7 am this morning, Rothes was still...