281 people in this group
30 October 2009 10:31 PM
Great stuff, Sandy. Many thanks for providing the link to the news article. So exciting !
24 November 2009 10:42 PM
I found some information about fishing opportunities at Rothes & Mallachie's chosen spots.
It's now clear that Mallachie doesn't spend much time around the main channel of the Gambia river - her favourite fishing spot is one of the side channels, or "bolongs". The caption to this Spanish photo may explain why - it seems the Gambia river is rather murky with sediment, making it difficult to see the fish. The osprey in the picture has developed a different fishing technique to deal with this - planing along the surface like a hydrofoil, it's either getting a closeup view or fishing by touch. http://www.fotonatura.org/galerias/fotos/244075/
Roy Dennis says that ospreys fishing off the coast like Rothes, have a varied diet including mullet, large sardines and on occasion, flying fish: "Once or twice we saw an osprey carrying a flying fish the wrong way round, dragging it along like a parachute. The poor bird would then land utterly exhausted on the first sandy beach it encountered to rest and eat its catch"!
25 November 2009 11:12 AM
Sue C thanks for the link wonderful photograph as well. Another one for my folder.
Margobird
25 November 2009 11:50 AM
Thanks Sue C. What an amazing way to fish. These birds are so adaptable. This link was provided by Pia Lundin from Sweden. The bit about the osprey is 23mins in.
http://svtplay.se/t/102782/mitt_i_naturen
25 November 2009 11:54 AM
thanks so much Sue, what great photo's.
25 November 2009 2:22 PM
Thanks Alan for the link. Will view fully later.
30 November 2009 5:09 PM
Blog updated. It appears that Rothes has decided to return to the Bijagos Islands.
30 November 2009 5:16 PM
Thanks Sandy. I think that is the best place to be for Rothes.
30 November 2009 11:49 PM
Don't know if it is just me, but on GE it seems to show that Rothes only briefly revisited the Bijagos and promptly flew back again (or have those dreaded gremlins struck again).
1 December 2009 10:33 AM
Sandy : I just checked GE and I must say that I agree with you that Rothes is back near Varela.
1 December 2009 2:52 PM
Thanks Sandy and Alan. It is good to hear that you confirm what I thought I was seeing on GE and not needing another eye test.
1 December 2009 5:31 PM
Just had another check on GE regarding Mallachie's position. Had to really zoom in to discern her recent movements and I think that she's ok. There are three definitively separate points for the 26th, 27th & 28th of November, which I'm assuming are the last three received. She might not have moved very far but one thing is for certain; any movement indicates that she is still alive.
1 December 2009 6:06 PM
Sandy,
I believe Alice has said that the weekly data transmission takes place on Saturdays, so on this basis, Sat 28th would be the last date included in the latest GE update - but where/how are you looking up these dates? (apologies if there is an obvious answer to this!) Another thing to bear in mind is that the transmitters are now only sending 2 points per day, so that's a maximum of 14 points per weekly update - and they may not all be entered by Alice or whoever is doing the input, as it's a manual process.
Also, we know Roy Dennis' ospreys are staying in very small areas for the most part; it's Rothes who's the aberration here. I also suspect that gremlins have struck in relation to the plotting of her movements, and she hasn't really done a return trip from Varela to the Bijagos Is - but we shall see.........
1 December 2009 6:14 PM
Sandy : I was going to ask about those dates but I see that Sue C has beat me to it. It is true that many ospreys remain in a small locality so hopefully that is the answer and we are not reading too much between the lines.
1 December 2009 6:59 PM
Hi Sue. The dates are on the sattelite tracking version of GE available from this website (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/tracking/lochgartenospreys/index.asp) rather than the proper GE - if that makes any sense! These include the dates of entry points whereas proper GE doesn't.