Mallachie

Mallachie was inside the second egg to be laid in 2009, on 19 April. She hatched on 24 May. Her parents are White EJ and 'Odin'.

When she was ringed, she weighed 1.79 kg and had a wing length of 342 mm. Mallachie's colour-ring is white with a black 'PM'.

Mallachie was the last young osprey to leave Loch Garten in 2009. She left on 29 August, flying south-west past Dundee, then Bamburgh in Northumberland, over Newcastle and roosted overnight near Northallerton.

She then followed the Swale valley and spent the next night near Thorpe Underwood, north-west of York. On 1 September she headed south-west over Bramham, Leeds, our Denby Dale office between Huddersfield and Barnsley, before heading over the Peak District National Park and eventually roosting near Burton on Trent in Staffordshire.

Next day (2 September) she continued south-west and flew right over the middle of Birmingham before resting near Tardebigge in Worcestershire.

On the morning of 3 September, she left her roost and flew south past Cheltenham, Cirencester and Swindon before heading south-east again just west of Southampton, over the Isle of Wight and commencing her Channel crossing. It took her between two and three hours and she spent her first night in France near Fonguesemare, Seine-Maritime.

Early on 4 September, Mallachie set off in a south-easterly direction which took her past Bernay and Blois, before she settled for the night near Valençay. Next day she started to fly south-west, over la Brenne - an area of lakes famed for its gatherings of cranes in spring - past Buzançais and Bellac and to the south of Bordeaux, not all that far from her older sister, Rothes.

Mallachie woke up on 6 September at her roost just outside the Parc naturel régional des Landes de Gascogne. From there it was a short flight to the Biscay coast which she hugged south past Bayonne and Biarritz. She had her photo taken by Didier Domec at Saint Jean de Luz where she tried fishing before flying over the border into Spain. By 6 pm she was north-west of Pamplona.

On 7 September, Mallachie continued south-west, deeper into Spain. Her flight took her past Logroño (on the Ebro river) and over the mountains east of Burgos to end up north-west of Madrid near Pedro-Rodríguez, on the Rio Arevalilla.

She kept south-west on 8 September, flying over the Sierra de Gredos and into Extremadura. Mallachie flew west over the Parque Nacional de Monfrague and settled near the Puente Trajan, a Roman bridge built in 98 AD. There she fished for a couple of days along the River Tagus, near the border with Portugal.

On 12 September Mallachie flew west along the Tejo or Tajo (or Tagus) - Iberia's longest river - and roosted overnight near Machera, just inside the Spanish border. Next day she flew across into Portugal where she found some reservoirs which must contain fish.

On 9 October Mallachie finally made a movement again, south to roost south-west of Seville, right on the Spanish border. Next day, she headed south over the Atlantic, taking a few hours to cross and eventually making landfall in north-west Morocco, where she spent the night. On 12 October she made it to Algeria, having flown south through Morocco, and over the next few days she made relatively short flights through the desert, passing through Algeria, Western Sahara and Mauritania.

On 19 October Mallachie arrived in Senegal, crossing the River Senegal near Kaedi (below)

before flying on south over the Reserve de Faune du Ferlo Nord. Next she headed south-west towards the border with The Gambia, where she roosted over 20-21 October before moving south-west into the southern part of Senegal.

On 22 October Mallachie did a bit of exploring, flying west, then south into Guinea-Bissau and then east, eventually finishing up in southern Senegal. At one point, she was less then 5 km from Rothes! Next day she flew further north-east, crossed the River Gambia and roosted not far from the Trans-Gambia Highway and the ferry crossing. She then explored The Gambia.

In December 2009, we lost contact with Mallachie. We don't know whether her tag fell off or stopped working, or if she met a sticky end. It might not be the last we hear about her, as she still has her metal ring and colour ring marked with her unique code. So if someone sees or finds her, we might find out where she's been!