FR3

Having made rapid progress along the Atlantic coast of France, FR3 appears to have settled for the time being in the south of the country. Travelling slowly south-west over 25th & 26th August, FR3 then headed north-west on the 27th to the current location; an agricultural area on the border between the departments of Charente and Dordogne, approximately 50 miles north-east of Bordeaux.

From looking at the satellite imagery in Google Earth it is evident that there are a series of small lakes or fish ponds, surrounded by woodland. FR3 is spending most of the time roosting in the woodland and presumably going on the occasional fishing trip. On the morning of the 29th FR3 undertook a short round-trip of a few miles to the north and west but was back at the ponds by 1pm. The weather forecast for this part of France looks relatively settled for the next week, with temperatures in the low 20 celsius and only light northerly winds, so it will be interesting to see how long FR3 chooses to stay here for. View the latest data for yourself on our Osprey tracking page.

FR4 and the male

Meanwhile FR4 remains in residence at Loch of the Lowes, along with the male. Both of them have been seen today despite the intermittent rain. The male was perched in the silver birch tree directly across from the hides for a good while this afternoon – just within reach of the nest camera (as you’ll have seen if you were watching earlier) and FR4 has been on the nest. As you can see from the Google Earth image below, FR4 has been on a few short adventures away from the loch, the longest being a 7 mile round-trip to the south-east of the reserve on the 24th August.

With September almost upon us it must be only a matter of time before our remaining osprey pair depart for warmer climes. We’ll be sure to let you know when that happens so keep checking in for the latest news.

Jonathan