With our Loch of the Lowes born Osprey chick Blue 44 still unaccounted for ( there is still no data at available from the satellite tag) our focus remains on the 2012 Angus born chick Blue YD. This young bird is still doing well in west Africa and has returned from the coast to his favourite haunts  150  miles inland along the Senegal river.

After staying on the coast for a few days, on the 12^th of December he headed east again, crossing the Lac de Guiers and stopping overnight near the town of Mbane.

 

This area is just to the south of the tributary river where the Dyfi Osprey Projects young osprey Ceulan sadly died last week, after accidentally drowning.  The sad loss of this bird highlights the risk to all ospreys of entanglement in fishing lines and nets everywhere, but particularly in this part of Africa where so many desperately poor people are subsistence fishers, and the waterways are busy lifelines for humans and animals alike.

Blue YD has now looped back to the same bend in the river which he has frequented for most of the last 6 weeks- it is interesting to speculate why he likes it so much. Perhaps there were too many other Ospreys on the coast competing for the best fishing areas? There have been reports of serious aggression between adult ospreys and youngsters in such winter territories, so perhaps he was seen off by more ‘senior’ residents.

I will be providing another migration update from Blue YD late next week, as I will be working looking after our wildlife here over the Christmas period, and will be sure to alert you if there is any news at all from Blue 44.