Last week it looked as though FR3 was possibly heading for the mouth of the Gambia river and the Atlantic coast, but over the past seven days our young osprey has been on a round-trip over the border into southern Senegal instead.

After a rest day on the 21st, FR3 continued travelling west the following morning, no doubt exploring more of the bolons (creeks) that extend southwards from the main river. Sometime after mid-day on the 23rd, our young osprey changed course and began heading south, crossing over the border into Senegal. Passing to the west of the village of Mahmouda, FR3 continued south along the course of the Koulour Etoupayo – a tributary of the Casamance River (the main river which gives this region its name), before heading back northwards across a large, sprawling inland floodplain.

FR3 roosted on the edge of the floodplain overnight and into the early morning on the 24th. Resuming northward travel sometime after 11am, FR3 crossed back into the Gambia between 3 and 4pm and an hour later was back where the journey had begun two days earlier. Having competed a 130km (80 mile) circuit our young osprey didn’t travel far at all over the following few days.

Meanwhile, FR3’s sibling continues to show no inclination to go anywhere. Aside from one trip down to the main Gambia river at around 3pm on the 23rd, FR4 continues to roost and hunt over the same patch of mangrove forest day in-day out.

Jonathan