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The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Loch Garten osprey diary

 

For the record

As promised here are the facts about Deshar's momentous flight. He started to show signs of movement at 9am on 26th September, he started at a course of 220 degrees at a speed of 67kph at 238m above sea level. If he had been at 210 degrees it is likely he would have hit France, I suspect the course was very much due to the weather conditions which showed quite a strong north-easterly wind on that day. He flew for 104 hours non-stop before unfortunately plunging into the North Atlantic Ocean at 17.00 on 30th September, on his 104 hour flight he covered 4,185kms (2600 miles). The satellite data for between 16.00 and 17.00 on the 30th shows that he had changed his course to 62 degrees at a speed of 18kph. 

Nethy, we need to concentrate on her now,she is fine. The last satellite pass showed her to be roosting at 45.839(N), 0.0685(E) or for those of you not into longtitude and latitude - she was about 15 miles north of Angouleme; she appears to be roosting close to a river which is heartening.

I will be looking at the satellite data later this morning and will update the blog as appropriate.

Published 02 October 2008 06:40 by davidgascoigne

Comments

Kathyj said

02 October 2008 07:04

David, many thanks for the data.    The figures are astounding, and you only have to look at the map to see the vast difference in ground covered by Deshar compared to Nethy.   It truley was an Epic journey.  Now all our hopes are pinned on Nethy, and look forward to the next update on the map.  Come on Nethy.

Libs said

02 October 2008 07:13

I am amazed at Deshar's achievement even though it has ended so sadly. He was an amazing osprey. I just wish the wind had been blowing at a slightly different angle.

All hopes on Nethy now, and judging by her previous behaviour (on the nest) and with some luck she will keep us all glued to our computers through the next couple of years.

Will you keep this blog going David through the winter? - please.

Alexandra said

02 October 2008 08:01

David, you are an early bird! Stayed up for as long as I could last night checking for the info but pleased to receive it this morning. Hardly slept last night for thinking about Deshar's demise but will try to follow your advice and now focus on Nethy.

Alexander Thomson said

02 October 2008 08:28

Hi David, Hope you and the Team LG are feeling brighter today, thanks for the data. My day off from work now. I did some basic calculations on Deshar's flight. Assuming he had a start flight weight of 2 kg he was using aproximately 225Watts to fly straight and level. So for 104 hours of non stop Osprey muscle powered flight this equates to over 31 horsepower/hours. (That's a few fish) Or in other terms 53 calories a second! On a good day a very fit racing cyclist outputs around 800-1000 Watts, but not for 26 hours. Sorry if this is long winded, but just shows you the power and force of "Instinct" to drive these wee marvels on.

My Wife Ellie, and I will surely visit LG next year when you are open again in the spring.

Best regards to you and yours, Al.

Wild Freckle said

02 October 2008 08:48

Happy Birthday!! Fantastic data - without the tags we would never have known the epic journey Deshar took - its quite astounding the distance he flew.  Great to hear Nethy still OK.

mikey said

02 October 2008 09:03

If she's near Angouleme, I know the area well and there are some splendid perch and other coarse fish in the Charente. Bon appetit!

SLAEMUIR said

02 October 2008 09:08

iI was in Bordeaux for a year as a student. Aquitaine is full of rivers and lakes and fish for a hungry osprey. But is the killing of migrating birds flying over the Pyrenees still a big problem?

John & Ruth Hamilton said

02 October 2008 09:22

Thanks David for the updates - PLEASE keep this blog going David through the winter -  people all over the world want to know the update on Nethy. A BIG BIG thanks to all the LG team - see you all at Abernethy next year.

John & Ruth - Stornoway

Sally-A said

02 October 2008 09:26

Thanks David. Was that a long night or an early rise for you? Astonishing facts and figures relating to Deshar's flight! Did someone mention The Guiness Book of Records? He truly gave it his best shot. He'll never be forgotten! Nethy seems to be following her instinct perfectly, so far. That's much more cheerful news.

Sandy said

02 October 2008 09:33

SILVA!

Here is the link for Deshar's picture and anyone else that would like it for their desktop.

http://www.freewebs.com/folkestonebirds/osprey.htm.

Jazzman said

02 October 2008 09:34

Do the transmitters still work when they are immersed in salt water??. Or am I clutching at straws that he may be on a weather buoy??

David Mc said

02 October 2008 09:56

When you look at Deshar's flight it is a real miracle that any birds make it - it makes it all the sadder to realize the trip that he made, but all in vain.  When I was at another Osprey site this year, before visiting Loch Garten, they said that many birds compasses were set from a course in Scandinavia and as a result they went too far west, but to see this happen is deeply upsetting. My sympathies to the team who ensured that he was able to make such an epic trip.

BarbaraAnne said

02 October 2008 10:12

I was feeling quite positive until I read Slaemuirs comment, now I will worry until our girl is in Spain.... All I can now imagine is a load of hunters all lined up with guns..!!!

Borns said

02 October 2008 10:30

David - thank you for the information - a truly amazing flight. Further to David Mc comments - did the Ospreys from LG come from Scandinavia - somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to think they were brought over from there in the past? Do you think it could be an inbuilt gene or just plain and simply the wind? I do hope you carry on through the winter. I was at LG in May where we joined the RSPB and now have the lovely print on my wall to look at! Thank you very much.

Margobird said

02 October 2008 11:01

Deshar what an astounding journey. You really did try so hard. Thanks David for the data. I am doing as you suggested and concentrating on Nethy now and wishing her all the luck in the world but I think she will make it. Still sad about it all but thanks Sandy for the link to Deshar's picture, it will be a permanent remimder of a very brave bird.

Leeah said

02 October 2008 11:27

Two Osprey Chicks - like chalk and cheese. A wee boy, who brought out the maternal feelings, took an amazing journey that so sadly went wrong.

A wee girl whose strong character shone through from the very start, continuing on her journey, learning every second of every day.

We saw things we didn’t want to. Things happen that is heartbreaking, but if we were to edit out the bits that upset us, it wouldn't be real.

In years to come with her personality no intruder will upset her chicks; no bird is going to snatch a fish from her. She’ll just go into “Nethy mode” and they’ll be off.

She is a young EJ, she is definitely her mother's daughter, and maturity will refine and smooth out the rough edges. Nethy is strong, and if any young bird can do this, she can. I really, really hope she gets the chance.....

BrianEE said

02 October 2008 11:59

Alexander T, that's a fascinating calculation (wish I had the engineering knowledge !). I'd been wondering how long he could last on a 2kg body weight, this might help the calculation. I have to assume you literally mean calories and not kcal ? When dieting, we talk about "calories" but mean kcal. One gram of fat equates to about 9.5-10.0 kcal. Thus to generate 1 calorie he needed 0.1 mg of fat, hence his "fuel consumption" at the start was 5.3 mg of fat per second, or 19 g of fat per hour If he'd continued at that rate, he'd have consumed 2k of fat in 106 hours, but that is clearly impossible. As he flew slower his fuel consumption would have dropped, and as he grew lighter, it would have fallen further. With his speed falling from 67kph to 17kph near the end, his fuel consumption would have been down to about a quarter, reduced further by his being lighter. This leads to the speculation that he simply ran out of fuel when he reached minimum viable body weight - say around 800 gm. I'd like to think it was that, not fatigue, brought about his demise. This is an amateurish calculation and I hope it doesn't sound cold-blooded. However it's the kind of thing that ornithologists would do when trying to estimate what a bird can do. It'd be interesting to get a professional view !

fiery said

02 October 2008 12:04

An amazing set of statistics, that I'm sure will have the experts rewriting some of their understanding of these fantastic creatures. Chickenzone; I had a look at your interesting ideas, thanks for sharing them with us. Not sure whether the buoys had any affect on his track, there are quite a few out there, and if he were attracted by them, the chances of landing on one when he tired might be higher. In the final phase of Deshar's flight, he ran into the strong northerly updraughts of a cyclone just after it had reached peak intensity. I'd been watching this low develop over the previous 2 days, ( http://www.playbike.co.uk/images/PYAA07.gif ), and hoped it would advance quickly east and help nudge him up to the Azores, but unfortunately Deshar's run of poor luck continued, and it held station at around 40 west. Though it had began to dissipate by the time of Deshars approach, it still held northerly wind speeds of around 30 knots in the area Deshar succumb to his tiredness. Fair wind and favour just wasn't with Deshar throughout his journey... after narrowly missing the north west tip of France, the Azores draw a 500 mile unmissable swathe (for a bird in good visibility) just about a hundred miles north of Deshar's track... so it could easily have been oh so different with a modicum of luck. Surely with the inherent physical ability of these birds shown to such good effect by Deshar, a venture out into the eastern Atlantic will not necessarily be a foregone conclusion. All I can say again is great work by all involved with this project, and thank you for this chance to understand these creatures in such detail.

GaryS said

02 October 2008 12:26

Thanks for the data David. What a guy Deshar was. He gave it his best shot. Still, as you say, I am now putting everything into routing for Nethy. As Leeah above says, she has the makings of a fine adult. I echo the pleadings to have regular blogs over the winter even if it isn't every day.

Amanda said

02 October 2008 12:40

Thank you very much Sandy, Deshar is now on our desktop. My husband was a volunteer at Loch Garten earlier this year and my class of 5,6 and 7 year olds have avidly followed the adventures of OVS, EJ, Nethy, Deshar and the third little chick, we are now imagining Deshar and the third little chick flying high in the blue sky and catching lots of fish together without a care in the world. We are also hoping that we will see Nethy back again and follow her adventures with her own chicks one day. Thank you very much for all the blogs and it is so wonderful that so many people have been touched by these amazing, beautiful birds.

georgygirl said

02 October 2008 13:11

Happy Birthday David! Well done on keeping the blog going, and keeping me and everyone else in touch with what's been going on. x

Juan said

02 October 2008 14:21

I´m Spanish and you don´t worry about Nethy in Spain. The conscience of the hunters has changed in the last thirty years. A very few hunters shoot to a raptor and the law protect the raptors even with sentences of prison. And many wetlands are protected and the hunting is there banned. 200 Ospreys wintering every year in Andalucia.

Trish said

02 October 2008 15:18

I hadn't logged on to my computer for a few days. Last I knew they were both still happily settled in England. How I wish that was still the case. Still it just goes to show what a major challenge they face at such a young age and then twice a year once they reach maturity. Fingers crossed for Nethy and EJ and OVS of course. David it's nice to know you are still there or maybe you aren't you could be keeping us upto date from anywhere I imagine. If LG is lucky enough to have you on the team again next year we will see you then hopefully along with some more of this years team as you have all been so good at keeping us informed through all the ups and downs of this season. I will keep following progress for as long as this blog continues and then look forward to a new one starting next March!

Ian said

02 October 2008 15:50

I guess the downside of this amazing technology is that we see the pain as well as the good times!

susan lovatt said

02 October 2008 16:03

I am absolutely devastated at the news about Deshar. I was at Loch Garten when EJ laid her first egg and have followed the progress ever since. Good luck to Nethy.

sjd209 said

02 October 2008 16:46

when i was first reading about poor deshar, i had the radio on as usual. the song playing at that time was one moment in time by whitney houston. deshar certainly had his moment and he will be missed. im now hoping that nethy arrives safely and that she returns back to us in years to come.

Harriet said

02 October 2008 17:11

Thank you David for the details of Deshar's marathon flight.

Re Nethy and her current position can you tell me how you are expressing that position?  I have never seen it done that way before, I've always seen and used degrees,minutes and seconds which, as near as I can make it, puts Nethy at 45degs50'07"N 0degs03'43"E

WEE JEANNIE said

02 October 2008 17:24

Juan - thankyou for the information. I'm sure we are all very muc h comforted by that. We couldn't bear anything to happen to our Nethy!

pip said

02 October 2008 17:49

Thank you Juan - it is good to know the info "straight from the horses mouth" Birthday? David? - many happy returns! And thank you for giving us all a lift just when we needed it.

SLAEMUIR said

02 October 2008 18:26

Thanks for the info, Juan. Glad to hear things have changed as I remember it being a real problem in the past on both side of the mountains.

Barbara Jean said

02 October 2008 19:41

How can the knowledge if Deshar's flight be used to help Osprey's in the future? Would putting nesting platforms or sanctuaries farther east in the uK be helpful? If they were further east when they start their migrations the unfavorable wind currents may not blow them out to sea.

admin said

03 October 2008 11:29

Re: Deshar's route and buoys, you have to remember that the route shown on the map is not the precise one that he took. We only got snapshots of where he was on the hour (when the tag records position, speed, bearing and altitude). Then we're joining the dots between each point - hence the straight lines.

Re: the format of the longitude and latitude, there's a page that converts degrees, minutes and seconds to decimal degrees here:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html

paul thomo said

03 October 2008 20:42

i asked how far a osprey could fly in one flight, unfortunately i did not want my question answered in this way. regarding deshars earlier errors of navigation could it be his natural navigation abilities were suspect.

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