-={AA}=-FelixKat
16th October 2008, 14:55
There was a documentary report on the radio last night about the Highland Foundation for Wildlife's research on the migration habits of the Osprey. Not something I'd normally be interested in. However, earlier this summer they caught this Osprey (now nicknamed Nimrod) and have fitted him up with a GPS tracking device. He is currently making his trip from the North of Scotland to Africa. In one 35 hour leg he flew right across Spain and down into Southern Morocco. Awesome eh? Here is the link to the website where he is being tracked:www.roydennis.org/Nimrod.htm
And an extract from the web diary:
"Nimrod had flown over the whole of Spain by moonlight - the first fix of the day (the transmitter's GPS is off from 8pm - 6am GMT) showed he had flown at least 782 kilometres overnight and was 113 kilometres from the Andalucian coast flying at 18km/h SW over the Atlantic Ocean towards Morocco. During the night it appears his SW heading took him over Madrid and he crossed the coast at Mazagon, at the mouth of the river at Huelva, about 4am. It was perfect conditions for a night flight with clear skies and a nearly full moon, but intentional night flights over land by ospreys is very unusual. He covered 782 kilometres in the 10 hour flight, which is a mean speed of 78kms/h, which meant he had picked up favourable tailwinds. He clearly knew his route and high over Andalucia he would have seen the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
It is interesting that he then set off SW to Morocco for a 690 kilometre flight over the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Morocco at Essaouira, which meant that he avoided flying over the series of high mountains in Morocco. Over the ocean, he was flying between 58 and 483 metres above the sea at speeds between 56 and 90 km/h. His route was direct and he came ashore at Assaouira at 2pm, he had passed Agadir by 4pm and then flew down the coast, before heading south into the deserts and finally came to roost near Leimadrat in South Morocco.
This was an incredible 2300 kilometre migration flight, non-stop in about 35 hours, at an average speed of 68 kilometres per hour. He had obviously decided that it was time to get to Africa and his winter quarters after his 12 day stop-over on the French coast. After this flight, Nimrod (the might hunter) could also be called the mighty navigator!"
And an extract from the web diary:
"Nimrod had flown over the whole of Spain by moonlight - the first fix of the day (the transmitter's GPS is off from 8pm - 6am GMT) showed he had flown at least 782 kilometres overnight and was 113 kilometres from the Andalucian coast flying at 18km/h SW over the Atlantic Ocean towards Morocco. During the night it appears his SW heading took him over Madrid and he crossed the coast at Mazagon, at the mouth of the river at Huelva, about 4am. It was perfect conditions for a night flight with clear skies and a nearly full moon, but intentional night flights over land by ospreys is very unusual. He covered 782 kilometres in the 10 hour flight, which is a mean speed of 78kms/h, which meant he had picked up favourable tailwinds. He clearly knew his route and high over Andalucia he would have seen the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
It is interesting that he then set off SW to Morocco for a 690 kilometre flight over the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Morocco at Essaouira, which meant that he avoided flying over the series of high mountains in Morocco. Over the ocean, he was flying between 58 and 483 metres above the sea at speeds between 56 and 90 km/h. His route was direct and he came ashore at Assaouira at 2pm, he had passed Agadir by 4pm and then flew down the coast, before heading south into the deserts and finally came to roost near Leimadrat in South Morocco.
This was an incredible 2300 kilometre migration flight, non-stop in about 35 hours, at an average speed of 68 kilometres per hour. He had obviously decided that it was time to get to Africa and his winter quarters after his 12 day stop-over on the French coast. After this flight, Nimrod (the might hunter) could also be called the mighty navigator!"