Report information
5th April
She was in the western side of estuary near Busturia at 7pm last evening local time; and on the north-east shore opposite Txatxarramendi at dawn. Weather now perfect for onward passage - bright sun, clear skies and light or nil wind. She has had a ten day stop-over in poor weather but should have caught plenty of fish. Next transmissions due this evening.
She actually stayed put - may be she sensed how bad the weather was further north. In the morning she was in the north roost, and during the afternoon and evening was in woodlands at the SW side of the estuary, inland from Mureata.
6th April
The signals showed she was still at Urdaibai estuary reserve this morning. Today in northern Scotland, there are strong north winds with snow blizzards, and many osprey nests will be covered in snow - there were no ospreys at Logie's nest.
Then at 6pm, I received the following email from Aitor Galarza, warden of the reserve, along with a photograph of Logie eating a fish. [Click here to see the photograph on Roy's website]
Hi: Great and beautiful! Logie was eating at 12:00 on the muds of the right part of the estuary (Kanala). She begins shouting when I approach to her although she couldnīt see me because I was inside the wood. I could see the transmitter and the white ring with AN. I have taken some pictures that I send you. When I left her, at 12:30 she continued eating. She seems to be comfortable in our small estuary. I dream with ospreys nesting here one day.
Yours Aitor Galarza
After looking at the photograph, she looks quite hungry to me, obviously the migration journey has already been long and arduous; but the heavy rains last week would have made it more difficult to catch fish in the estuary. Richard Gallagher mentioned the problem of murky water when rivers run high, in his email, and we see the same in Scotland when heavy rains turn the rivers Spey and Findhorn brown and the fish are hidden. So she needs to feed up now, ready for the next stretch home once the weather improves.
7th April
Signal at 7am local time showed Logie in mid estuary - presumably getting the morning fish. Weather forecast for north Spain is partly cloudy; then rain for tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday, which is not good migration weather. But Logie got through before the change in the weather ahead of the clouds!
At 5-6am local time she was at the south roost, then at 7am in the estuary (presumably fishing); at 9 am she was at the north roost in the forest. An hour later she was several kilometres NW of the estuary flying SW at 39km/h at 450 metres, presumably gaining height. Because an hour later she was 24 kilometres SE near Madalena and at midday was skirting the western slopes of the Pyrenees, flying at 35 k,m/h at 634 metres near Altzola. An hour later she had flown into FRANCE, and was flying NE at 58 km/h near Monte Aldura.
By now she had cut the corner and was turning northwards; at 3pm she was near Saint Jean-de-Luz flying NNE at 33km/h and had levelled out at an altitude of 52metres following the coast. She was 22 kilometres further on an hour later inland of Penon. At 5pm local time she was flying NNE at 33km/h near Vielle-Saint-Girons and the last signal at 6pm was at Mimizan, when she was flying N at 40 km/h at 123 metres altitude. She still had at least an hours flight before dusk.
After 11 days at Urdaibai, her day's flight was at least 196 kilometres and she made a perfect circuit of the Bay of Biscay coast, with no attempt to fly across the sea. The weather in Spain was getting cloudier with rain in the Pyrenees, while ahead of her France was in clear skies. Now to see how quickly she gets back home. Still dreadful cold snowy weather in Scotland and an afternoon check of six local nests found no ospreys.
Further Reading:
Next report: Logie arrives in the UK
Last report: Logie still in Spain
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