Young osprey flies into record books with 3,000 mile trip

A Scottish osprey which hatched only this summer has shocked watchers by flying an amazing 3,000 miles to Senegal in just a few weeks.

• Migration thought to be fastest ever by a tagged osprey

• Cairngorms Park Rangers track progress via satellite

The bird, named Alba, only hatched on May 18 at the RSPB centre in Loch Garten but already has made a record-breaking journey, taking only two weeks to reach the warmer climes of west Africa on her first migration.

Richard Thaxton, site manager at Loch Garten said: “It is astonishing that in just a fortnight, Alba has travelled from Loch Garten in Strathspey to southern Mauritania close to the border with Senegal.

“Other tagged birds have taken months to do this. It is all the more remarkable when you think that this is her first migration, with sea crossings to contend with and all sorts of weather. It’s good to know she has arrived there safely.”

Extinct

Rangers have jokingly suggested that Alba may be following in the slip-stream of her more-experienced mother, EJ, or even hanging on to her tail feathers.

The young bird is not expected to return to Scotland until she becomes an adult in 2015, Mr Thaxton added. Ospreys migrate yearly once they become adults in order to breed.

Alba and her sister, Caledonia, who were both named by local primary school children, were fitted with satellite tags when they left Scotland on August 19 and online audiences have been able to follow their journey. Caledonia seems to be taking a more leisurely route and is currently crossing Spain.

Ospreys became extinct in Scotland in 1916, but a pair nested at Loch Garten in 1952, and since then birds have arrived every year to breed.