29 March 2022
The discovery of Blue KW0 on Barbados by Michael St John and KW0’s miraculous journey from the UK to the Caribbean gives hope that other Ospreys -believed to have perished – might still be alive. Indeed, the keen eyes of Julian Moore spotted the Garganey, in the image below, on the island on 20 March 2023. The first recorded sighting of a Garganey on Barbados was in 1960 at Foster’s, St Lucy. Since then, Moore says there have been several other sightings. Just imagine. UK Birds could have been crossing the Atlantic for the last 63 years! or more.
The Garganey. They will look like a Blue-winged Teal, but there are two white stripes on the scapular for the Garganey instead of one, like the Teal.
The presence of the Garganey and Blue KW0 confirms that varying species of birds can leave the UK in late August or September for their wintering grounds on the Iberian Peninsula or Africa, only to be blown off course as far as the Caribbean. That is some 4500 miles! With this knowledge, I hope that ‘the collective WE’ of Bird World can help Tweed Valley Osprey Projects find Blue 707 Kirk.
Some Background:
The adult birds at the Tweed Valley Osprey Project are Mrs O and PW3.
Mrs O laid four eggs. PW3 took exception to the first egg and kicked it out of the nest. He clearly believed it might not have been ‘his’. Eggs two and three were laid on the 23rd of April while the fourth was laid on the 29th. The first two osplets hatched on the 29th of May, including our Kirk, with the third on the 31st of May.
Mrs O with her first two hatches.
There are three of them.
When they were 44 days old, the trio were fitted with their Darvic Rings. It was the 12th of July. At the same time, satellite tags were attached to each.
Tony Lightley will fit the bands and the trackers.
Lightley measured and weighed the osplets, determining that all three were strong and healthy males. The Darvic rings were blue with numerical digits 706, 707 and 708.
Here they are with their bling. Kirk 707 is in the middle.
Kirk.
The information that satellite trackers can provide is quite vast. One aspect of this project was to follow these juveniles to their winter homes to try and find out what the challenges were that they faced – so they might be mitigated in the future.
Present during the banding were members of the Conservation Without Borders. Sasha Dench and the crew will use the data from these osplets to follow them to their winter homes. That project is Flight of the Osprey. This is some very good information on what Conservation Without Borders hopes to achieve:
“Flight of the Osprey is an innovative approach to conservation, highlighting grassroots projects along the flyway in collaboration with UN agencies, scientists, media and governments.”
“Accompanying the osprey on its 2022 autumn migration across Europe and Africa, this 10,000 km expedition will gather vital data on the threats faced by this iconic bird of prey and other migratory species. At the same time, we will create a unique platform from which to engage, educate and empower communities along the flyway and further afield, promoting a deeper understanding of the challenges to migratory birds, both within and beyond the conservation community.“
I have never seen each fledgling osprey leave the nest completely on the same day. This is, however, what happened at Tweed. On the 26th of August, all three began their southward journeys. It was a Friday. Excellent information came in on their locations.
- Glen was around Kendal in Cumbria
- Kirk was at Loch Esk, near Eskdalemuir
- Tweed was at the Welsh borders, near Whitchurch
By Saturday the 27th, Kirk and Tweet had reached the SW of England. Then, according to Tweed Valley records, “Kirk followed his brother out to sea but bizarrely turned north towards Ireland. Around 15 miles before reaching Ireland, he turned south again…” It was thought that weather conditions might have caused Kirk to have to fly towards Ireland.
On the 30th of August, Kirk eventually made landfall in Ireland. He flew for 22 hours. Tweed Valley says, “We believe bad weather forced him to turn north rather than follow his brother Tweed south towards Portugal. Since arriving in Ireland he has been touring, heading firstly north towards Limerick before heading west and south down the coast. It looks like he has found a roost along the River Cumneragh and we hope he’s resting before thinking of going south again.”
The other records state: “Kirk remained in Ireland since changing course and turning back during his ocean crossing last week. He arrived near Cork on the south coast but has since done a big tour of the south west area of Ireland. He settled in an area next to Coomacheo Wind Farm which was a bit worrying given his total lack of experience in the world. We worried that he could collide with the turbine blades which can be a hazard for raptor species.”
Kirk was not killed by the blades of the wind turbines, thankfully. He fished along the River Clydagh and roosted in nearby forestry.
“River Clydagh and forestry – geograph.org.uk – 4005190” by Hywel Williams is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
The last transmission from Kirk was on the 5th of September.
Tweed Valley reports: “On 5 September after a half hour roost near to the river he suddenly shot off on a northwesterly direction towards the coast. His tracker recorded a speed of 95kmph and an altitude of 240 metres when he set off, the speed dropped off to 60kmph and then back up to 84kmph near to the coast and there have been no further data points since he flew out across the sea. There will be an absence of masts to send signal but it is still the wrong direction if it is the start of any further migration.”
This is the last data. No one has seen or heard from Kirk since the 5th of September.
Unfortunately, for all their usefulness, satellite trackers are not foolproof. It is also almost impossible to ‘notice and photograph’ an Osprey unless you are really looking with camera in hand like Michael St John was in Barbados. In fact, many persons might have seen Kirk and did not know that news of him would be ever so welcome.
I have now written to learn more about the weather patterns in Ireland and SW England on or around the 5th of September. These could be important for understanding how Blue KW0 got to Barbados along with the Garganey. It might also give us clues about where Kirk Blue 707 might be.
We now know birds can ease their flight by hitching rides on ships. It is also thought that Blue KW0 might have stopped off to feed at the Azores. Of course, all of this is conjecture. We do not know all the marvellous things these Ospreys can do. Would Kirk have made it to the Azores? Is he still there?
Map showing the location of the Azores to Ireland (light green, left of the grey UK).
I will let you know when I have more information on the possible wind and weather patterns.
I urge you to circulate this blog widely. Please put it on your Facebook and Twitter feeds, and send it to friends and colleagues that might live in the Caribbean or elsewhere. We do not know what happened to Kirk 707 after the 5th of September. Did he remain in Ireland like the Tundra Swan in Manitoba? So, please send it out to everyone you know in Ireland. Send it out to all birding groups that you know or locate. We do want to get the word out. Let us get a search going – look up. You might see Blue 707! Thank you.
I want to thank Michael St John for introducing me to Julian Moore and for Julian Moore allowing me to include his images of the Garganey. I want to also share my deep appreciation to Geemeff who introduced me to Diane Bennett, Tweed Valley Osprey Project, and to the TVOP for allowing me to use their images in my blog and the information from it in the hopes of finding Kirk 707.