Juvenile Honey Buzzard 21250
17 September 2002
The bird was migrating through the Perthshire Highlands and on to central
Scotland between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It covered about 60 kilometres in 5
hours during the afternoon of 17th. At present, it is not taking the westerly routefollowed by the young birds last year.

19 September 2002
The youngster remained in same area of the Carron Valley Forest. It is
presumably feeding in the Forestry Commission woodlands.

20 September 2002
By nightfall the young honey buzzard had moved 45 kilometres southwards toBroken Cross Muir, near Douglas Water.

22 September 2002
The evening transmission showed that the bird had been migrating strongly. It
had travelled 480 kilometres due south in the two day interval and is now near
Bridgend in South Wales. At this speed the bird could easily be in France when
we receive the signals on the 24th September. The forecast is good for tomorrowwith clear skies from Wales to France, but there will be fresh NE winds acrossthe sea.

24 September 2002
The young honey buzzard was in trouble today and clearly illustrating themigration hazards that can befall long distance migratory raptors from Scotland.
The morning signal at 1030 showed him to be over the open Atlantic Ocean
south of Ireland and about 660 kilometres west of Land's End. Although the skies
on 23rd were clear, the bird had veered westwards over the sea and with fresh tostrong easterly winds had apparently not reached France or Cornwall. Signals

during the day showed that he was flying downwind across the Ocean and by
1620 was about 700 kilometres WSW of Cape Clear in south-west Ireland. It isdifficult to predict whether the bird will redirect its migration, land on a boat or
sadly be lost at sea. Hopefully, transmissions in two days will be favourable.

26 September 2002
Incredible!! The young honey buzzard is still flying and sadly he missed theoutermost island of the Azores during the night. Today the first signal was at
0157am and a further 5 signals to 0846am showed that he was moving strongly
to the south. He is now in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean well south of theAzores. Today's satellite photos show that a low pressure is over the Azores andhe is travelling southwards in the strong northerly winds behind (west of) the low.
There are belts of cloud and the wind is at least 40-60kms/hour; by this afternoon
he should be picking up the strong west winds blowing towards the CanaryIslands and Africa. Again we wonder if he has enough fat reserves to survive.
The strong winds may assist him towards land or he might land on a boat, but thenearest land is a very long distance.
This bird's flight is already an incredible feat. It cannot land on water, so it has
been flying continuously since the 23rd September without stopping and without
feeding.

28 September 2002
Two signals were received overnight on 27th/28th September. The one very
accurate signal gave a position approximately 280 kilometres to the NW ofMadeira, north of the Canary Islands. This was 2240pm on 27th. It would be very
encouraging to think that the bird then turned towards the island and the lack oflater signals was due to it being in woodland or cliffs on Madeira. But we willneed to wait another day for the next signals. By this time the honey buzzard had
been in the air for over 100 hours and would undoubtedly be reaching its limits. It
had travelled in strong westerly winds for nearly 1400 kilometres since the last
signal on the 26th. Now we wait and hope.

30 September 2002
Last night, 29th September, two signals were received. But there were no further
reports after 1727GMT. The position at this time was 27 kilometres to the southwest of that received at 2241GMT on 27th. The signals were both accurate towithin one kilometre, so it suggests that it is either on a fishing boat or on afloating object in the sea. The weather has been cloudy, with rain and thunder
showers in that sea area and the wind is variable. Unfortunately, during theyoung honey buzzard's journey of nearly 5000 kilometre, much of it being swept
along by strong winds, over the Atlantic Ocean he missed both the Azores andMadeira, by relatively small distances. The bird is in a remote area of sea being
300 kms from Madeira, about 600 kms from the Azores and about 1000 kms
from both the southern tip of Portugal and the Moroccan coast. It is difficult topredict if we will get any more news.
This incredible journey has already revealed both the hazards of migrating from
Scotland to Africa and also the stamina of a bird which a month ago had only justlearnt to fly. For many people, this young honey buzzard is now a "well known"
individual whose plight, as it has flown day and night over the wide Atlantic, hascaused us to wonder and also to hope it has a safe landing. But how many otheryoung honey buzzards and ospreys have perished unknown in the Ocean
migrating to their wintering grounds in West Africa. There is no doubt that one ofthe messages to come out of this study is that the small number of honeybuzzard nests in Scotland need special conservation to ensure that the maximum
number of healthy young are reared so that at least some will successfully reachWest Africa. Those that survive are likely to make certain in future years that theytake the short sea crossing over the English channel like this year's male.

01 October 2002
The latest signals coming in this morning show that the bird is still moving slowly
southwest. The position at 0510am was 55 kilometres SW of its position on 29th.
By the time of the last signal at 0933 the bird had moved another 4.7 kilometres.
It suggests that it is resting on something floating in the sea which is being
carried SW by the sea currents and winds; it would be good to think it might beon a fishing boat. But we do not know.

03 October 2002
Transmissions received early this morning indicated that the young bird is stilldrifting in the open Atlantic Ocean, well over 300 kilometres from Madeira. He isclearly not on a fishing boat but is slowly drifting south-westwards at about
1km/hour in the sea currents. The bird's position had moved 35 kilometres sincethe 1st October and the last signal at 0453GMT this morning was at 34.779N and19.975W. The clarity of the signals suggested the bird is on something floating inthe sea rather than being in the water. It is not possible to say if it is dead or
alive, but it is now a very long time since it left land on 23rd September and it isnot possible for it to feed while at sea. Birds of prey can last long periods without
food but it would be incredible if this youngster was still alive after its massiveflight. Sadly, on the very day that its father reached his wintering area in thetropical forests of Ghana, we have to conclude that this amazing young bird is
probably dead.

05 October 2002
Last night, 4th October, seven signals were received between 1604pm and2119pm, including two locations accurate to within 350 metres at 34.869N
20.303W. This position is 31 kilometres further west and is now 363 kilometresfrom Madeira. It is now only drifting at 140 metres per hour, presumably on calmseas and overcast skies. There has been considerable interest and concern fromaround the world for the lost young honey buzzard and we are grateful to themany people who emailed about its sad plight, with hopes that it might yet get toland. But it is now so long since the bird left land that we sadly have to conclude
it has died. Some people emailed with news of honey buzzards and ospreys
which they had seen from ships in the Bay of Biscay and which they thought at
the time would have died at sea, now they know that some of these migratory
raptors can safely make land after incredible over water migrations. But
unfortunately, our bird was pushed far too far out to sea by the stormy weather
but earlier in September, a young Scottish osprey we were tracking successfully
returned to land after being blown out to sea. More signals were received fromthe same place on 6th October, it is now drifting slowly in the doldrums. With
disappointment we conclude that the honey buzzard is dead but it's body is on afloating object on the sea and still transmitting. No signals were received on 8th
October which confirms that the bird has died.
There has been great interest in the incredible exploits of this bird and thecontinuing migration of the male bird in Africa. Sincere thanks for all theinteresting and encouraging emails which we have received, and for the verykind offers of support and donations for us to continue our conservation work.