Tino (F22), a young male from Norway, is the first of the 12 birds released this year to migrate (on August 25, 27 days after fledging). He left at almost the same time as Roger (F07, also Norwegian) did last year (August 26, 25 days after fledging).

All bets for who would be the first to migrate had however been on Cèpe (F15), named after a mushroom-shaped mark on the back of his head and who seemed to be the most advanced, but one can never tell. The refrain “Cèpe is back” had almost become a mantra due to his tendency to vanish for up to two days and nights, often out of radio signal range, only to suddenly reappear. We do know that he has been flying as far as the nature reserve of Chavornay – 53 km away from Bellechasse – thanks to beautiful photos taken by André Hübscher on August 16. There he was seen unsuccessfully trying to fish several times, probably a good reason for him to come back just two hours later for a meal at our “Osprey restaurant”!

Today Cèpe is still at Bellechasse, but let’s see how long it will take before he finally migrates. So is Taurus (PS7), the two-year-old male regularly observed since June 29. The only bird for which we haven’t had recent news is Fusée (PR9), who was last identified for sure on May 5. However, there have been Ospreys noted in the region in late May and early June, and we suspect that at least some may have been him. Could he have moved elsewhere when Taurus returned? In any case we very much hope that he will be seen again in his wintering grounds in Senegal.