Scottish osprey feared dead arrives in Morocco after flying for 36 hours

A Scottish osprey which was feared to have died has wound up in Morocco after flying for 36 straight hours.

Glen made his way over to Portugal on Friday morning, where his tracker stopped feeding information back to conservationists in the UK.

Diane Bennett of the Tweed Valley Osprey Project told STV News that by Saturday, she feared he had been killed by an electric pylon.

“He was last in a fairly good signal area, so there was no chance the GPS tracker had malfunctioned,” she said.

“We were extremely nervous – perhaps he had collided with a electricity pylon, or is he stuck up on a roof or has he died?”

Local police joined other conservationist groups in the area in the search for Glen – but to no avail.

His tracker then came back to life nearly two days later, and revealed that he had made a 36-hour flight to Morocco.

Glen is the last surviving osprey of three which were tagged in the Scottish Borders by volunteers from the Tweed Valley Osprey Project, to gain more insight into their migration.

Diane said the 36-hour flight was no ordinary feat for an osprey – especially one his size and age – however he is no ordinary bird.

Glen first made headlines in September this year, with many dubbing him the “hitchhiking osprey” after he hitched a ride to Spain on two different vessels.

“He’s been a bit of a star since the word go, really – in all of his escapades, he has now gained a following that is constantly rooting for him, no matter what.

Ospreys tend to migrate to West Africa for the winter, covering up to 5,000km during their journey – after resting in Morocco for a few days, Glen will begin to make his way further south.

Diane expects him to find his way to either Senegal or Gambia for roosting season, where she hopes he will remain for the season before making his return to the UK.