Having spent the last six weeks at the Somone Lagoon Reserve, Einion was in need of a little excursion. On the morning of November 8th, he set out on a south-easterly direction heading for the Sine-Saloum Delta, Senegal. This is an area that we had hoped he would eventually find and stay in. By 3pm, Einion was on the northern edge of this delta habitat but he only stayed a short time before heading north again. He roosted for the night half way between the delta and Somone before heading back the following morning to the Somone Lagoon Reserve; he was back by 10am.

Here's an aerial vista of the Sine-Saloum Delta - this marshy habitat constitutes around 12% of the land area of Senegal.

Our good friend Tim Mackrill at Rutland Water called this area, "One of the best places for ospreys in west Africa, if not the world". Here's a short video of Tim at the delta during one of his recent trips:

There are literally hundreds of ospreys at the Sine-Saloum delta, so why didn't Einion stay? During his short stay was he set upon by older, established ospreys who will have set up loose territories here? Despite this area being so favourable for ospreys, Einion only stayed a short amount of time, literally a few minutes. At least now Einion has been to this area and seen it for himself, hopefully storing it in the memory banks and having it as a contingency, if for some reason his current 'home', the Somone Lagoon Reserve, becomes out of favour.