Ozzie stayed in Africa throughout his first two years. In the late spring of his second year he wandered north as far as Agadir in Morocco before his urge to move northwards petered out. Instead he spent the summer at familiar haunts around the Oued Massa and Sous estuary, before trekking southwards again in the autumn. By his third year Ozzie was fully mature and in March he was gripped by an overwhelming need to move north. On 14th March Ozzie set off from the river Saloum, from a point about 80 kilo- metres inland, below the town of Kaolack.

Instead of following the coast as he had in the previous year, Ozzie headed north overland. He felt strong and eager to go. He circled up and began drifting north. Once up to 2000 metres his flight became more purposeful, with regular flapping. By dusk on the first day he had crossed the hinterland of Senegal and came down to roost near Bogue on the Senegal river, a distance of  around 330 kilometres, after about 11 hours flying. There was time to catch a small fish before roost.

The next four days were spent crossing the desert. Each evening as the air cooled Ozzie would descend to select a place to roost. Twice it was little more than raised rocky ground in a sea of sand, but on the third day he found a small oasis with a scattering of palms and scrub and a few small buildings. He warily circled before dropping into an outlying palm just as dusk fell, carefully avoiding the villagers.

Satellite tracking has revealed some interesting facts about Osprey migration. Some cross the Sahara Desert, taking three or four days to do so. During that time they eat nothing. In the Sahara Desert there are no fish!