Osprey 'Zoe' has stunned the Port Lincoln Osprey team, having travelled more than 1000 kilometres (621 miles) in just one week.
In November 2022, and within two months of hatching, Zoe was fitted with a GPS tracker as part of the South Australian Government’s Osprey and White-bellied Sea-Eagle Recovery Program.
Zoe's first flight has tracked back in November, but this recent flight has made news headlines. She was recorded travelling from the coastal town of Port Lincoln to Woomera in South Australia's outback.
Australian Coastal Safaris guide and award-winning photographer, Fran Solly, has been invovled in the program from the outset, as part of the Friends of Osprey group in Port Lincoln. In fact, the first Osprey chicken tagged in November 2020 was named Solly because of Fran’s longstanding interest in local birds.
While Zoe was still on her travels, Fran was interviewed on the ABC Eyre Peninsula breakfast show with Emma Pedler.
"My first thought was that somebody has found her and stuffed her in a car and driven to Woomera, but it was obvious when you saw the track that that's not what happened," said Fran.
Midway through the interview, Zoe came back into the trackers range.
"I'm just checking and the latest check-in has just come... she is between Sheringa Beach and Locks Well, so that is an absolutely awesome spot for her to be," Fran said.
Listen to the full interview (interview begins at 2:10:37 mark)
Keep up-to-date with Zoe's travels and the other Ospreys being tracked by the Port Lincoln Osprey team.