UK NEWS

MIGRATING OSPREY TAKES A STOPOVER IN SUNNY SPAIN TILL SCOTLAND WARMS UP

LOGIE: Heading back to her Highland nesting ground

Monday April 7,2008

By Derek Watson

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A BIRD of prey is sheltering in Spain – because it’s too cold for it to migrate back to Scotland.

The fish-hunting Osprey, which nests each year near Forres, Morayshire, flies 3,230 miles a year from its winter grounds in West Africa.

The female, named Logie, has been fitted with a satellite transmitter so she can be tracked across the globe by bird experts.

But instead of heading back to her Highland nesting grounds, Logie insists on sunning herself near Bilbao, with experts claiming Scotland’s chilly wintry ‘spring’ has made her decide to stay put and enjoy the Spanish heat.

Any signs that summer could be drawing close disappeared yesterday as many Scots woke up to snow and rain showers.

Weather forecasters said they could not rule out snow falling anywhere in the UK overnight and this morning. Three-year-old Emily Jack played in the snow which fell near her home in Linlithgow, West Lothian, yesterday – unaware of the misery it brought to road users across Scotland.

Motorists who ventured forth found several inches on most routes, with parts of the M8, A9 and M77 reduced to a single lane by drifts. April is known for its changeable weather, and it seems that this year is going to be no exception.

Two weeks after a white Easter, the weather became significantly more spring-like last week with temperatures soaring to 18C in a number of places across the UK. Last Thursday turned out to be the warmest day so far this year with MeteoGroup recording a temperature of 18.9C in Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire.

The Met Office warned last week that this summer is likely to be hotter and wetter than usual. It is predicting a return to the traditional British summer of “three fine days and then a thunderstorm”.

But forecasters refused to rule out a repeat of last year’s torrential rain, which caused widespread flooding.

But on the other hand, the experts say they would not rule out an extremely dry summer either.