Jukka the Osprey, epilogue

We received the last fix on Jukka on 21 April, and then the transmitter fell silent. During the winter, Jukka’s nest had tipped over and slid about a metre below the top of the tree, but a new nest had been started at the top of the tree. On 29 April, a bird that was definitely NOT Jukka was seen by the nest, flying in a mating pattern; obviously a new male Osprey. It seems evident that, besides losing the transmitter, we have lost Jukka, as well.

At the moment, we can only guess at what happened to Jukka and his transmitter. It is very strange that the transmitter suddenly fell silent, without a gradual weakening first. One explanation could be that Jukka has been ensnared by a fishnet in shallow waters, and drowned. If the owner of the fishnet does not want to announce what has happened and has hid Jukka the Osprey in a place where the signal is out of range, we could understand why the connection has been lost, though it would be very deplorable. We hope to find out what happened to Jukka at some point.