After four months with no news, Fusée (PR9) has been spotted again in Senegal on February 10, with a new look. The last time he was seen (on October 10, 2018), he still had the typical plumage of an immature bird, but what a difference a few months have made! Jean-Marie Dupart, who discovered his wintering site in the north of Senegal and managed to photograph him on three occasions last autumn, had not seen him since. Denis Landenbergue and Wendy Strahm, of the Swiss Osprey Project, then spent a day looking for him with Jean-Marie last December 22, 2018, but with no luck – Fusée kept a low profile.

Returning a week ago to the same place, a wetland known as Trois Marigots, Jean-Marie and Marc Steinmetz had the nice surprise to see Fusée again. From Marc’s superb photos, one can easily see that this famous male Osprey now has a typically adult-looking plumage, uniformly dark above. We are of course delighted to know that Fusée has had a good winter, and are eagerly hoping to see him again soon in the Trois-Lacs region. It will probably not be long before he starts his migration back to Europe, where the peak of arrivals can be expected between the end of March and mid-April.