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	18 Sep -- Patience spent about three days around the Keys, just as Claws did, although she didn't explore as extensively as Claws, who saw them all (see his maps). On the 12th she was in Cuba and wandered down the island for the next four days. On the 16th she bucked the trend (going to Hispaniola) and flew down to Jamaica. Comet, our RI bird from last year did this as well. Of over 100 birds we've tracked going through Cuba, only three have taken the Jamaica to Panama route. The trip from Jamaica to Panama crosses about 600 miles (1000 km) of the Caribbean. These were the last signals from Patience. Frustratingly, she was only 40 miles from the coast when she went down. We'll never know exactly what happened, but it may be that she ran into unfavorable winds and didn't have the energy to make it that last 40 miles. There is a reason that almost all Ospreys go over to Hispaniola before heading to South America--the trip is a couple of hundred miles shorter. While we now know (thanks to Felix) that an Osprey can cover 1000 miles of open water, the longer a bird is covering open water, the greater the chances that it willl run into bad weather.

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