Into Europe and the race north was on again. Ozzie flew a further 342 kilometres that day, mostly in clear spring sunshine and little wind. He crossed the upper Guadalquivir and  into the mountainous Sierra Morena. He roosted at a lake near Malagon. Next day he continued passing a little east of Madrid where he was able to fish successfully at a large lake  before finally roosting in the foothills of the Pyrenees. On 29th March progress was much slower. Ozzie skirted the western end of the Pyrenees but the day deteriorated as rain blew in from the west. Ozzie struggled on for a time, flying low and navigating with difficulty. He finally gave up and came down in a wooded hillside on the south side of the Adour river valley, about 30 kilometres from the coast. Fishing was out of the question. Ozzie just had to sit it out. The next morning was much the same, patchy drizzle and low cloud. Ozzie flew the length of the river to the sea but it was swollen with winter rain. Reaching the outskirts of Bayonne he turned north, using the Atlantic coastline as a guide. Time was pressing and Ozzies progress was tortuously slow. Flying low he wandered the lowland lakes of Landes barely covering 100 kilometres before having to once again abandon the days flying. He did make some short flights in the early evening in the desultory hope of finding a meal, and ran into another Osprey, also grounded and milling round the lakes. Unlike his previous flying partner this bird was the same age as Ozzie, also on his first return migration. He had further to go than Ozzie, having been born in Sweden. They both roosted in a small grove of trees in the marshes. At dawn it was cold and blustery. At least it wasn't raining. A small open channel ran alongside Ozzies side of the wood, sheltered from the wind.  From his perch he had been scanning the water, and after forty minutes a fish rose close in by the low branches. It was the only chance he would get and he took it. The movement and the splash immediately alerted the hungry Swede. It was a difficult catch but Ozzie did well and secured a good-sized Bream. As he rose with the fish the Swedish Osprey came in to steal it. He caught Ozzie by surprise but Ozzie veered off low across the reeds, the Swede in hot pursuit.

Ozzie felt a sudden stinging on three parts of his body, so shocking as to make him drop the fish, a force so strong as to momentarily knock him sideways. Almost simultaneously an almighty bang vibrated all around  him. A second thundering roar followed moments later. The pursuing Swedish Ospreys wings collapsed as his body dropped like a stone into the reeds. Ozzies gunshot wounds amounted to three pellets in his flesh. Some pellets had passed through his wing feathers thankfully causing minimal damage. His wingbeats pulled deeply as he escaped the scene.

Hunting is a serious problem for all migratory birds. In ancient times people in Europe had to hunt wild birds for food, and hunting is still a traditional pastime in many countries. Nearly a quarter of the reports of Ospreys ringed in Scotland have been of birds deliberately killed by man, either for sport or to protect fish stocks.