Such meetings take place not very often. Mainly due to the fact that this Polish name is rather rare, although well known to every Polishman. Despite these facts on almost two occassions two Kordians have met recently. With a little help of our loggers. This is how it started...
Year 2015 is Buzzards' Year in Estonia (in Estonian "Buzzard" is "viu"). Plural form was used deliberately, as this action concerns the genus rather than single species. Of interest are therefore all genus' species that can be observed in Estonia: the Common Buzzard Buteo buteo and the Rough-Legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus. Also the Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus was included, although this species belongs to a different genus. The selection is annual innitiative by Estonian Ornithological Society aimed at popularization of nature in the country. Various activities and campaigns take place within this action with the main objective to present the species, its biology, biotop requirements and threats to the public. The official page can be found here (for those enjoying reading in Estonian). Within this initiative the cooperating ornithologists of the Estonian Eagle Club (Kotkaklubi) - Mr. Ulo Vali and Mr. Urmas Sellis - tagged a juvenile Common Buzzard with a 23-gram Aquila logger and named the bird Kordian, for which gesture we feel honoured and grateful. In autumn Kordian started the migration and headed towards Biebrza, where our company is situated. It did not take long until we decided to meet him half-way. The bird was then in Lithuania, some 150 km away from Biebrza, and did not move from one place for several days. On a sunny Saturday we headed in this direction. Unfortunatelly in the moment of arrival Kordian (the one with the logger) decided to continue his migration, flying even closer to the Polish border. Therefore the rest of the day passed on one Kordian chasing another, ending successfully in the late afternoon, when the distance between those two shrunk to mere 140 meters. The meeting however did not take place as the area turned out to be occupied by Lithuanian hunters shooting whatever they had came up with. Therefore one Kordian (with the logger) stayed inside the forest, the other one (with the laptop) only recorded the coordinates and decided the safest for both in such circumstances is to leave. The day was successful anyway, proving Aquila loggers facilitate tracking birds even (which is worth mentioning) during migratory moves.
This is however not the end of the story. One week later Kordian (with the logger) decided meeting the other Kordian should take place. During one day he flew from Lithuania straight to Biebrza marshes, passing only some few kilometres away from the sitting in front of the computer screen Kordian and stopping near the city of Mońki. Kordian (with the laptop) accepted the invitation amd one Sunday afternoon they both finally met. Although this moment was not immortailsed on any photo, it is enugh to mention that during the shooting of the attached one both Kordians were placed directly at both ends of the lens. And at least for one of them this moment will be remembered. Once again, many thanks to all that made it possible.
Further migration of Kordian (with the logger) can be tracked on the Estonian migration map page.