The 2016 breeding season has come to an end at this part of the planet. For our company it turned out to be a busy season, full of tests and experiences with new bird species. So far it turns out to be quite a successful season as the new range of GPS/GSM loggers do their job. The increased capabilities (one fix every 3 minutes) turned out possible not also in testing, but also in daily usage. Also the known problem of feathers blocking the solar panels seems not to inflict our loggers. This allows us to look forward to the future of this solution.
Of the birds tagged during the 2015 and 2016 seasons all but one logger work until now. One of the tagged in 2014 Imperial Eagle finished working in June this year, although it was an old construction. The White-tailed Eagle tagged as juvenile bird in northern Russia has already started his second wintering in this country. Another juvenile bird from this season also migrated south, but has not left the country. The Russian Ospreys of 2015 (juveniles) were unsuccessful, one of them being shot close to the nest area, another ending up in Sudan. This year was a success as 2 adult birds (male and female) were tagged. Both migrated to Africa - the female made a 5928 km long trip to Egipt, the male covered 9397 km on his way to Angola. Another Russian bird, the Steppe Eagle named Ada was tagged as juvenile bird in southern Russia and after covering 12053 km got to Ethiopia. The tagging took place thanks to an international Russian-Hungarian-Polish cooperation and the map of the migration can be viewed on the sites of both the Russian and Hungarian partners. The Common Buzzard Kordian tagged in Estonia in 2015 spent the summer wandering around and finally reaching Finnland. When the autumn migration started, he moved back to Poland and looks to be ready for his second winter here. His migration can be followed on the site of the Estonian project. Our Egyptian Vultures in Oman had mixed fortune, as one of them was found dead one month after the tagging. The other one has survived and seems to be doing well, enjoying his stay in Oman. Information on this bird can be found on the Egyptian Vulture blog page.
There were also some misfortunes. This year we did not manage to fit any Greater Spotted Eagle with our logger. These birds seem to avoid the catching devices quite successfully. Instead one Lesser Spotted Eagle was tagged in Estonia. Unfortunately his story ended 30 days after the tagging when the bird was shot at the nest territory, leaving the female and the juvenile bird. The dead male was found thanks to the coordinates sent by our logger.