Since the last post, the tagged birds have not moved very far, and in two cases they back tracked. We don't know why this is. Weather can play a part in the pace of migration and falcons prefer to use advantageous weather conditions when migrating. At the end of last week a cyclone hit Somalia, and perhaps the winds associated with that affected the falcons, especially those still on the Arabian Peninsula. Also, these small falcons need to feed while on migration and so it may be that they are finding opportunities to hunt, and are lingering in good habitat. So, here what has happened:
130393 moved back north and was last located near the South Sudanese town of Lor.
130394 pushed farther south and was last located near the South Sudanese town of Wernyol.
130395 backtracked and was last located just east of Bishah, Saudi Arabia.
130396 jumped onto an island in the middle of the Red Sea, west of the Saudi Arabian town of Al Qahma.
130397 wandered around the area of Mersa Fatma, Eritrea.
Also, we wanted to draw your attention to Amur falcons (Falco amurensis). Last year it was revealed that huge numbers of these birds were being captured in India for food. You can find a report on that and the subsequent conservation activity at the CMS web site. If you follow the "read more" link, you will get to a report that then has a link to see an up to date map of three migrating Amur falcons fitted with satellite transmitters. Below is a map downloaded on 15 November.
130393 moved back north and was last located near the South Sudanese town of Lor.
130394 pushed farther south and was last located near the South Sudanese town of Wernyol.
130395 backtracked and was last located just east of Bishah, Saudi Arabia.
130396 jumped onto an island in the middle of the Red Sea, west of the Saudi Arabian town of Al Qahma.
130397 wandered around the area of Mersa Fatma, Eritrea.
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| Paths of five migrating sooty falcons during the 10 days prior to 16 November 2013. |
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| Location of 130396 near the end of its transmission period on 15 November 2013. |
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| Movements of three Amur falcons up to 15 November 2013. |
I think the backtrack of the 130395 due to the weather condition in Arabia, there was strong wind blown from KSA toward the east (Oman). don't you think ?
ReplyDeleteAnd 130396 manged to escape it by jumping to the island.
Even larger falcons decide not to migrate when the winds are not advantageous. If you are interested, I could send you an article or maybe I can post it on the blog. We have missed hearing from that bird during a scheduled transmission period. It could be sheltering somewhere that has no good view of the sky and so no good satellite reception. Since posting the blog, another of our birds has backtracked...That makes three that have backtracked and one that has stayed put. The fifth bird has been slowly moving, and was last heard in the middle of the Red Sea.
ReplyDelete