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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Late June

Well, after spending more than a month away, Ivato has headed back to the island in the Dahlak Archipelago, Eritrea, where we think he breeds.  Egg laying should start in about a month, so we expect Ivato to dwell in this area until late October, at least.  However, he has surprised us before.  130393 is still moving around northern Ethiopia, where we suspect, and friends from Ethiopia, confirm that locusts and termites are likely abundant.  Just to remind you... 130393 is now about 11 months old, and we don't expect it to breed in this year.  One of the "mysteries" of sooty falcons (and lots of birds for that matter) is what they do before becoming breeders.  Whatever he does, it will be new information.
Movements of satellite tracked sooty falcons during 4-24 June. Red = Juvenile (130393) marked in Oman in 2013, Blue = Adult (Ivato) marked in Madagascar in early 2014.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Ethiopia (and Sudan) is the place to be

Both birds have spent the last three weeks or so in the border area of northern Ethiopia-Sudan.  It was amazing how similar the movements of the two birds were.  They moved across northern Ethiopia, the southwest along the border, and have more recently moved NE, sometimes being only a matter of 20-30 km apart from one another.
Movements of the two satellite tracked sooty falcons in the border region of Ethiopia and Sudan during late May and early June 2014.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Early June

130393 and Ivato continue to stay away from breeding areas, and both have moved south and west since the last transmission cycle. 130393 is currently located west of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, and Ivato is currently WSW of there near Al-Damezin, the capital of Blue Nile Province, Sudan.  We speculate that the reason for this is that these areas have prey for them (and the breeding areas have relatively little).  When one looks at the satellite images for these areas, they appear to be laced with the rivers of the Ethiopian Highlands and the headwaters of the Nile.  Perhaps insects are in abundance.
Locations in early June of sooty falcons tagged with satellite transmitters.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Où vont-ils aller?

Du moment où les individus du Faucon concolore ont quitté Madagascar, nous avons estimé que, tout au moins, celui capturé à Oman (130393) va y retourner. Mais la réalité dit autrement. Alors que la période de reproduction se rapproche, il est encore en Ethiopie maintenant. C’est probablement à cause de son jeune âge. Cet individu est encore immature. Ainsi, il ne se précipite pas de rentrer ou il pourrait changer définitivement de site. Mais nous pensons que sa présence en Ethiopie est liée à l’abondance de proies.

Pour l’autre individu capturé à Ivato (135213), en fait, nous ne savons pas d’où vient cet individu. C’est à partir de cette étude que nous découvrirons son pays d’origine et son site de reproduction. Les données satellitaires ont révélé qu’il est au sud de Soudan actuellement, précisément à 700 SW de l’Archipel de Dahlak où nous spéculons que c’est son endroit de prédilection. 

Leur surprenant voyage se poursuit toujours et nous avons hâte de découvrir leur destination finale. Ce que nous venons d’avancer n’est que de la supposition. On ne sait jamais ce que le lendemain nous réserve.