African mystery surrounds Welsh-born osprey

No signal from Leri since OctoberJanuary 2012: Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a young female osprey that migrated with her two brothers from their nesting home in Mid Wales to Africa .

Three young ospreys are all satellite tagged but the female, named Leri by staff at the Dyfi Osprey Project near Machynlleth where she hatched, have not received a signal from the transmitter in Senegal since late October last year.

Dyfi Osprey Project manager Emyr Evans and his colleagues at Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust (MWT) are keeping their fingers crossed that the tracker transmitter has developed a fault and that she is still alive. 

'We're hoping it's just a faulty transmitter'‘Leri's transmitter was sending back confusing and conflicting data before it stopped working,' explained Mr Evans. ‘We hope it's a case of a faulty transmitter rather than something happening to Leri.'

Wildlife workers in Senegal are keeping a close watch out for Leri and her brother, Einion, who has also made his home in the country. Transmitters on both Einion and his brother Dulas, who is in neighbouring Gambia, are sending data back to Wales regularly.

The ospreys were satellite tagged in partnership with the BBC's Springwatch and Autumnwatch programmes, which are using the neighbouring RSPB's Ynyshir Reserve as their broadcasting base in Wales .

Leri's parents are soon due back in WalesThe three young birds, the first to hatch alongside the River Dyfi since 1604, are not expected to return to Wales until 2013 when they will be mature enough to breed. In the meantime, their fortunes will be closely followed by the transmissions thousands of miles away in Africa .

Their parents, Monty and Nora, are expected to fly back to Wales this spring, with the Dyfi Osprey Project preparing to reopen on March 30. Last year, Monty arrived at Cors Dyfi Reserve, Derwenlas on April 6 and the first chick, Einion, hatched in June.

‘Because he bred last year, we are hoping he will come back a little earlier this spring,' said Mr Evans. MWT has created a new website with regular blogs for each of the ospreys at http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com for people wishing to receive the latest news about them.

Visitors to the Dyfi Osprey Project are able to see live, high resolution nest camera footage at the visitor centre on large plasma screens and view the resident wildlife from a specially built tower-hide with telescopes and binoculars.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/osprey-leri.html

Plane crazy: US legislation brings whooping crane migration to a halt

Alabama's ultralight-led migration on hold

January 2012: Alabama's ultralight-led migration of whooping cranes in the eastern population has been put on hold, after regulatory problems regarding the paying of pilots.

The Fish and Wildlife Service's partner managing this portion of the effort, Operation Migration, has applied for a waiver exempting them from Federal Aviation Administration's regulation that prohibits compensating pilots of this category of aircraft, but is still waiting for a decision.

Nine young whooping cranes began their first migration from Wisconsin following the ultralights in autumn last year. Operation Migration began leading sandhill cranes as a study group in 2000, and has been piloting ultralight aircraft to successfully lead whooping cranes on an Eastern Migratory route each year since 2001.

Continued: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/crane-ultralight.html

GPS trackers find migrating cuckoos in same spot

Scientists amazed after five migrating cuckoos fitted with GPS trackers meet up in the same spot in Africa


Scientists have been left astonished after five cuckoos who headed south from Britain for the winter have congregated in the same little-known part of Africa.


British conservationists decided to track their movements to find out more about the birds' lifestyles following concerns about their dwindling numbers.

After leaving East Anglia in June, the birds - Clement, Kasper, Martin, Chris and Lyster - flew thousands of miles apart as they made their way to warmer climes.

Three of the birds, Chris, Martin and Kasper, flew down through Italy and straight across the Sahara desert.

The other two, Clement and Lyster, went to Spain and down the Atlantic edge of the continent, more than 1,000 miles to the west.

Yet now it's been discovered they are all now relatively close, in the Congo rainforest, despite having travelled around 3,000 miles south.

Incredibly, three are about as close to each other as they were when they were caught in Norfolk and Suffolk in May and June.

Experts said their journey was fraught with danger with crossing the Sahara was one of the major sources of mortality for many migrants.

Read more at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2078783/Scientists-amazed-migrating-cuckoos-fitted-GPS-trackers-meet-spot-Africa.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Rarely-seen warbler wings its way from Eastern Asia to Hertfordshire

11,500 km away from normal migration routeNovember 2011: An eastern crowned warbler, only the second ever to be recorded in Britain, has been spotted in Hertfordshire.

Every year a number of birds arrive in the UK from far-flung countries, having taken a different migratory route, perhaps because they are programmed to search out new territories. But the eastern crowned warbler at Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust's Hilfield Reservoir was a staggering 11,500km off its usual migration path.

First of its kind to be ringed in BritainBird ringers caught what they had originally thought was a yellow-browed warbler, which in itself would be a rare bird for Hertfordshire. But, after checking some features that puzzled them, it turned out to be something much more unexpected.

The bird is the first of its kind to be ringed in Britain.

After ringing, they released the warbler into woodland on the perimeter of the site but in spite of the attention of a great many enthusiasts scouring the trees from the adjacent road, the bird was not seen again.

'This is the bird-watching equivalent of winning the lottery'Tim Hill, conservation manager with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust said: ‘In birdwatching terms, this is the equivalent of winning the lottery. These birds breed from eastern Siberia to Japan and spend the winter in Bangladesh and southeast Asia - to find one in a nature reserve in Hertfordshire, next to the M1 is quite extraordinary.

‘The bird was ringed by members of the Maple Cross Ringing Group who carry out monitoring of birds at Hilfield Park Reservoir in conjunction with the Trust. The information is used to plan management of this important wetland nature reserve.'

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/warbler-hertfordshire.html

Millions of birds migrating to Spain face painful deaths in glue-filled traps

Up to four million migrating birds will be killed by illegal Spanish hunters this year, with many dying a slow, sticky death in traps that literally glue the animals to the ground, according to campaigners.
Thrushes flying south for a warm Mediterranean winter this week will, as usual, run a gauntlet of illegal hunters who kill some two million birds in their peak hunting season: the six late autumn weeks in which Spanish skies fill with migrating birds.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of hunters in Castellón, eastern Spain, and neighbouring areas will have already set their so-called parany traps – copses filled with glue-covered twigs and spikes.

Most of the illegally trapped birds will end up as tapas in Spanish bars, fried tidbits that locals claim are part of a cultural heritage stretching back to Roman times. "There are pictures of parany traps in the mosaics of Pompeii," said Miguel Angel Bayarri of the trappers' Apaval association. "This is a tradition that has existed for centuries and that we will continue to fight for."

Hunting of song and mistle thrushes and their cousin the redwing is not illegal, but the methods used are, despite attempts by legislators to introduce exceptions.

Campaigners say the painful deaths suffered by the birds, whose wings are glued together before their necks are broken or their heads squashed, contravene European wildlife laws.

"There have been sentences against this in the courts in Madrid and at the European court in Luxembourg," said Mario Giménez, head of SEO/Birdlife in the eastern region of Valencia.
Up to two of every five birds that fall into the parany traps will not be thrushes. Hundreds of thousands of other migrating insectivores such as robins, blackcaps, chiffchaffs and black redstarts will die. Local birds, including warblers and owls, also fall prey to the parany trick.

"That only happens if the trap is badly operated," said Bayarri. "Our members only catch thrushes. This is just banning for banning's sake."

But Giménez said few parany operators went through the laborious process of cleaning glue off birds that may not be hunted.

"Even those cleaned up with dissolvent often don't survive," he said.

Campaigners say it is time politicians, whose attempts at legalising the traps in Valencia's regional parliament have been stymied by Spain's higher courts, publicly disavow a tradition that contravenes EU law. But protecting local traditions wins votes in rural areas where setting and emptying traps may also involve evenings or weekends of food, drink and partying.

Hunting continues, even though Apaval has this year asked its members not to set the traps, where recordings of birdsong are used to lure passing birds into thickets of trees. Unable to use their glued wings, the birds fall to the ground and are killed by hand.


Read on ...

Suffolk kingfisher migrated from Poland

Record breaking kingfisher found in Suffolk
October 2011. A kingfisher found at the National Trust's Orford Ness Nature Reserve on the Suffolk coast looks likely to have broken the UK record for furthest migration of the species.

The kingfisher was caught and released by members of Landguard Bird Observatory as part of their routine bird ringing studies at the site and is thought to have travelled in excess of 1,000km from Poland.

This breaks the previous record set by a British kingfisher which was ringed in Marloes, Pembrokeshire, and found in Irun, Spain, having travelled around 970km. It is also the most easterly discovery in the UK, with other foreign recoveries coming from France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.

Mike Marsh, Volunteer Ringer for the Landguard Bird Observatory, said: "We catch a small number of kingfishers each year at Orford Ness, usually in the autumn, and previously assumed that these had been dispersing juveniles of fairly local origin.

"This will be one of the longest migrations among the kingfishers in the ringing database and we can't wait to get confirmation of the record from the British Trust for Ornithology and hear about the Polish ringing scheme."

A few migrate
Kingfishers are a resident breeding species in the UK but each year a small number migrate here from the continent, probably moving away from places with prolonged freezing conditions in the winter.

The last kingfisher ringed from abroad and found in the UK was on 29 October 2008 and had travelled 819km from Aken in Germany.

Grant Lohoar, Orford Ness site manager for the National Trust, said: "This is a great record for us, but something we wouldn't have known about if this bird hadn't been ringed, thanks to our expert volunteers. This highlights the importance of ringing as a tool for conservation which allows us to identify birds as individuals. Orford Ness is a really important stop-over site for many migrating birds, as they can refuel and rest on the marshes, in the reedbeds or on the many lagoons we have here."

Kingfishers are generally found near still or slow flowing water on perches from where they hunt, commonly swooping down to the water to catch small fish such as minnow and stickleback.

The longest lived kingfisher according to ringing recoveries is four years, six months and 13 days, which was set in 1969.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kingfisher-migration.html

89,225 birds slaughtered…so far! – Sign the petition to stop it now!

BirdLife Cyprus reveals online bird trapping death toll counter for the current autumn migration

BirdLife Cyprus has just published online (www.birdlifecyprus.org) an estimated death toll from the illegal bird trapping taking place in Cyprus during this autumn migration season. The toll has been estimated on the basis of field data from BirdLife’s ongoing field monitoring of trapping activity with mist nets and limesticks, part of a systematic surveillance programme. This first estimate -89,225 birds- represents the number of birds killed between Thursday 1st September and Sunday 11th September 2011. The estimate will be updated every Monday until the end of October. BirdLife Cyprus is posting this death toll on its website to highlight the urgency of the situation and as a call for action to halt this slaughter!

“We estimate that, so far this autumn, some 89,000 birds have been killed illegally using mist nets and limesticks in Cyprus. We know that the autumn season is the main trapping period and this number is certain to get much bigger over the next 2 months, unless decisive action is taken now to back up enforcement efforts”, said Martin Hellicar, Campaigns Manager of BirdLife Cyprus.

In July, the ‘European Conference on Illegal Killing of Birds’ that took place in Larnaca, concluded with a clear ‘zero tolerance’ message and an urgent call for appropriate measures to stop the bird slaughter. BirdLife Cyprus is now calling for words to be turned into action by all competent authorities at all levels. BirdLife Cyprus is once again calling for decisive action against the restaurants serving the trapped birds, for targeted enforcement against big, organised trapping operations and for tougher sentences for convicted trappers.

In autumn 2010 BirdLife Cyprus estimated that 1.4 million birds were killed by trappers in the Famagusta and Larnaca Districts, an unprecedented death toll resulting in the highest trapping levels recorded since 2002, when BirdLife Cyprus begun its systematic monitoring of trapping activity.

“Such levels of trapping constitute an ecological disaster. Non-selective trapping is taking place on a large scale to feed the demand for banned ambelopoulia delicacies. We want to communicate the scale of this slaughter to the generally indifferent public in order to make them more aware of the issue and its ecological impact”, Hellicar added.

The details of the death toll estimation and the methodology can be found on BirdLife Cyprus’ website, together with information on why bird trapping with mist nets and limesticks is such a big ecological issue.

TO SIGN THE PETITION PLEASE CLICK HERE!

http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/09/89225-birds-slaughtered%e2%80%a6so-far-sign-the-petition-to-stop-it-now/?so-far-sign-the-petition-to-stop-it-now/

Record flock of migrating Sociable Lapwings recorded in Kazakhstan

Secrets of the Sociable lapwing migration slowly unfolding
August 2011. Birdlife International scientists monitoring migrating Sociable Lapwings in the heart of the Great Steppe have recently discovered the largest single flock seen in Kazakhstan since 1939.
The study team from BirdLife's Kazakhstan Affiliate ACBK who, with support from RSPB (BirdLife in the UK), are conducting breeding research and migration monitoring around Korgalzhyn, in central Kazakhstan, found the record flock of more than 500 birds on August 16th - at Arykty - about 35 km east of their main study site.

"Our autumn migration monitoring kicked of with a bang when we located a huge flock of Sociable Lapwings at Arykty", reported ACBK project leader Ruslan Urazaliyev. "It is often quite difficult to accurately assess the size of an active flock but during my first count I recorded 523 birds and a little later my colleague Timur, who was watching from another viewpoint, estimated that by then it probably contained more than 650 individuals!"

Data gathered in previous years indicates that many local breeders from around Korgalzhyn depart during July. It is therefore most likely that the majority of the birds in this record flock had originated from breeding sites further east in the Steppe and had joined the few remaining juvenile Sociable Lapwings that had hatched locally. The site at Arykty is now regarded as a regular staging site for migrating Sociable Lapwings and sizeable post-breeding flocks have been recorded there in July and August for the past six years. Maximum previous counts at Arykty were 273 birds in 2006, 98 in 2007, 261 in 2008, 400 in 2009 and 345 in 2010.

Migrate through Kazakhstan
Until very recently the origin of these migrating birds was uncertain but last year it was confirmed that Sociable Lapwings from more eastern areas of the Steppe pass west through central Kazakhstan.

This discovery was made when Raushan - a bird satellite-tagged on her nest near Kanterlau (in Eastern Kazakhstan) - was subsequently located close to the main study site on September 14th, 2010. At that point she had moved some 600km west of her breeding site to just north east of Lake Tengiz near Tyngylykty.

Ringed birds
Despite around 100 birds being marked with colour rings in the Central Kazakhstan area this year, only two birds in the flock at Arykty were seen to be colour ringed. One of these birds was positively identified and carried the colour sequence orange, blue, orange, orange - confirming it was ringed as a chick on June 5th at Korgalzhyn.

You can read more about the four Sociable Lapwings we are satellite tracking this autumn by going to the Amazing Journey website

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sociable-lapwing-flock.html

Tagged flamingo to show bird's migratory routes

Abu Dhabi: "Yasmeena", a greater Flamingo will help humans with new information on flamingo's migratory routes stretching from the UAE to Kazakhstan.


She was tagged by the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) yesterday at Al Wathba Wetland Reserve as part of its work to track and monitor birds.

Some among the nine flamingos tagged by the EAD since 1995 have flown to Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and provided new insights into their adventurous journey, an official told Gulf News.

The tracking programme is not meant for getting any new information on the behaviour of the birds but their migratory routes and stopover sites only, Dr Salim Javed, head of EAD's Bird Programme and Manager of Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring, said. The EAD, the first organisation in the Gulf region to satellite tag flamingos since 2005 has successfully tagged 15 flamingos in the UAE, of which nine are still being tracked.

One of these birds, named ‘Sindibad' by EAD, was the first bird to cross the Arabian Gulf stopping along the way at key wetland sites and is currently in Khor Al Beidah in Umm Al Quwain and continues to be tracked by EAD experts.

GPS transmitters
In 2005, five flamingos were captured and marked with plastic rings and satellite transmitters. The capture and tagging was done at the Abu Dhabi Al Wathba Wetland Reserve by the EAD, which also manages the Reserve. Inspired by the success of the programme, the agency has expanded it to cover migratory birds of prey such as the Osprey and Sooty falcon.

The EAD now has a better understanding of where these birds go to feed and where they were migrating from. Birds were tagged with GPS transmitters in November 2005, January 2007, and December 2009. Four flamingos were tagged in Dubai in 2009. Three birds were also tagged in Bul Syayeef area in January 2010.

Satellite tagged birds have successfully migrated north to their potential breeding or summering areas in Iran and Kazakhstan

Regular locations from one of the flamingos' satellite tagged in Al Wathba in 2007 helped EAD discover a new breeding colony of flamingos in April 2009 in Abu Dhabi's Mussafah Channel.



By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/tagged-flamingo-to-show-bird-s-migratory-routes-1.738162

Tagged flamingo to show bird's migratory routes

Abu Dhabi: "Yasmeena", a greater Flamingo will help humans with new information on flamingo's migratory routes stretching from the UAE to Kazakhstan.


She was tagged by the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) yesterday at Al Wathba Wetland Reserve as part of its work to track and monitor birds.

Some among the nine flamingos tagged by the EAD since 1995 have flown to Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and provided new insights into their adventurous journey, an official told Gulf News.

The tracking programme is not meant for getting any new information on the behaviour of the birds but their migratory routes and stopover sites only, Dr Salim Javed, head of EAD's Bird Programme and Manager of Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring, said. The EAD, the first organisation in the Gulf region to satellite tag flamingos since 2005 has successfully tagged 15 flamingos in the UAE, of which nine are still being tracked.

One of these birds, named ‘Sindibad' by EAD, was the first bird to cross the Arabian Gulf stopping along the way at key wetland sites and is currently in Khor Al Beidah in Umm Al Quwain and continues to be tracked by EAD experts.

GPS transmitters
In 2005, five flamingos were captured and marked with plastic rings and satellite transmitters. The capture and tagging was done at the Abu Dhabi Al Wathba Wetland Reserve by the EAD, which also manages the Reserve. Inspired by the success of the programme, the agency has expanded it to cover migratory birds of prey such as the Osprey and Sooty falcon.

The EAD now has a better understanding of where these birds go to feed and where they were migrating from. Birds were tagged with GPS transmitters in November 2005, January 2007, and December 2009. Four flamingos were tagged in Dubai in 2009. Three birds were also tagged in Bul Syayeef area in January 2010.

Satellite tagged birds have successfully migrated north to their potential breeding or summering areas in Iran and Kazakhstan

Regular locations from one of the flamingos' satellite tagged in Al Wathba in 2007 helped EAD discover a new breeding colony of flamingos in April 2009 in Abu Dhabi's Mussafah Channel.



By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/tagged-flamingo-to-show-bird-s-migratory-routes-1.738162

Hong Kong duck returns from epic Arctic trip

The return of duck to Hong Kong after a year-long 6,000km (3,700-mile) journey to the Arctic has yielded new information about bird migration.


The female, fitted with a tracking device, was one of about 20 monitored by the WWF conservation group.

Using Google Earth, the WWF identified the duck's feeding areas and route back to Hong Kong's Mai Po Nature Reserve.

Another duck flew at the record-breaking speed of 114km/h (70mph), the data revealed.

The Mai Po Nature Reserve's manager, Bena Smith, said the duck that returned often travelled at 50km/h (31mph).

One of the birds was shot dead over Russia, where its transmitter was tracked to what was probably the hunter's home.

WWF and its partners, including the US Geological Survey, are studying not only migration but also avian diseases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12074558

Hong Kong duck returns from epic Arctic trip

The return of duck to Hong Kong after a year-long 6,000km (3,700-mile) journey to the Arctic has yielded new information about bird migration.


The female, fitted with a tracking device, was one of about 20 monitored by the WWF conservation group.

Using Google Earth, the WWF identified the duck's feeding areas and route back to Hong Kong's Mai Po Nature Reserve.

Another duck flew at the record-breaking speed of 114km/h (70mph), the data revealed.

The Mai Po Nature Reserve's manager, Bena Smith, said the duck that returned often travelled at 50km/h (31mph).

One of the birds was shot dead over Russia, where its transmitter was tracked to what was probably the hunter's home.

WWF and its partners, including the US Geological Survey, are studying not only migration but also avian diseases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12074558

New Sociable lapwing staging post discovered

Birds fly through Turkey on their way to India

November 2010: New staging posts on the sociable lapwings migration from the breeding grounds of Kazakhstan to India have been found by Turkish researchers from Doga Dernegi (BirdLife in Turkey), who have been carefully monitoring the birds' progress.

At the end of September, DD staff found two flocks of 30 birds at a known staging site on the Erzurum Plain and a large flock of nearly 500 had reached another well-known stopover, Ceylanpinar near the Syrian border on their way south from their breeding grounds in Kazakhstan.


The RSPB, which has also been following the birds' progress, had a satellite transmission from Erzhan, one of nine tagged sociable lapwings, indicating it was near Patnos in central Turkey. However, it was thought he was simply passing through, as on-the-ground researchers could find no flocks when they scoured the area.

Only five sociable lapwings were found near Patnos during the next few days, but as the searches widened to Malazgirt and Bulanlik Plain, a flock of 101 was discovered, and just a day later a large flock of 554 were also found nearby - the largest gathering of migrating sociable lapwings encountered so far this autumn. Erzhan was not part of the flock, but he had pointed the way, helping DD discover another important new staging site in eastern Turkey.

Two routes to India rather than one?
With no further reports of lapwings from the Mus Plain during the following two weeks, the birds had been thought to have passed south through a central corridor in Turkey but then two further groups were found, the first in Ceylanpinar as expected and the other at a site in the Akcakale Plain in the north east, which has previously been known only as a spring migration staging site.

Now researchers are hypothsising that the birds may take two distinct routes through Turkey and are hoping to confirm this in due course. DD researchers hypothesize that there might be two distinct routes taken by Sociable Lapwings moving through Turkey which we hope to bring you further news about, if this can be established, in due course.

The first birds to be seen arrive at their final destination, were four sociable lapwings photographed by enthusiast Surat Singh Poonia at the Tal Chhapar WildLife Sanctuary in Rajasthan at the end of October.

As well as being the first record this year of sociable lapwings returning to winter in India it is also the first time sociable lapwings have been seen at the site since 1998.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sociable-lapwing929.html

New Sociable lapwing staging post discovered

Birds fly through Turkey on their way to India

November 2010: New staging posts on the sociable lapwings migration from the breeding grounds of Kazakhstan to India have been found by Turkish researchers from Doga Dernegi (BirdLife in Turkey), who have been carefully monitoring the birds' progress.

At the end of September, DD staff found two flocks of 30 birds at a known staging site on the Erzurum Plain and a large flock of nearly 500 had reached another well-known stopover, Ceylanpinar near the Syrian border on their way south from their breeding grounds in Kazakhstan.


The RSPB, which has also been following the birds' progress, had a satellite transmission from Erzhan, one of nine tagged sociable lapwings, indicating it was near Patnos in central Turkey. However, it was thought he was simply passing through, as on-the-ground researchers could find no flocks when they scoured the area.

Only five sociable lapwings were found near Patnos during the next few days, but as the searches widened to Malazgirt and Bulanlik Plain, a flock of 101 was discovered, and just a day later a large flock of 554 were also found nearby - the largest gathering of migrating sociable lapwings encountered so far this autumn. Erzhan was not part of the flock, but he had pointed the way, helping DD discover another important new staging site in eastern Turkey.

Two routes to India rather than one?
With no further reports of lapwings from the Mus Plain during the following two weeks, the birds had been thought to have passed south through a central corridor in Turkey but then two further groups were found, the first in Ceylanpinar as expected and the other at a site in the Akcakale Plain in the north east, which has previously been known only as a spring migration staging site.

Now researchers are hypothsising that the birds may take two distinct routes through Turkey and are hoping to confirm this in due course. DD researchers hypothesize that there might be two distinct routes taken by Sociable Lapwings moving through Turkey which we hope to bring you further news about, if this can be established, in due course.

The first birds to be seen arrive at their final destination, were four sociable lapwings photographed by enthusiast Surat Singh Poonia at the Tal Chhapar WildLife Sanctuary in Rajasthan at the end of October.

As well as being the first record this year of sociable lapwings returning to winter in India it is also the first time sociable lapwings have been seen at the site since 1998.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sociable-lapwing929.html

Follow that microlight: Birds learn to migrate

"Yes, people think we're crazy," says Johannes Fritz, with a wry smile.


And surveying the scene, it is easy to see why.

We are in a playing field, in a small village in Austria, close to the Slovenian border.

In it stands a makeshift camp, with all the usual outdoors paraphernalia.

But it is the large aviary, containing 14 northern bald ibis and two human "foster parents" who are gently tending to their avian flock that really draws your attention.

That, and the microlights parked nearby.

For the past couple of days, this unassuming spot has been home to the Waldrapp team, "Waldrapp" being another name for the northern bald ibis.

But the group will not be staying here for long: they are part-way through a month-long effort to take these birds on a 1,300km flight from Germany to Italy.

However, this is no ordinary migration. The scientists are teaching the birds their route by getting them to follow a microlight.

Building trust
The project forms part of a wider conservation plan to save this critically endangered bird, explains Dr Fritz, leader of the Waldrapp team.

The northern bald ibis was once common throughout Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East.


But today, because of habitat loss and hunting, it has vanished from Europe, leaving diminished populations in Morocco, and just a handful of these distinctive birds in Syria.

Along with other groups around the world, the Waldrapp team is looking into the feasibility of reintroducing birds born in captivity into the wild.

But it is not as simple as opening a cage and setting them free.

Without any knowledge of their migration route, which is usually passed on by their parents, the zoo-born birds cannot survive.

So, inspired by a similar project in America called Operation Migration, the scientists teach them their flight plan instead.


But it is a time-consuming process. It begins in spring. As soon as the birds hatch, they are introduced to their new human foster parents.

Then for the next few months, the human stand-ins spend almost every waking hour with the birds, feeding them, grooming them and playing with them.

Sinja Werner, one of the two foster parents in this year's team, says: "We try to be their parents, as best as we can. It's important that they trust you."

Finally, this bond becomes so strong that the birds are willing to follow their parents anywhere. Even if they are sitting in a microlight.

Conservation crisis
While no doubt expensive, people-power heavy and time intensive, the Waldrapp project forms part of a growing movement that is taking conservation further than it has ever gone before.

Gone are the days when saving the flora and fauna was just about safeguarding habitats and putting species protection plans into place.

Thanks to the fact that we are in midst of the biggest extinction crisis since the dinosaurs were wiped out, some researchers are saying we have to go further.


As well as concentrating on the traditional methods, they claim that we need to invest in and embrace more extreme, more experimental approaches, from hands-on reintroduction programmes like these, to shifting species around the globe and even cloning.

Professor John Fa, director of conservation science at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, says: "We are talking about over 6,000 species under threat, we are talking about pollution increasing, we are talking about habitat fragmentation, we are talking about invasive species. There are many, many threats and these threats are still there.


"In some situations, species are so low in numbers that the only way to deal with their survival is through more intervention, and I think it is pushing us with coming up with more innovative ideas, it is pushing us into coming up with extreme ideas."

And this project certainly fits the bill. The next morning, we get to witness the team in action.

As dawn breaks, the camp emerges from the darkness into a hive of activity, getting ready for a planned 200km flight that should take the team across the border into Slovenia.


The final preparations are made, and foster parent Sinja takes one last look at her birds before climbing into the microlight.

With a quick burst of speed, it powers across the dewy meadow before gliding up into the air, the fog-drenched countryside becoming ever more distant below.

The aviary opens, and the birds also take to the skies, encouraged by their adoptive mother who repeatedly yells into her loudspeaker: "Here Wileys, come come".


But, it soon becomes clear that the "Wileys", an affectionate nickname for the birds, need a bit more convincing.

Every now and again the foster parent's efforts seem to be working, and the birds gather in a tight V-shaped formation behind the aircraft.

But moments later they scatter, accompanied by increasingly desperate yells from above, pleading with them to come back.

This bizarre mid-air procession continues back and forth for the next 90 minutes, but today, just like naughty children, the birds simply will not do what they are told.

Finally, the team calls it a day, landing a measly 10km from where they set off.

Back on track
A few weeks later, Dr Fritz gets back in touch

After this early setback, he said, the birds started to behave, eventually completing their 1,300km migration and arriving in Italy in record time.


He said: "The migration 2010 was fantastic and extraordinary.

"For the first time, the flight speed and the flight distances are fully comparable with that of the wild migrating birds."

With the migration now complete, this flock now have their "flight plan" in place, hopefully allowing them to make their own unassisted migration back to Germany when the time comes for them to breed.

But whatever the future holds for these birds, one thing is certain: these kinds of hands-on conservation efforts are far from easy - or predictable

By Rebecca Morelle

Science reporter, BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11574073

Follow that microlight: Birds learn to migrate

"Yes, people think we're crazy," says Johannes Fritz, with a wry smile.


And surveying the scene, it is easy to see why.

We are in a playing field, in a small village in Austria, close to the Slovenian border.

In it stands a makeshift camp, with all the usual outdoors paraphernalia.

But it is the large aviary, containing 14 northern bald ibis and two human "foster parents" who are gently tending to their avian flock that really draws your attention.

That, and the microlights parked nearby.

For the past couple of days, this unassuming spot has been home to the Waldrapp team, "Waldrapp" being another name for the northern bald ibis.

But the group will not be staying here for long: they are part-way through a month-long effort to take these birds on a 1,300km flight from Germany to Italy.

However, this is no ordinary migration. The scientists are teaching the birds their route by getting them to follow a microlight.

Building trust
The project forms part of a wider conservation plan to save this critically endangered bird, explains Dr Fritz, leader of the Waldrapp team.

The northern bald ibis was once common throughout Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East.


But today, because of habitat loss and hunting, it has vanished from Europe, leaving diminished populations in Morocco, and just a handful of these distinctive birds in Syria.

Along with other groups around the world, the Waldrapp team is looking into the feasibility of reintroducing birds born in captivity into the wild.

But it is not as simple as opening a cage and setting them free.

Without any knowledge of their migration route, which is usually passed on by their parents, the zoo-born birds cannot survive.

So, inspired by a similar project in America called Operation Migration, the scientists teach them their flight plan instead.


But it is a time-consuming process. It begins in spring. As soon as the birds hatch, they are introduced to their new human foster parents.

Then for the next few months, the human stand-ins spend almost every waking hour with the birds, feeding them, grooming them and playing with them.

Sinja Werner, one of the two foster parents in this year's team, says: "We try to be their parents, as best as we can. It's important that they trust you."

Finally, this bond becomes so strong that the birds are willing to follow their parents anywhere. Even if they are sitting in a microlight.

Conservation crisis
While no doubt expensive, people-power heavy and time intensive, the Waldrapp project forms part of a growing movement that is taking conservation further than it has ever gone before.

Gone are the days when saving the flora and fauna was just about safeguarding habitats and putting species protection plans into place.

Thanks to the fact that we are in midst of the biggest extinction crisis since the dinosaurs were wiped out, some researchers are saying we have to go further.


As well as concentrating on the traditional methods, they claim that we need to invest in and embrace more extreme, more experimental approaches, from hands-on reintroduction programmes like these, to shifting species around the globe and even cloning.

Professor John Fa, director of conservation science at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, says: "We are talking about over 6,000 species under threat, we are talking about pollution increasing, we are talking about habitat fragmentation, we are talking about invasive species. There are many, many threats and these threats are still there.


"In some situations, species are so low in numbers that the only way to deal with their survival is through more intervention, and I think it is pushing us with coming up with more innovative ideas, it is pushing us into coming up with extreme ideas."

And this project certainly fits the bill. The next morning, we get to witness the team in action.

As dawn breaks, the camp emerges from the darkness into a hive of activity, getting ready for a planned 200km flight that should take the team across the border into Slovenia.


The final preparations are made, and foster parent Sinja takes one last look at her birds before climbing into the microlight.

With a quick burst of speed, it powers across the dewy meadow before gliding up into the air, the fog-drenched countryside becoming ever more distant below.

The aviary opens, and the birds also take to the skies, encouraged by their adoptive mother who repeatedly yells into her loudspeaker: "Here Wileys, come come".


But, it soon becomes clear that the "Wileys", an affectionate nickname for the birds, need a bit more convincing.

Every now and again the foster parent's efforts seem to be working, and the birds gather in a tight V-shaped formation behind the aircraft.

But moments later they scatter, accompanied by increasingly desperate yells from above, pleading with them to come back.

This bizarre mid-air procession continues back and forth for the next 90 minutes, but today, just like naughty children, the birds simply will not do what they are told.

Finally, the team calls it a day, landing a measly 10km from where they set off.

Back on track
A few weeks later, Dr Fritz gets back in touch

After this early setback, he said, the birds started to behave, eventually completing their 1,300km migration and arriving in Italy in record time.


He said: "The migration 2010 was fantastic and extraordinary.

"For the first time, the flight speed and the flight distances are fully comparable with that of the wild migrating birds."

With the migration now complete, this flock now have their "flight plan" in place, hopefully allowing them to make their own unassisted migration back to Germany when the time comes for them to breed.

But whatever the future holds for these birds, one thing is certain: these kinds of hands-on conservation efforts are far from easy - or predictable

By Rebecca Morelle

Science reporter, BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11574073