From: WWGBP@aol.com
Date: 2010-12-15 17:43
Subject: Satellite-tracked Amur Falcons
Dear All,

Some people have asked us for news about the satellite-tracked Amur Falcons.

The adult female with satellite transmitter no. 95773 arrived at Volksrust on 13 December 2010. This is not far from Newcastle (Natal) where the bird was trapped almost a year ago and fitted with the PTT. This Amur has been tracked all the way to northeastern China and back again to South Africa. The falcon left Mapungubwe NP near the border of Zimbabwe on 12 December. The night from 10 to 11 December was spent in Botswana about half way between Gaberone and Makarikari Pans. From there it went 430 km south in one day to spend the night  of 11/12 Dec. in Samcor Park (Denneboom, Pretoria). We would be interested to learn if a colony is known there. The next night was spent in Standerton.

Female  95772 is in Botswana some 150 km north of Gaberone (Botswana)  since 13 Dec. It came from the northeast of Zimbabwe crossing the Makarikari Pans.

Female 95778  is in the Kruger NP since 14 Dec. 16 km east of Sirkeni Camp  close to the border of Mocambique.

Male 95775 is in Zambia between S and N Luangwa NP  since 15 Dec.

Male 95776 is in Chyulu Hills NP in Kenya some 180 km southeast of Nairobi since 8 Dec.

We would be interested in any observations of the species and in photos of the places mentioned.

Thanks for everybody sending us reports and observations. This is much appreciated.

We have been asked to show the complete migration routes of the birds.  The PTTs are too small to furnish GPS fixes. Doppler/Argos fixes are often not precise. It is necessary to check each fix individually and throw many of them away. This takes a lot of time and we can only do this once we evaluate the data seriously for a publication.


Kind regards,


Bernd Meyburg
Christiane Meyburg

BUMeyburg@aol.com
www-raptor-research.de