Highland Foundation for Wildlife

(These maps created using DMap (see www.dmap.co.uk) - lines connect locations and are not necessarily flight lines)

Googlemap of the honey buzzard locations SE Nigeria on 13th December, with GMT times

BIRD 21185
DATE	NOTES
8th Sep	Departed breeding area - Roosting in Aberdarder wood in Strathnairn; 16.5 kilometres from Inverness.
10th Sep	Still in same general area -Flichity Forest, Strathnairn
11th Sep	A mile east at dusk
13th Sep	Afternoon: Glen Kylachy - a mile or so south of 11th location.
15th Sep	Moved a bit to NW and roosted overnight in woods north of Loch Duntelchaig
16th Sep	Near Shenval in Glenlivet, Banffshire in the evening
18th Sep	Just north of Arbroath,Angus at 0700, three hours later apparently over the North Sea 5 kilometres off Arbroath
19th Sep	Roosting in woods between road and railway at Giffordtown, north of Ladybank in Fife.
23rd Sep	Again roosted overnight in woodland north of Ladybank in Fife
24th Sep	By dusk in forest at Mainshill Wood, south of Douglas, near M74 motorway
26th Sep	At 0849, over hills in South Lanarkshire south of Scaur Hill - restarting migration
27th Sep	Roosting in Bellflask woods, North Stainley, 10 kms west of A1 road , north of Ripon, North Yorkshire
29th Sep	At 1816 hours over woods near Marholm on NW outskirts of Peterborough
2nd Oct	At dusk just north of Astwick, south of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire - within one kilometre of the A1 - must be following motorways south!!
4th Oct	Early afternoon, two low quality signals both from just south of Canterbury in Kent - so looks like it is heading for a short sea crossing to France
5th Oct	Late night; roosting in forests at Seloignes, about 25 kilometres SSW of Charleroi, BELGIUM. Really excellent that both chicks from this nest have crossed the English Channel and not travelled down the western side of the British Isles, with the risk of being lost in the Atlantic Ocean.
7th Oct	Continued flying in south-east direction and at 1542 hours local time was near Kippenheim, on east side of the River Rhine, in south-west GERMANY. 323 kilometres from previous position and heading into the Black Forest; 35 kilometres north of Freiburg. Had an email overnight from Paul Castle- saying over last two mid-Septembers he had watched raptors migrate south or southwest following the edge of the Black Forest mountains (gaining more thermals here than in the flat Rhine valley to the west) and I have seen (in order of abundance) Marsh Harriers, Honey-buzzards, Hobbies, Red Kites, Ospreys and Black Kites. From here the raptors head south into Switzerland, most keeping to the eastern flank of the Jura mountains and then turn southwest down the Rhone valley near Geneva (a gap between the Jura and the Alps).
8th Oct received 16th Oct	Dear colleagues One of them has been observed by one of our volunteers on October 8th on the border between France and Switzerland. The observation fits perfectly well into the schedule of bird 21185! Our (very experienced) volunteer Thierry Spenlehauer, F-68480 Biederthal, was guiding an excursion for Alsace Nature and they were close to the chapell of F- 68480 Oberlarg (N 47°27.627' E 07°14.712' ), when at 14.08 a juvenile Honey Buzzard arrived and started to soar just some 30 m above the heads of the nature lovers! They detected an antenna and a small black box attached on the Buzzards back - and they all will be now to learn more about the journey of this raptor! We hope that this information is useful to you and we wish this birds a safe journey! with best regards Hans Schmid Vogelwarte Sempach' Switzerland. www.vogelwarte.ch
8th/9th Oct	Two poor quality signals at midnight when it was apparently roosting in the Jura forests along the French/Swiss border north of Neuchatel or just west of Murtensee, between Neuchatel and Bern, SWITZERLAND. In view of the two visual sightings the latter is more likely.
10th Oct	Late evening poor signal from Saleon, south-west of Gap in southern FRANCE; about 100 kilometres south of Grenoble heading for the Mediterranean but this is definitely suspect because of the following report. Looking at the data and comparing it to the exciting report below; we note that the last good signal was on 7th October, with the signals on 9th and 10th being poor quality because the bird was in the mountains. It is possible the honey buzzard migrated south from Germany, through Switzerland and along the French/Italian border and then turned west near Monaco
10th Oct data received 15th Oct	We received the following exciting email from Patrick Kern 15th October Hello Mr. Roy Dennis , I am a Birdwatcher from southern FRANCE , living at NICE ( French Riviera ) . Thursday , 10 october , I was at the Migration Camp of " La Revère " , situated at Eze - La Turbie, between Nice and the italian border . La Revère : N : 43° 44' 19" E : 007° 22' 06" altitude : 675 m (see picture below) This 10 october , 5 Honey Buzzards was noted as migrating East --> West . ( 997 in autumn 2005 ) . At 16:35 ( local hour , GMT + 2 ) , I saw a young honey buzzard équiped with a GPS satellite transmitter on his back ??? He was flying E --> W with 2 others honey buzzards . Your Highland Foundation for Wildlife internet site showed me the migration map of Honey buzzard 21185 , and the Migration Journeys noted that at the 10th Oct. , 21185 was about 100 Km south of Grenoble , heading for the Mediterranean ! I suppose that 21185 was at Eze - La Turbie at 16:35 ! It constitute a very curious Migration flight , isnt'it ? Thanks a lot for this very important information for all the french birdwatchers , it is a very big information for our Camp of Migration de la Revère , all ours birds are not coming from NE of Europa , but also from the North of Scotland ! Congratulations for your Foundation and our honey buzzard project !
12th Oct	Midday at Bois de la Plate, just north of Bouvene; 50 kilometres east of Avignon in wooded mountains.
14th Oct	During the night, 0400GMT, was over the Mediterranean Sea between Majorca and Ibiza. Clear weather with a fresh ENE wind - favourable for passage to Spain
15th Oct	By evening today, was flying into the northern approaches of the Sahara Desert near Brezina, south of El Bayadh, ALGERIA. 682 kilometres since 4am on 14th
20th Oct	Moved south-west through Algeria to Saala, north of Adrar - in deserts of south-west Algeria
22nd Oct	Overnight high quality signal - bird roosting in area of sandy ridges in desert 75 kilometres NW of Adrar in Algeria
23rd Oct	Changed migration direction to the south; at 1546GMT was close to the Tropic of Cancer in flat bare desert near the road south from Reggane to the border at Bordj Moktar; winds light westerly, clear sky
25th Oct	At 0630GMT, the bird was in the open deserts of northern MALI; about 30 kilometres north-west of Tessalit. He had flown 354 kilometres south since the evening of 23rd, so is now heading fast for the wintering grounds.
27th Oct	Overnight 26th/27th, he was roosting in ridges of desert, possibly scrub, just north-west of Gourma Rharous on the River Niger in Mali. This is about 120 kilometres east of Timbuktu and the bird is just 58 kilometres north of the river. He is now 4466 kilometres from home. Weather: cloudy skies, 28C and light SSW winds; but day time temperatures in the sun are 35C.
28th Oct	Moved 157 kilometres south and now in area of lakes, marshes and sparse woodland south of the Niger river close to Gakorey and Lac Garou.
30th -3rd Nov	Still in same area and apparently roosted at same site last two nights. This bird is now 1060 kilometres east of its sister. Weather: some light cloud.
17th & 25th Nov	No signals received - it appears that the radio battery has run down. No further signals

(These maps created using DMap (see www.dmap.co.uk) - lines connect locations and are not necessarily flight lines)

Below: Google Earth Plus looking south at the location of 28661 between 3rd and at least 15th November

on northern slopes of the Massif du Tamgue (1538 metres), with small town of Mali (or Maliville) in centre

Map of West Africa showing locations of 28661 (red line) and 21185 (yellow line)

BIRD 28661
DATE	NOTES
7th February	Just one transmission during the night; bird roosting on a forested island in the delta forests; just one kilometre from its previous position. It looks as though it has decided to winter in the Niger delta.
28th Jan	Excellent data of the highest quality came in between 1630GMT and 2122GMT. She was only 3.4 kilometres from her location on the 19th. Her position at 4.30 was only 350 metres from her later roost site, so she had obviously finished feeding by late afternoon. Living in swamp forest habitat.
19th Jan	Four signals came in during the day, two of high quality. The bird has moved 165 kilometres SSW and is now in the swamp forests of the Niger Delta. It is near the Nun River north of the coastal town of Akassa, in a flood zone area, although this is the dry season there. The localities are in swamps forests dissected by rivers and streams. The times of the locations were 1031 and 1519 GMT, and in the afternoon she was 11.5 kilometres north, so must be hunting in the Delta forests. The delta is the second largest swamp forest in Africa; it is special for wildlife, including endemic races of red colobus monkey and pygmy hippo, but it is also one of the world's major oil and gas fields. Reports suggest that oil spills have made it one of the five most polluted areas in the world.
Locations of the honey buzzard in southern Nigeria
10th Jan	Transmissions at dawn gave a location 38 kilometres further NW from that on New Years day. Again the bird was in sparse woodlands within a settled landscape of roads, houses, farms and villages. The bird was 13 kilometres east of the town of Oguta, which is known for commercial fishing and also for a resort hotel with "a challenging Scottish designed golf course!"
1st Jan	The first transmissions of the New Year were at 22 minutes past midnight and 0242GMT, and were very accurate locations. She has moved another 45 kilometres NW and is now 15 kilometres SW of the town of Owerri. The roosting site was in woodland within an region of woods, cleared forest, farms, villages and roads. Within two kilometres is a narrow corridor of riverine forest along a small river, but from the maps it does not appear to be ideal habitat for honey buzzards. I've just received a good New Year message from Rob Biljlsma (Dutch honey buzzard expert) along with a copy of his paper on wintering honey buzzards in south east Nigeria. Life history traits of Honey Buzzards in Africa. (Die Vogelwarte 41, 2002:240-248) He studied wintering birds in the foothills of the Afi mountains in southeastern Nigeria in February 1991 and recorded honey buzzards on 34 occasions, involving at least 20 individuals. He aged 11 as adults, 14 as juveniles and one 3rd calendar year. The density was high in the area he studied and foraging started after 10am and in the early afternoon. Rainforest was the preferred habitat but he commented that it has been cleared in West Africa for cultivation at an accelerating rate.
22nd Dec	Received 5 transmissions during the night of 22nd/23rd December; two at 2212 GMT were of high quality and showed that she was roosting in open and rather scattered woodland in a well settled area 12 kilometres SW of the town of Aba. So instead of travelling further south and east into Cameroon from her previous position on the Cross River, she turned back and headed 100 kilometres WNW towards the Niger river into areas with less rain forest. Is she wandering in her first winter in Africa testing potential wintering areas or is there too much adult competition in the best habitats?
13th Dec	Really excellent signals came in during the day from south-east Nigeria. At midday she was in dense forests on the edge of the Cross River estuary, 8 kilometres north of Oron, a small coastal town over the river from Calabar. Later in the afternoon she had moved 8 kilometres north-west, near Ekaya, in more open country. This area is 1080 kilometres due east of the previous location, but the young honey buzzard presumably followed the northward curve of the coast rather than flying across the open sea. Oron is a coastal trade centre for yams, cassava, fish and palm oil; and the forests are hot and humid. New maps are added below.
4th Dec	Today we are very lucky she is actively migrating. It had been cloudy recently over West Africa but today's weather was clear and sunny, 30C and very light SSE winds. At 0952GMT the bird was on the south-west coast of Ghana; 950 kilometres ESE of the last report in Liberia. Ninety minutes later she was 29 kilometres to the east and by 1254GMY had turned NE along the coast past Sekondi, (interestingly one of the project team, Hugh Insley, lived there when a young forester). She continued actively migrating east along the coast, inland of Shama Bay. I wonder how far this journey will take her and where she will be when the next transmission is received? Maps at the bottom of the page are from GoogleEarth plus - if you use this programme or Google maps, why not try seeing how well we can check on the birds' locations. The location on 25th November was very accurate (within 150 metres) and if you type in the co-ordinates 8.210,-10.040 (where - means west) you can fly straight to the location - it's an incredible tool for our studies!
7th Sep	Departed breeding area, moving a few miles to the south-east
8th Sep	Early afternoon: near Tummel Bridge, Perthshire; 90 kilometres south.
9th/10th Sep	Roosted in Drumbuich Wood, Glen Almond, west of Perth
11th Sep	Passed Edinburgh, spent evening near Portmore Loch, north of Peebles
13th Sep	Roosting in Corselaw Forest, north of Carnwath.
14th/15th Sep	Roosted again overnight Corselaw Forest
16th Sep	Dawn at Cannock Chase, probably roosted there overnight in English Midlands
16th Sep	0930 active migration over Wolverhampton
16th Sep	1230 Claverley, 5 miles east of Bridgnorth
17th Sep	Roosted overnight Manningford Bruce woods, near Pewsey, Wiltshire
19th Sep	At midday over Mersley Down, between Newport and Sandown on the Isle of Wight - this chick is heading in a perfect direction for a short crossing of the English Channel to France
22nd Sep	Poor quality signals at midday near Nogent-le-Trou, 40 kms NE of Le Mans, FRANCE
25th Sep	In the afternoon near Darnac, north of Bellac, about 100 kms north of Limoges
27th Sep	Close to Breuilh, 15 kms SE of Perigueux and about 100km east of Bordeaux.
28th -30th Sep	Still in same area, a little bit east on 1st October; poor weather in southern France - raining, low clouds and poor visibility so it's not the weather for crossing the Pyrenees. She will be waiting for the skies to clear.
3rd Oct	Poor signals in Fontenilles Forest, south-east of Begerac.
6th Oct	Poor quality signal over Mediterranean Sea off the Algerian coast, south of Mercia, Spain - so bird has migrated in rather poor weather over the Pyrenees and was 905 kilometres south.
7th Oct	At 2131 hours local time, was near Moghras Foukani, south of Ain Sefra in western ALGERIA, not far from Moroccan border. 503 kms from yesterday's position. Now heading into the Sahara Desert.
9th Oct	Late morning - well out into the Algerian deserts - near Kreloua St Brahim - apparently following a large dry river course southwards through the desert.
11th Oct	Very accurate signal at 0236GMT from an area of hills in the Algerian desert east of Kahal Morrat - bird is progressing SSW towards Mali border in clear skies and no wind; 500 kilometres from position of 9th so may be migrating at night as well: now 3500 kilometres from its start point in the Scottish Highlands.
12th Oct	Now in remote desert in central MAURITANIA; south of El Mreyer; she is travelling fast being 813 kilometres from yesterday's position in a day and a half. Her migration speed over nearly 4 hours in the afternoon was 28.5 kms/hour.
14th Oct	Still travelling over the deserts of Mauritania. Very high quality signals last night indicates she was roosting during darkness in an amazing series of dunes south of Tichitt and 200 kilometres east of Tidjikdja. Clear skies and light winds - very hot during the day.
15th Oct	Successfully crossed the hot deserts and late afternoon was near Yatela in MALI, close to the Senegal border. Now in an area of scattered trees, vegetation and water; weather clear with possibility of thunderstorms. 504 kilometres since dawn yesterday.
17th Oct	Very close to Senegal border - south-west of Sadiola, Mali
20th Oct	Moved about 38 kilometres south-west into Senegal and now near Morissou, in south-east of the country
22nd Oct	High quality signal overnight from dry woodlands west of the Faileme river in Senegal, about 40 kilometres north of Khossanto - weather hot, clear skies
23rd Oct	Moved about 56 kilometres further into southern Senegal, west of Khossanto in woodlands beside small rivers
25th Oct	Last night she roosted in a largish wood (about one by one and half kilometres, from the satellite view, just north of a large deforested burnt area. 33 kilometres north of yesterday's location in Senegal. Clearly slowed down its migration and feeding in that area.
26th Oct	Moved back over the Senegal border into Mali, near Saboucire, south of Sadiola (near location of 17th); in late afternoon over open ground and at night roosted in woodlands 6 kilometres away, near small river. Now 4926 kilometres from home. Weather: some light cloud; 28C in day and light WSW winds.
28thOct	Still in Mali - 11 kilometres north-west of previous location (see Google map below)
30th Oct	Last night roosted 21 kilometres to the south - same general area.
31st Oct	During the day travelled 61 kilometres south across the border into the mountain country of the Massif du Tamgue in GUINEA. This bird seems to be heading for the wintering quarters of the English young honey buzzard tracked in 2003.
1st-3rd Nov	In the northern forested slopes of Massif du Tamgue
5th Nov	Roosted overnight in woodlands on the northern lower slopes of the Massif du Tamgue in Guinea. 1.5 kilometres from Bennsoni, and 10 kilometres north of the hill top town of Mali. This mountain rises to 1538 metres.
6th Nov	In same forested area.
15th/16th Nov	Good signals - bird roosting in same forests on north slopes of mountains.
25th Nov	Excellent overnight signals of the young honey buzzard roosting in forests in NW Liberia, about 10 kilometres south-east of Kolahun and 14 kilometres west of Walo Mountain, showed she was on the move again. This is 500 kilometres south-east of the previous position. This bird is now 270 kilometres north of the Liberian wintering site of English youngster from 2003 (see the 2003 migration page). I wonder how much further she will travel.
4th Dec	Today we are very lucky she is actively migrating. It had been cloudy recently over West Africa but today's weather was clear and sunny, 30C and very light SSE winds. At 0952GMT the bird was on the south-west coast of Ghana; 950 kilometres ESE of the last report in Liberia. Ninety minutes later she was 29 kilometres to the east and by 1254GMY had turned NE along the coast past Sekonda, and was actively migrating east, inland of Shama Bay. I wonder how far this journey will take her and where she will be when the next transmission is received?