28 July 2010

A tiny amount of signal came through today - the battery is exhausted but it's good to think Rana is still alive.

30 May 2010

Two signals after midnight were from her usual forest location.

20 May 2010

After more than a month of no good signals, suddenly a class 2 location for 0109GMT today in same forested area of Cameroon. This young honey buzzard is also still living in its wintering area in Africa.

10 April 2010

Poor quality signal today - think the battery is running down or she is in very deep forest.

03 March 2010

Rana still in the area, but 2.5 kilometres south of the road

20 February 2010

Signals today from the same area of Cameroon.

10 February 2010

Rana was still in the usual area of forests at 1300GMT today.

11 January 2010

Another series of locations from the usual area of forest; she is living in a range of 4.5 kilometres by 2.5 kilometres.

02 January 2010

Rana living in same area of forests in Cameroon.

13 December 2009

Several good quality signals show that Rana is living in the forests of Cameroon at a similar locality as previously; also there on 20th.

03 December 2009

Rana has made another big movement of 1500 kilometres through Africa and was in southern Cameroon at 0836GMT this morning. She is in a large area of forests 33 kilometres ENE of the coastal town of Kribi. The transmitters are now on a ten day schedule to conserve batteries so it will be interesting to see if she goes further south to the tropical forests of Gabonn, where our original satellite tracked adult male wintered.

23 November 2009

At 1756GMT today, Rana was located in southern Ghana, about 7 kms NE of thecoastal town of Sekondi-Takorade. This is 1330 kilometres SSE of her previous position and nearly mirrors the recent easterly migration of her sibling to Nigeria.

13 November 2009

By 1803GMT, she had flown 295 kilometres SSE past Conakry into southern Guinea, about 19 kms east of Benti and close to the border with Sierra Leone. Four hours later she was roosting in scattered trees in regrowth woodland 1.1 kms SE of the previous location. She is now 570 kilometres NW of her sibling, Vespa.

12 November 2009

About 600 metres from previous location, and still about 900 metres north of the Guinean border. In sparsely wooded hill tops, rather than in river forests.

10 November 2009

She has moved back across the border into Guinea Bissau again, but looks like the same type of habitat

03 November 2009

Rana remained in same area of northern Guinea.

01 November 2009

Rana has continued to live in riverine woodlands on the border, mainly in Guinea Bissau, but at dawn on 1st November had moved 6 kilometres SSE into Guinea. She is 860 kilometres NW of her brother.

24 October 2009

Rana remains in an area of about 2 square kilometres around a small riverine forest in Guinea Bissau, right on the border with Guinea.

19 October 2009

Still in the same valley forests

19 October 2009

Still in the same valley forests

16 October 2009

Rana has migrated about 50 km to the west and is still in Guinea-Bissau.

14 October 2009

Rana moved over 100 kilometres south and is now just north of the border with Guinea, in an area of deforested hills with wooded valley bottoms.

12 October 2009

Has settled for a few days in same area; signals at 1031GMT and 1130GMT were close to the location of 10th October, but 2.36 kilometres apart.

10 October 2009

At 1947GMT, she was roosting in scrub woodlands in northern Guinea Bissau, between Bajocounda and Canquelifa. This is 160 kilometres further on from her location on 8th. We are receiving excellent signals - often Class 3 which are of an accuracy of 150 metres.

08 October 2009

At 2310GMT Rana was roosting in scattered trees about 23 kilometres north of Tambcounda, Senegal.

07 October 2009

At 0219GMT today, Rana was in semi-desert in Senegal about 60 kilometres north of Tambacounda; she has maintained a SSW direction since the 3rd October and is heading for the eastern end of The Gambia and Guinea Bissau. She is now about 560 kilometres NW of her brother.

05 October 2009

Rana was roosting in scrub desert and rock formations north of Kiffa in southern Mauritania at 0613GMT.

03 October 2009

Series of good signals in today as she travelled over the Mauritanian deserts. In 6 hours she flew 234 kilometres south - the light winds are north-west with clear sunny skies. She is now on her main crossing of the Sahara.

02 October 2009

Last night at 2126GMT Rana was roosting in open desert close to the intersection of Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania. She is now heading south into the desert, much further to the west than her brother.

30 September 2009

Last evening at 2211GMT Rana was in the Atlas mountains of Morocco roosting at 1700 metres altitude to the north of the high mountain Jebel Bou Ourioul (over 3500 metres). This site is 60 kilometres ESE of Marrakesh. She was still in the same location at 0318GMT today so was clearly roosting overnight. Between 0912GMT on 28th September and last evening she had flown at least 515 kilometres. It is great news that both chicks have reached Africa.

28 September 2009

Rana was crossing to Africa at 0912GMT this morning - not in good weather conditions for honey buzzards as it was partly cloudy with light NE winds of 5mph. She was NW of the north west corner of Morocco.

26 September 2009

Just NE of Faro on south coast of Portugal

22 September 2009

Rana is slowly moving south - and at 2257GMT this evening was near Borba in Portugal, about 50 kilometres west of Badajoz.

21 September 2009

Rana has moved south and last night roosted NW of Vila Pouca de Aguiar in northern Portugal.

19 September 2009

Rana has moved inland through Galicia, and is now NW of Chantada. The weather is not good for honey buzzard migration, being overcast with light rain and a light SW wind. At least she is moving back inland for the route to south Spain. Unlike her brother, she remained in same area through the morning - not surprising considering the poor weather.

17 September 2009

Rana was today (1350GMT) just north of Ferrol in NW Galicia; one position was just south of Valdovina in the very NW corner of Spain, and the other was a bit further south near the coast at Monte Lagoa. With these non GPS transmitters we just have the locations, not tracks or other data, but the location today suggests she flew out of South Wales on 16th, either via Cornwall/Devon or directly over the Atlantic Ocean and the outer Bay of Biscay. Her direction of travel the previous day would suggest the latter. The band of overcast weather with NW winds and light rain coming in from the Atlantic Ocean would have been helpful in blowing her towards the Spanish coast. But whatever her track over such a long sea j0urney she made it to Spain! A direct line of 587 miles (942 kilometres) but probably she flew much further. The two maps show her two locations; and the weather system that was probably her saviour.

Later at 1743GMT a class 2 signal showed she was on a headland called Cabo Prior. The forecast for 18th is rain and fog, and 2mph S wind.

15 September 2009

This evening locationscame in for the Gower Peninsula in South Wales from 6.30pm; and at 21.38pm there was a high quality signal showing she was roosting in a wood just over a mile NW of Parkmill. The weather there is partly cloudy with a 15mph NE wind.

14 September 2009

Rana was roosting last night in small woodlands near a dam about one mile north of Lundin Links, Fife.

12 September 2009

This morning the first signal came from woodlands near the River Spey, north of Mosstodloch in Moray, so has not yet set off on migration. The weather has been good recently.

06 September 2009

Signals came in just after for midnight and 5.15am from the north side of Ordiequich forest, in the Fochabers burn area, about one mile from her previous location. It's been an extremely wet period with days of rain, overcast skies and serious flooding. Not weather for migrating, but possibly good for catching frogs!

30 August 2009

After a day of strong cold winds and rain showers, today was much better, being calm and clear this morning. This may have been the reason that Rana decided to start wandering and by late afternoon was located in Forestry Commission pinewoods at Whiteash Forest, east of Fochabers from 6.10pm onwards, when the first of four accurate signals came in. She roosted overnight there and may stay there as it is good habitat for her. Several decades ago, a honey buzzard nest was accidentally felled in this forest. A telephone call from the Forestry Commission saw Colin Crooke and I going there immediately that day, and building an artificial nest in the nearest suitable big spruce, and placing the two chicks in the new nest. Felling was immediately stopped. The parents returned and the young were successfully fledged.

24 August 2009

Rana was 15 kilometres NW of Albufeira, on the south coast of Portugal. Fortunately she did not head out to sea, but turned east towards Spain, and was 20 kilometres N of Faro 5 hours later at 1942GMT.

24 August 2009

She was mile west of the nest site at 9.46am on the 18th August and half a mile to the SE at 3.39pm this afternoon.

05 August 2009

This honey buzzard was ringed and satellite tagged in a nest in Moray on 5th August; she is named Rana after the scientific name of common frog in scotland (which is also sometimes eaten by honey buzzards). The satellite transmitter is 21253 - and is programmed to transmit every 6 days prior to migration (to save the tiny battery) for 6 cycles and will then transmit every 1.5 days until early winter, when it will change to once every ten days. We think she may have flying over the wood on 8th August and the transmitter showed that she was moving up to two miles from her nest site, and returning to roost in that wood or close by.