Fearna was so settled along the River Senegal for her first summer in West Africa that I had reduced collecting data to every 10 days. Imagine my surprise when I found that she was in southern Spain.
She was still on the Senegal on 3oth April and then she set off north towards the desert – her earlier migrations were modest at 193 km on 3rd and 143 km on 4th when she roosted in the Sahara Desert SE of Fderik iron ore mine. By 6th she was in southern Morocco and then on next two days had big flights north of 568 km on 7th and 444 km on 8th May. She crossed the Straits on 10th May and flew over Barbate Reservoir at 1300GMT and Guadalcacin reservoir an hour later. By nightfall she was roosting by a small reservoir south of Almodovar del Rio.
This is the first time we have tracked a one year north from Westr Africa to Europe – it is an unusual event so it is going to be most interesting to see if she visits UK or stays in Spain, and when she returns south to Africa.
May 1st – 10th
