Bird migration is a really fascinating subject and I am constantly amazed at the distances that some birds travel each year. With the improvements in modern technology, we can now also follow these birds more closely.
A female European Honey Buzzard was fitted with a satellite tracking system in Finland recently and was of particular interest to locals because it spent the most recent austral summer around the town of Reitz in the Free State in South Africa. She left Reitz to start heading north on 20 April 2015 and, yesterday morning, 2 June, she finally reached Finland where she will probably spend the boreal summer before probably returning again next season to visit us here in South Africa.
Here is an image showing the data received from the tracker which plots out the route that she took to head north... so, in just 42 days, she covered over 10 000 km at an average of more than 230 km every single day! Isn’t that just amazing...?!
Bird migration
- Mud Dog
- Moderator
- Posts: 29859
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:18 am
- Town: East London
- Vehicle: '90 SFA Hilux DC 4X4, Full OME, 110mm lift. Brospeed branch, 50mm ss freeflow exhaust. 30 x 9.5 Discoverer S/T's on Viper mags. L/R tank. (AWOL) '98 LTD 2.4 SFA, dual battery system. Dobinson suspension, LR tanks, 31" BF mud's.
- Real Name: Andy
- Club VHF Licence: HC103
Bird migration
When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.
Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.
It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.
And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.
Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.
It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.
And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!
-
- High Range 4WD
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2014 8:51 pm
- Town: Pretoria
- Vehicle: Hilux 2.7i
- Real Name: Michael
Re: Bird migration
That is fascinating! I had the fortune to spend several years working in Finland and it always amazed me to see the number and variety of birds that landed on its shores from all over the world every summer. The locals take birdwatching very seriously and there is even an annual competition to spot the first summer migrant as it crosses the Baltic
- pietpetoors
- Moderator
- Posts: 10650
- Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 9:12 pm
- Town: Langebaan
- Vehicle: 2.7 Hilux 4x4 DC
- Real Name: Pieter
- Club VHF Licence: X27
- Contact:
Re: Bird migration
Is amazing, would be interesting to see if they travel the same path each year.
Only Dead Fish Go With The Flow!
1999 Hilux 2.7i 4x4 Raider DC with 3.4 Prado V6. Rear diff-lock, Bull Bar and rock sliders, 31" Cooper ST Maxx, Snorkel, Alu-Canopy, VHF Motorolla radio, West Coast Rust, Mikem Suspension, Ball Joint Spacers in front and Mikem extended shackles at the rear, 25watt LED Spots
1999 Hilux 2.7i 4x4 Raider DC with 3.4 Prado V6. Rear diff-lock, Bull Bar and rock sliders, 31" Cooper ST Maxx, Snorkel, Alu-Canopy, VHF Motorolla radio, West Coast Rust, Mikem Suspension, Ball Joint Spacers in front and Mikem extended shackles at the rear, 25watt LED Spots
- 4x4BEES
- Monster Truck
- Posts: 3447
- Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:13 am
- Town: Brackenfell
- Vehicle: Hilux 4.0V6
- Real Name: Kevin
Re: Bird migration
Awesome to see that.