Eurasian-African Migration Atlas

This amazing resource has just been launched: https://migrationatlas.org/

The BTO sent recently out the following introduction to the project: 

Developed by the EURING Migration Atlas team over the last four years. The core of the Atlas provides interactive, online maps of the migration routes and movement patterns of 300 species. In addition, for around 100 species the maps incorporate tracking data via a live feed from Movebank.

For each species, there is a series of interactive maps showing movements of birds ringed in eight different regions of Europe, movement patterns for each region by month, age and sex differences, patterns according to the cause of recovery and animations showing seasonal movements across the year. All maps include interpretive texts written by an international team of experts, tables and graphs showing the types of data used and supporting references. In contrast to printed atlases, which can become out of date relatively quickly, the online Atlas has been built in a way that will allow it to be updated as new data become available from both EURING and Movebank.

In addition to the core mapping tools and species accounts, the Atlas includes research modules on the spring migration seasons of hunted species, killing of birds by man, migratory connectivity and long-term changes in migration patterns, together with an Executive Summary that draws together its main conservation conclusions.

Peregrines

Another collaboration between an undisclosed site, North Notts RG, South Notts RG and Access Techniques Ltd (who provide the expertise in accessing the nest), resulted in four Peregrine chicks being ringed on the 25 May 2022, all under the relevant licence requirements.

I am the latest person to monitor this natural nest site and have been doing so for about 8 years. Being a natural nest site its pretty difficult to monitor with any certainty, so much so, and the site are so keen, that a few years ago, during the Winter, they installed a camera to view the nest ledge. This proved invaluable for monitoring the nest and creating a nest record. It also captured a few upsetting episodes, like when a female adult peregrine died on the nest and another year when the eggs and freshly hatched chicks were predated. The adult bird was retrieved and sent away for analysis, though the results were inconclusive.
This was the start of a terrible run of failed nests, including another year when I saw chicks being fed but when returning to ring them a few days later they were not there.

Unfortunately, for me, the birds now nest on a different ledge, so I'm back to fleeting views, when the vegetation moves in the wind, and guesswork from quite a distance away. Take this year for example, I had seen the heads of three chicks so was surprised when there were four. A great result though.
Hopefully now the birds nest on this new ledge we will have a few successful breeding seasons!

Many thanks to the site and Access Techniques Ltd.

Mick P

Tawny Owls

Followers of the blog, and our activities, will know that at this time of year much of our time is spent monitoring nest boxes of several species to gather information on breeding outcomes. Many of these nest boxes have been put up following contact by a home-owner who has a keen interest in the natural world and who has a suitable location for a box. 

I checked such a box on 29/4/22 and ringed these two Tawny owl chicks, along with their mother. As you can see they are now keen to explore the outside world. Thanks to the home-owner for the photo which was taken some time after I visited.

Thanks to people like this, who buy and allow nest boxes to be put on their land and give us permission to visit every year, we are gathering a lot of valuable information about such birds. 

Mick P