When the morning of January 1st comes, we load the program even more feverishly to check just how far away from home our friends are, for which we care more and more with each passing month.
Let’s start with our two female kestrels – BDS and BSB (these are the letters on their ornithological rings). They’re equipped with satellite transmitters as part of the ‘’Lesser kestrel restoration’’ project LIFE11 NAT/BG/360 carried out by ,,Green Balkans’’ with the support of EU’s ‘’Life’’ Programme. These two graceful little falcons migrated southward to Africa a few months ago and are currently living through the winter months in a safe and warm place. On January 1st 2016, BDS was in Nigeria and BSB – in Chad.
Regarding the storks, we have several birds tagged with transmitters.
We don’t know where the young Poli from Polikraishte, Northern Bulgaria, welcomed the New Year, but her brother, Kraicho, did it in Kenya.
We’re especially happy for Victor the Hook – a nickname given to the bird because of the fishing hook we saved him from. His transmitter allowed us to follow his successful recovery and long migration to Africa. In the morning of December 31st, Victor had left South Sudan and travelled through Kenya before finally settling down in Northern Uganda.
Poli, Kraicho and Victor are carrying transmitters provided by the ‘’White stork: Contributing to the biodiversity preservation during the execution of large infrastructure projects’’ project, financed by the European Business Congress.
Belcho is the other adult stork. He’s from the Belozem village, which is part of the European network of white stork villages. He’s the first white stork tagged with a transmitter during the breeding season. He’s been living in the region of the Ingia dam in the basin of the Shabelle River near Asasa City, Ethiopia since December 15th. This is the biggest water power plant in Ethiopia – built in 1989, with an altitude of 2300 meters. Belcho was tagged as part of the ‘’Flight of the storks’’ project, financed by the ,,EuroNatur’’ (Germany) and ,,Ciconia’’ (Lichtenstein) foundations within the ,,Wet meadows and grasslands’’ project. He’s the first adult stork in Bulgaria, who’s being followed this way. You can follow the storks live here.
Father Gregory, the white-headed vulture, turned out to be the stay-at-home type. He’s under observation from the team of the ‘’Bright future for the black vulture’’ project LIFE14 NAT/BG/649 as part of EU’s ‘’Life’’ Programme.
Gregory welcomed the New Year on a transmission tower, less than 5 kilometers away from the vulture adaptation aviary in the Vratsa Balkan Nature Reserve. The vultures often use these towers when there’s snow or bad weather and we hope that it’s less dangerous for their well-being.
You can follow Gregory live here.
This way, with 2016 already here, our hopes of the birds overcoming all obstacles during their migration and returning to their birthplaces in the spring, are growing with each passing day.