First returnee of the season
Newsletter 24/03/2017
Spring 2017 has arrived, so it´s time to re-start the Newsletters. And there´s quite a good reason to do so. The day before yesterday, on March 22, the first wild bird within this season arrived at the breeding site Burghausen in Bavaria.
On March 13, the male Jazu - one of our most experienced migrants in the population - and another male bird called Francesco departed together from the wintering site in Tuscany. They arrived in Austria already on March 15, covering a distance of about 560 km within two days. There they had to take a break due to bad weather conditions with snow in the Alps. Finally, Jazu continued alone while Francesco is still in Carinthia.
It is the earliest date ever that a bird of our colony arrived at the breeding site, so seemingly a good and long lasting season has begun. Meanwhile, seven further birds departed from the wintering site and others are obviously ready to migrate too.
In Burghausen, Jazu met five adult conspecifics. They belong to the so-called breeding group, a total of nine adults which are temporarily supplemented at the breeding sites Burghausen (5) and Kuchl (4). At the end of July, these birds are removed again. We do this temporary supplementation since years with the aim to increase the breeding success.
Picture (O. Habel): Jazu shortly after arrival at the breeding site.
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