Blog entries that have been added later:
31.07.14 Stork 1 leaves breeding area
Black Stork 1 on 30.07.2014 alone in the breeding area ©H. Röhl
This we did not expect! Less than one week after his first flight attempts Black Stork 1 leaves the parental breeding area and moves towards northeast. Previously it was believed that young storks will stay between 2 and 4 weeks in the territory and will make explorative flights with parents and siblings. Black Stork 1 however did not spend the night from 25th to 26th July on the nest and was roaming the breeding area alone looking for food. On the next day he left the breeding area completely.
19.08.14 Stork 1 in Czech Republic
Migration route of Black Stork 1 so far (last dot from 19.08.2014) ©H. Röhl
After Stork 1 left his birth area so quickly, he set off to Czech Republic over "Erzgebirge" in Saxonia. There he stays to this day and he seems to like it well!
With his flight to Czech Republic he "outed" himself as eastern migrant (Ostzieher) and will probably migrate over the Balkans, Turkey and Israel finally to Egypt and East Africa for wintering. Or will he once more surprise all and return once again to Bavaria, to reach Africa via the Western route?
I wonder when he will begin his actual migration to Africa. At the moment he is just exploring.
21.08.14 Stork 2 also leaves the breeding area
Here they were still united: Black Stork 2 and 3 for the last time together in the aerie ©H. Röhl
Now it is getting exciting in the second breeding area too!
Stork 2 circled on 20.08. once again in his familiar environment above fields and meadows to quickly make away towards north!? At that he left his three days younger sibling alone in the nest ...
I now wait daily for the departure of Stork 3, our literal "baby of the family".
22.08.14 Stork 1 back again in Bavaria!!
As if I had anticipated it (see blog from 19.08.): Stork 1 surprises us for the second time, since he is back in Bavaria. Today the transmitter reported from Upper Bavarian district Traunstein, just across the Austrian border. Now everything is open again and it really could be that Stork 1 moves on further west.
I'll keep you posted!
26.08.14 Stork 2 moves south
Stork 2 leaves towards south ©H. Röhl
Now Stork 2 apparently set out for Africa and it looks like he is a western migrant (Westzieher), thus taking the route via France and Spain.
From now on you can follow Stork 2 (ring number AT905) together with Stork 1 (ring number AT901) online live. Our own LBV interactive map is still under construction, but will be available for you from the beginning of September.
Because we want to keep the breeding area for the protection of the Black Storks secret, only the GPS coordinates of the migration routes will be visible.
27.08.14 Stork 3 spotted on the move with parents!
Stork 3 (far right) foraging with his parents ©H. Röhl
Our baby of the family, Stork 3, reported today for the first time from outside of the aerie, from a chain of ponds about 12 km away!
I immediately followed him with two colleagues and tried to find him to observe his behaviour.
And indeed: there is Stork 3 standing together with his parents on a meadow at the edge of a forest and learns what a Black Stork has to learn. But it seems Stork 3 is in fact a bit "easygoing". His parents wait time and again until he finally follows them, but Stork 3 lingers often and has to be "picked up" again.
Unfortunately I was unable o click a good photo on the fly from the distance, but at least here is a little impression.
29.08.14 Two transmitter storks move on; Stork 3 still in North Bavaria
Flight route of Stork 1 on 29.08.2014 ©H. Röhl
Stork 1 still continues to explore Czech Republic and paints a "balloon" on the world map. The route you can look up more detailed
here
Stork 2 has, after a few days break at Lindenweiher, taken course again towards west and is located in the meantime almost at the level of the western end of Lake Constance. The route of Stork 2 is to be viewed on the interactive map at
http://www.movebank.org with this
link as well.
Stork 3, our smallest, is still on the move in the breeding area, but today without parents. But he is bearing up bravely, preening standing on a stubble field and glides beautifully in the thermals.
Stork 3 on a stubble field ©H. Röhl----------------------------------
Stork 3 in flight ©H. Röhl
30.08.14 Stork 2 in Switzerland!
Position of Stork 2 on 30.8.14 at 16 o'clock ©H. Röhl
Stork 2 arrived today in Switzerland, in the canton of Solothurn. Since apparently he had bad cell phone reception there, not all data could be sent to the Movebank. This results in the last point at Movebank still showing in Germany, if you look at the route of Stork 2 there.
I get an additional E-Mail which contains the last point at the time of data upload (at the moment this is set to 16 o'clock). So I can tell you, he is already south of Basel!
Will he be already in France tomorrow? How long will he take to reach Africa?
In any case, I wish Stork 2 all the very best for the ever more demanding journey.
31.08.14 Stork 2 in France and Sibling 3 follows!
Good bye! The last shots of Stork 3, as he sets off for southern Bavaria. ©H. Röhl
Yesterday (Saturday) evening Stork 2 crosse the Swiss-French border! Hence he is the first of our three transmitter storks clearly moving towards the direction of the wintering areas in Africa - Stork 1's roaming in Czech Republic I don't count as determined migration towards south.
His little sibling, Stork 3, copies this now and left yesterday afternoon, 10 days after his older sibling, the breeding area. In parting he flew once again over my colleague Anne and me and stopped only in the evening in a wooded area in southern Bavaria, where he braves the rain until today.
02.09.14 Stork 1 and 3 rather inactive, but Stork 2 already in the South of France!
Finally there is our own map to track the migration routes of Stork 1, 2 and 3!
Here you can now follow our 3 transmitter storks live and daily and look where it takes them to.
Helene at the attempt to find and observe Stork 3 once again (F: A. Schneider).
As you can see there, the three behave at the moment quite differently. While Stork 2 crossed almost whole France within two days and will most probably arrive in Spain tomorrow, his little sibling (the gender we will hopefully get to know soon!) and Stork 1 are not very active. Stork 1 hardly moves in his beloved Czech Republic (looking at the satellite images, it is really idyllic there) and our baby of the family, Stork 3, most probably got so scared by his move "from home", so that from shock he does not move on.
Anyway, due to the bad weather and the "slight migration performance" of Stork 1 and 3 are the solar-powered batteries so empty that not all recorded GPS points could be sent. But don't worry! As soon as the weather improves and both of them fly again longer distances (in flight the solar panel on the transmitter receives more light than when they stand only on the ground), the transmitter will send all in the meantime recorded data.
Now for me field work with the storks ends with this (now follows computer work), but for the three the physical work just really starts.
03.09.14 Baby of the family now also in "migration mode" - already in France!
Our youngest transmitter stork (Stork 3) has apparently now also got travel nerves! He follows his older sibling in great style and has crossed the French border north of Basel already today! The latest part of the migration route of Stork 3 you can't see yet on the map because the battery is still empty and because of that only half of the collected data was sent. The rest will follow later in the next days.
Stork 2 in the meantime already flew out of France and arrived in Northern Spain!
07.09.14 Both siblings now in Spain!
Flight routes of Stork 2 (pink) and Stork 3 (yellow) on 07.09.2014
Since the weekend both Stork 2 as well as 3, are located in Spain. The baby of the family (Stork 3) is in fact still more than 500 km away from his older sibling, but as he is taking a rest after the long flight, Stork 3 is coming closer.
On the picture I have marked the last point of stay of Stork 3, which was previously not visible on the map. Due to the poor cell phone reception both can send only a part of the data at the moment, but I do get additionally sent the latest point, which I added here for you.
Stork 2 taking a break in Spain is quite normal and occurs quite often with Black storks migrating on the western route. On average they stay 15 days, but can stay up to 32 days in good foraging areas until they fly across the Strait of Gibraltar and eventually reach the African continent.
10.09.14 Baby of the family overtakes them all!!
I can't believe it: our youngster overtakes them all and is now the southernmost of our transmitter storks. He apparently fishes in Rio Guadalhorce, on the western outskirts of Malaga in southern Spain. I would prefer he would not get that close to the big cities as now - expressway bridge and airport are right next to the river - but as long as he finds food and no human comes too close to him, he seems to feel well in big cities.
It would be great if somebody could observe him now. Does he fly alone or is he moving in a group? What does he eat in the river? If somebody is on holiday in Malaga, please report to me!
His elder sibling, Stork 2, meanwhile flies further west (wrong direction!) and arrived today in Portugal. As he has bad reception, he could again send only a part of the data.
I'm curious how it is progressing and secretly hope for a reunion of the siblings before the crossing to Africa ...
(retrospectively translated by Felis silvestris - please excuse mistakes I may have made)