Tõnn's Travels

[alice44]

But he includes a picture of Tonn from from Dec 15, I guess --
"Not 400 metres in I spotted a bird of prey in the branches of a dead eucalyptus tree. It was what we had come to see. A Great Spotted Eagle. It was first light, so the photos I took weren't brilliant, but you could clearly see the attached radio antenna. The eagle, named Tonn, winters here, having travelled all the way from its native Estonia."
http://birding-the-costa.blogspot.com/2 ... oleas.html

I thought his statement about himself was especially interesting given our discussion about twitchers and LBJs and the like.
"I am NOT a twitcher and my main interest lies with seabirds, followed by waders. Little brown jobs, known by the French as les petites merdes, a sentiment with which I fully agree, do not rank high amongst my birding interests."

I am not very good at identifying small birds so I sort of feel the same way.

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/ ... d=1824&m=0
this site has a little information about threats to the site -- unlike the blogger it is very careful and names no names but it does say the threat of "unsustainable exploitation" is high. I would assume that to be development.

[macdoum]

Saw a reference to that on T.V. The hundreds of greenhouses for fruit and vegetable intensive growing are multipltiplying in the area and the need for water also.
These producters 'illegally' pump water from that area so are gradually drying the wetlands. The people who try to protect this special environment have lodged protests to the local authorities and the courts,with no effect so far.
This was in November...and these are the people who can supply us with Strawberrys or Eggplants,salads for Christmas. Tomatoes too.!! So if we don't buy..............

[alice44]

We do need to think about where our food comes from and how it is grown. A fair bit of our winter special stuff -- tomatoes -- come from Canada -- green houses and I just assume they are careful, but I do not know.

[Liis]

Thanks, Alice, for seeing the sighting of Tõnn in that blog. I did look for a mention but somehow lost it "between both eyes".
Here in Sweden it is the season for Spanish tomatoes and iceberg lettuce (brief change from Dutch glasshouse products). We have got so used to always have "some green" and "some red" salad-like things on our plates, cheaply. But mostly it is just a kind of filler, as in all those countless "salad lunch" bowls.
How come that your greenery comes from Canada, Alice? Better quality? Cheaper?

[alice44]

I think our lettuce comes from California or Mexico, but the winter, spring and fall tomatoes come from Canada -- British Columbia. They are much better -- I think BC grows marijuana hydroponically and maybe they have perfected the process. It seems funny to get tomatoes from the north of me but...
We can get some fresh local spinach and other winter veggies. I guess we are off topic but it shows that is some ways we are like the birds -- we don't migrate (well some of us do) but our choices affect the world environment and we are dependent on the world as a whole not just our local area. Watching our birds travel helps us to see that.

It is rather cool to see a picture of Tõnn from a guy who doesn't seem to be watching here and yet he knows about Tõnn.

[Liis]

Tõnn was seen and photographed in El Hondo on New Years Day http://www.rarebirdspain.net/arbsr000.htm (scroll down a bit in the blog).
Happy New Year, Tõnn!
We hope you had a nice holiday season with not too much fireworks.

[Olga]

Thank you, Liis! It makes me happy to know that Tõnn is ok and we can see a fresh photo of him. Imagine that this bird has flied perhaps almost over my house last summer..

Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga (1)
(1) Alicante The Estonian eagle Tõnn was seen again at El Hondo on 1.1.2010, see a photo below (Graham Critchell).



Just to remember how beautiful the Greater Spotted Eagle Tõnn is:



The picture is from Urmas Sellis, Tõnn at home, in Estonia.

[Brit]

Thanks, Liis, for the good info about faszinating Tõnn. Such a beauty!!!

[asteria]

I wish Spot also was somewhere nearby...

[Liis]

I wish Spot also was somewhere nearby...

Hello, Asteria - I moved over to Lesser spotted eagle topic - to keep that awake too.

[Olga]

Today there are news in Looduskalender of Tõnn and of the other Greater Spotted Eagle, and about the famous and brave Estonian Osprey Erika

- Tõnn is supposed to have fine there in Spain, in el Hondo marshland.
- The other tagged Greater Spotted Eagle is not yet known very well (if this GSE has some relation to Tõnn and the sex is not known yet) has been spotted in Southern Turkay
- Erika is in Afrika, in Sudan!)

How far are they from us, and and how far these three Estonian birds are from each other! Three Estonian preybirds have conquered three continentes of the world

[Liis]

Sorry, Tõnn (and everybody), I posted you in the wrong forum first !

An Englishman who was going to Spain on Jan 28, to see birds and check on Tõnn in El Hondo has not seen Tõnn yet.
Some lines from his blog, February 5; visit to El Hondo :
A couple of Buzzards were perched up on posts scanning for rodents. No sign was had of the Spotted Eagle which roosts in the line of eucalyptus trees crossing the view. I decided to change tacts and headed round to the West Gate. Here I had the fortune to bump into local birder and guide Graham Critchell. We gassed about the loal scene and he gave me some good gen. Booted Eagles mixed with the Marsh Harriers and a male Hen Harrier gave some grief to the other raptors.
http://idiocybirding.blogspot.com/

[Olga]

:peek: How a great and fun ornitological blog: How brains and birds become mutually exclusive clever! Thank you for it Liis!

[Liis]

A site to search for bird observations in Spain:http://birdscatalonia.brinkster.net/Res ... vanced.asp
Tested spotted eagle (of course), time period Jan. 1 - Feb. 18, 2010, province Alicante, found 3 hits, latest on Feb 13, 2010, at 8.15 (Tõnn, seen by Graham Critchell, who has seen him earlier too)
No idea of what and how much the site really covers and how well it does so.

[Jo UK]

Saw a reference to that on T.V. The hundreds of greenhouses for fruit and vegetable intensive growing are multipltiplying in the area and the need for water also.
These producters 'illegally' pump water from that area so are gradually drying the wetlands. The people who try to protect this special environment have lodged protests to the local authorities and the courts,with no effect so far.
This was in November...and these are the people who can supply us with Strawberrys or Eggplants,salads for Christmas. Tomatoes too.!! So if we don't buy..............

Macdoum,, I am glad you mentioned the sources of our food.
I look for the country of origin, on labels. I don't buy food that is out of season here, or comes from too far away. France is just close enough to appease my need for "local" produce, sometimes, but otherwise, the supermarkets don't do well from my shopping habits.
Hooray for Farmers' Markets, where produce must be really "local" - withing 30 miles of the market.
Judging by the number of people who attend these markets, the supermarkets ought to be worried. Why do people in this part of the world still buy food from South Africa, New Zealand, Africa? Beats me.

[alice44]

Macdoum,, I am glad you mentioned the sources of our food.
I look for the country of origin, on labels. I don't buy food that is out of season here, or comes from too far away. France is just close enough to appease my need for "local" produce, sometimes, but otherwise, the supermarkets don't do well from my shopping habits.
Hooray for Farmers' Markets, where produce must be really "local" - withing 30 miles of the market.
Judging by the number of people who attend these markets, the supermarkets ought to be worried. Why do people in this part of the world still buy food from South Africa, New Zealand, Africa? Beats me.

And we have a local members co-op that will buy organic apples from New Zealand but will not buy nearly organic (there is a proper term for this -- it includes farms where sprays were used in the recent past as well as some very limited use of chemicals) apples from our local valley. Oregon and Washington are major apple producers importing from the other side of the world is silly.

[Liis]

Someone has seen a greater spotted eagle in El Hondo on March 7, 2010. Nothing more than the observation entry on web page.
Tõnn has had company (?) from another GSE both last year and this year there we can't be quite sure it is he, of course.
Last year he started his journey homewards around April 13.

[Arcadio]

Hello friend the "Tonn"

17.03.2010 16:20 PM "El Hondo" Elche-Alicante-Spain
"Tonn"

[Jo UK]

Arcadia, welcome to the forum.
Can you tell us about these pictures, please?

[Arcadio]

Hello
My name is Arkadiusz,(en spanish Arcadio), I am men , no women (Arcadia)
I am Polish, but I live in Spain, Tarifa.


Pictures are made on 17.03.2010 in the "El Hondo", where he hibernate "Tonn". Information about "El Hondo":
http://www.cma.gva.es/contenido_Parques ... 4&idioma=I



Yours Here