Hello, everyone!
Thanks a lot or the updates.
Urmas, many thanks for the extra info!
Solo wrote: October 10th, 2018, 11:31 am
Liz, pls, and what is the "good" high and the "good" speed in that case (flying above sea) ?
I know only that
1/ Lonja's data:
6h - 425km - 70 km/h and
2/ Feja's data:
18 hours -
578.8 km -
27.6 km/h.
nothing about high
Solo

, if the average speed (Dr. M. Strazds) of BS over the water is indeed 14,48 km/h, a simple calculation shows us that Päike would have to perform a non-stop flight of about
34,5 hours.
(500km : 14,48 km/h = 34,5 hours)
The extra info that Urmas sent us shows that Päike was (at that moment) flying at 18 km/h. It would still take
27,5 hours non-stop flying to reach Libya, at that speed. (500 km : 18 km/h = 27,7 hours)
I honestly believe that this would have been too much, too far, too long for our Päike...
But as Urmas wrote:
"I can not say more about, that may be only assumptions, but nothing really new..."
"But who knows the truth about Päike?".
We simply do not know what happened to her.
Very maybe, Päike returned to the island Schiza... and is still there... (We can always hope.)
And maybe she really tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea but didn't make it...
About the flight height. It is known that they try to get as high as possible on a thermal before they start crossing the water...
"... The storks rise as high as they can over the southern tip of Spain, after which they “surf” above the sea at height before once again picking up the thermals over land in North Africa. ..."
Your link:
(source: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160321 ... bird-wings)
In Päike's case, there were no new thermals to pick up (no land), and she will have lost height, inevitably.
In this BBC documentary, we can see
how close to the water WS fly.
http://www.infocobuild.com/books-and-fi ... t-bbc.html
Episode 3 - Europe
White storks leave Africa and struggle to reach Istanbul, the gateway to Europe, while cranes take an easier route over the monkey-guarded Rock of Gibraltar.
But these are just my assumptions...
Edit:
Schiza is a Greek island off the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese. According to 2011 census, the island is
uninhabited. It is the largest island of the Messenian Oinousses, an island complex that consists of two main islands (Schiza and Sapientza) and few rocky islets. Its area is 12.3 Km2. Schiza along with other Messenian Oinousses have been included in the
Natura 2000 Network, with code GR2550003.
(source: wikipedia)