B.-U. Meyburg has sent out an overview about the autumn migration of the German Lesser Spotted Eagles:
(as the text was sent out in English this time, it is the original text, no translation)
The tracks can be followed here:
http://www.satellite-telemetry.de/
For reasons of time, only the course of migration of the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina), in cooperation with the BirdLife Germany federal office, is dealt with here, with a very rough presentation of the course of migration. In order to show this online in as near as possible to real time, only one fix per day will be used, although many more than 100 fixes are received daily from some birds.
Migration within Germany is not shown, in order to guarantee the anonymity of the eyrie sites of this extremely rare species.
Here is a breakdown of the Lesser Spotted Eagles that will be tracked during autumn migration in 2014. There is also a short report on the past course of migration.
The birds are individually designated by their transmitter number and in most cases they have also been given a name, some of them by the eyrie monitor.
220 (“Ulf”) was ringed as a nestling in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MWP) and, at the age of six years, fitted with a transmitter of the newest generation (GSM transmitter) at its breeding site near Schwedt (Fedweral State of Brandenburg = BB) in summer 2013. Data are transmitted via the mobile telephone network. When the solar cells are adequately charged a GPS fix is broadcast every 2-3 minutes, as well as flight height, direction and speed. This male's broods were successful in both 2013 and 2014. One young eagle fledged on each occasion.
221 ("Marta“) is Ulf's female partner. The bird's age is unknown, but it is probably very old. This eagle was also fitted with a GSM transmitter at the same time as Ulf. In April 2014 both birds arrived at their old breeding site within hours of each other and again brooded in the same eyrie. As with all other pairs they migrated separately.
94756 ("Dieter“) is an adult male from MWP, fitted with a transmitter on 13 August 2009. The bird's behaviour in the breeding area, on migration and in winter quarters has subsequently been studied for a period of five years using a GPS transmitter.
94758 ("Anna“) is an adult female from MWP, fitted with a transmitter on 4 July 2010. Its mate was male 84370, fitted with a transmitter on 6 August 2008.
Male 84370 (not yet named) has returned to its old breeding site every year since being fitted with a transmitter on 6 August 2008 and this year reared a young bird, albeit with a new partner. The almost-fledged young bird disappeared for unknown reasons shortly before leaving the eyrie. The course of migration of this male has been shown online in the past. Relatively few fixes have been received recently so that details of its spring migration was not published online. Dependent on the number of fixes, its 2014 autumn migration route may be published online. This male is conspicuous due to its early departure on migration in autumn. It left the breeding site this year as early as 9 September.
Its former female partner
94758 ("Anna“) returned to the old breeding site in April 2014 a few days before Male 84370 but, without waiting for its partner, it paired with another male at a breeding site known for some time some 25 km distant. It was noticeable in previous years that Anna regularly visited a woodland area about halfway to the new breeding site. An eyrie was not however found there, nor indeed any reason why the bird regularly visited this woodland.
52030 ("Petra“ or "Peggy“) from MWP was fitted with a transmitter on 8 August 2012. In 2014 it returned to the breeding site and drove off a female already present. The female often visited an area where a wind farm is to be constructed. As a result, BirdLife German (NABU) has lodged an objection to the project.
94743 ("Rainer“) was fitted with a transmitter as a nestling on 25 July 2009 in MWP. This male successfully reared a young eagle at a new breeding site in MWP. It is to date the first Lesser Spotted Eagle whose life from fledging from the parent eyrie to its own settlement and successful breeding has been recorded by satellite telemetry. Extremely little is known about this phase of life for practically all birds of prey. Where do they spend the summer during their first years of life, when do they occupy their own territory, when do they attempt to breed for the first time and when are they successful? These are only some of the many questions that this bird can now answer - a real 'world premiere'. It is indeed not known whether such a long-term telemetry of a bird of prey or other bird species has been successful to date.
95786 ("Felix“) was fitted with a transmitter as a nestling on 25 July 2010 in MWP. This very probably female eagle has been tracked by telemetry for some four years since fledging. The precise locations of this individual in summer and winter and on migration have been recorded in detail. The bird did not breed in 2014, but visited many eyrie sites in MVP. It is hoped that the bird can be tracked until next spring and that it will then perhaps breed.
41861, an adult female, was ringed as a nestling in MWP in 2000, and captured and fitted with a transmitter at a breeding site in Brandenburg on 17 July 2004. In 2004, aged four years, it successfully reared a young eagle and since then has always returned to the same breeding site. Since then this female has successfully brooded most years. The transmitter still functions after more than 10 years, which is a record. The number of fixes within Europe is however too low now to record its migration in detail. In Africa there is of course more sunshine, so that the solar-powered satellite transmitter still broadcasts a large number of GPS fixes.
The wintering behaviour in Africa of this bird is the longest continuously recorded there by satellite telemetry, for over 10 years up to the present time. As a result, very many details on its movements and wintering - dependent on environmental factors, especially precipitation - have been revealed.
This has been treated in a "research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Honours Baccalaureus in Geoinformatics in the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University” in South Africa. A corresponding specialist publication is currently in preparation. A paper on the behaviour of this female has already appeared in the Journal of Ornithology (Vol. 148, pp. 157-166, 2007, see www. Raptor-Research.de) under the title “Why do female Lesser Spotted Eagles (Aquila pomarina) visit strange nests remote from their own?”
Since 2004 the presence of this female in the breeding area has not to date been confirmed by direct observation in the field. As late as 2013 Dr Günter Heise managed to photograph the bird at bait close to the nest using an automatic wildlife camera. The antenna of the transmitter can be seen clearly on the photograph. The yellow plastic identification ring, with which the bird was also marked in 2004, is missing. Because of this case, and corresponding observations of other Lesser Spotted Eagles, it is urgently recommended that the use of such plastic rings, which are still used everywhere for marking Lesser Spotted Eagles, should be discontinued. For some time now only metal identification rings have been used In Germany.
024 ("Erik“ = "Panni“) was fitted with a prototype GSM transmitter in summer 2012, the first of its kind outside the USA. The transmitter broadcast 27,924 GPS fixes in the period 8.8.2012 to 28.3.2014. Contact broke off abruptly over Romania during spring migration in 2014. Shortly afterwards however the male arrived in good shape at its old breeding site. The transmitter had ceased to function. Like Peggy, this eagle also visited the site of a planned wind farm. An objection has therefore been lodged against its construction.
0219 ("Paul“), also a male from MWP, reared a young eagle in 2013. Its transmitter broadcast several thousand GPS fixes, including very many from an area where the construction of a wind farm is also under discussion. Regrettably, the fixes ceased abruptly over Turkey during autumn migration in 2013 so that it is can be assumed that the bird was shot down. It did not return to the old eyrie site in 2014.
222 ("Jan“): This adult male was also fitted with a GSM transmitter in summer 2013. In 2014 it returned to its old eyrie where however a new (without transmitter) male was already present. The latter was observed directly copulating with a female there. The further, very comprehensive GPS data, recorded at very short intervals, suggest that a fight lasting three quarters of an hour took place between the old and the new male. Subsequently Jan clearly attempted for days to occupy other eyries. All data suggest that the eagle finally died as a result of battles with its rivals. This was not however confirmed by direct observation. There have been no direct observations of battles between rival Lesser Spotted Eagles ending fatally. Fierce fights have however been observed.
70101 ("Ingo“): This adult male was fitted with a transmitter on 4 August 2012 in Brandenburg. Fixes ended abruptly in the breeding area in 2014. At the same, the successful rearing of a relatively large young eagle also ended. Female Lesser Spotted Eagles are unable to rear young on their own. It is assumed that the male died suddenly. Dutch hunters, who are almost impossible to control, are active in the area.
74996 ("Arno“): This adult male was fitted with a transmitter on 5 August 2007 in Brandenburg and since then has provided a great deal of data for a number of years. The eagle lost its transmitter in Mozambique in the winter of 2013/2014. It arrived late at its old breeding site in spring where a new male was already present. The bird was identified from its identification ring (but without transmitter) on a wildlife camera photograph.
94739 (with ID ring "KZ“) is a translocated female from Latvia. It is one of 50 second chicks (Abels) imported from Latvia, which in their own eyrie have almost no chance of survival. In the framework of a nestling management project in Brandenburg, designed to increase the number of surviving young, some are set out in wild eyries. The majority however are released into the wild from a so-called hacking station. A male from Latvia, without transmitter, has in the meantime settled less than 2 km from the release point and reared a young in 2014. Last year it adopted and fed a young bird from the hacking station during the post-fledging dependent period.
Female
94739 (also and Abel and translocated from Lativa) did not return to Germany, but settled in Masuria (NE Poland). This is about halfway between its birthplace in Latvia and the release point in Brandenburg. It is known from reading of identification rings that females, much more commonly than males, often settle relatively distant from their birthplace. In the meantime radio contact has been lost.