Saturday, November 27, 2010 4:48:27 PM
After a absence of transmissions from the satellite tagged birds for several weeks, a transmission just received that from central Pakistan , It was very exciting news.
Her new location marks another important milestone in the growing understanding of the easterly flyway that some SOCIABLE LAPWINGS take on route to India and Pakistan and the overall complexity of the species migration.
Two transmissions recored confirm the location's in Pakistan,in the Indus Floodplain,not far from Shujaabab.
The amazing journey started quite slowly with the staying to breeding site until at least early September.
The first news of there migration came from a satellite transmission in October It was the surprise , it was up at lake Talimarzhan in Southern Uzbekistan.
his location might well be a staging site for birds taking this particular route south .
Lake Talimarzhan is a important bird arean the lake is a large reservoir on the border between a developed agricultural area ans the desert and is situated 45km south west of Karshi.
Other threatened species using this stay over including the ferrugious Duck also the Houbara Bustard.
Birds from Kazakhqtan seem to depart via Uzbzkistan and Western Tajikistan, so avoiding the high mountains of Tien Shan,Pamir and Hindukush and fly on a rather long detour.
They probably stopover somewhere in the lowlands and then ruch though the hostile highland desserts of Afghanistan,stopping over again in the Indus valley in Pakistan.
Great to learn a bit more........
Saturday, November 20, 2010 4:52:40 PM
Of the 10.000 birds species on Earth,1.226 are listed as critically endangered, or vulnerable.
Forty of these occur in South Africa and of these 20 are endemic. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon,species are now disappearing from our planet at an alarming rate,and studies have shown that this is mostly driven by human activities .
In south Africa,a number of birds are listed on the IUCN red list, with several heading for extinction should some of the threats continue and should the NGOS who are implementing conservation action halt their important work.
The Wattled Cane is the most severely threatened crane on the African continent. Recent surveys in Botswana,Mozambique,Tanzania and Zambia,countries long thought to be strongholds for the Wattled Crane,show that the global population is only half of what has been reported in recent years.
Some of the greatest loses have occurred in South Africa, where a 38% decline between 1980 and 2000 left the national population critically endangered ,only 250 individuals remain in south Africa,mostly concentrated in isolated pockets of the KWAZULU-NATAL midlands.
The African Penguin is also uplisted to endangered on the IUCN red list earlier this year. The population has declined by 60% in the past 28 tears,primarily due to food shortages linked to commercial fishing and recent,large-scale dhanges in fish distributions.
The impact of predation and competition,especially with cape seals is an increasing problem as penguin colonies shrink.
Also the BLUE SWALLOW, is a problem bird, also many more... lets hope there will be a solution......
Saturday, November 13, 2010 4:37:26 PM
Birds have a skill that many ,others have not, They move fast and far away, They have the ability to fly thousands of Km, and be on thime In their nesting areas or wintering areas.
They adapt quickly when changes occur on their migration. This Is the wonder of the great migration,but on this way there have a big problem; by name...Human.
Songbirds are still being caught and this for the thrill.
Others you get on your plate as a delicacy.
What are we doing? Can we not longer enjoy the beautiful birds must we kill them?
Look around you enjoy,learning as It should, making time to enjoy nature, Is enjoying the beauty and life, Do not kill the bird,but not the blackbird around your home.
Saturday, November 6, 2010 2:49:56 PM
Extremely similar to Richard's Pipit, but is marginally smaller and more compact,with an a appreciably shorter and more pointed bill as wells as shorter legs
In general appearance It often recalls one of the smaller pipit's rather than Richard's .
On average,the second outermost tail feather shows considerably less white on the inner web and more withe on the outer web than in Richard's ,however there is some overlap as Richard's quite often shows a classic Blyth's pattern on the inner web and the outer is often all-white.
A Adult ,differs from Tawny Pipit by much the same characters as described for Richard's generally has browner and distinctly more heavily streaks upperside,deeper buff tone to particularly flanks.
A Bird that Is not easy to determine in the field,but a challenge for every bird spotter.
A Breeding bird from Mongolia, a feast for the eye the study of this species was certainly a challenge, we followed the course of 6 breeding pairs,distance between the breeding nests an average of 5km.
All the nests have been hatched with an average of 3 young per nest.
The raising of the young birds, Is the role of the male and the female.
This species is a dream of many birders who love to have this bird on there check list,This Is because the species has already been seen in France , Finland, Belgium and Poland Norway but also In Britten.
Yes, this species is certainly a challenge Have a nice autumn bird spotting time....
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