Photo: Saverio Gatto

In one of our previous articles we were expressing our worries about Béni, the surviving 2010 nestling which got stuck in the south of the Sinai Peninsula on its way back to Africa after having spent the summer In Turkey and did not manage to finds his way to Africa above the Suez Channel. Our reasons for concern were well grounded, as in 2010 another juvenile, Adél, had lost her life in the same area of the Sinai Peninsula. Béni 1 is the juvenile which amazed everybody last year when, after having succeeded in crossing the Sahara, he broke all records: the fastest speed (92 km/h), the longest distance covered in one single day (511,7 km) and the most kilometres covered in total during migration (13869,17 km until 06.01.2011).

Now we have got some good news from Italian ornithologist Saverio Gatto who informed us that on 20 October Béni was spotted close to the water treatment facility near the town of Sharm el Sheikh, south of the Sinai Peninsula, exactly in the same place where Adél had lost her life last year (http://www.pomarina.ro/pomarina/index.php).

Fortunately, ornithologist Saverio Gatto spotted Béni alive; he told us that he had noticed it “flying alone (although there were other raptor birds in the area, most of them lesser spotted eagles) at approximately 30 meters above ground level. He was coming from the direction of a vast field of eucalyptus (as one can also see on google maps) and after hovering above us three or four times he flew towards the desert.”

We may say in all certainty that the bird Mr. Gatto told us about is Béni based on the plastic ring marked C3 mounted on the bird’s left foot. Mr. Gatto also managed to take a couple of photos in which this ring is very visible. Yet unfortunately the photographs also show us that the satellite transmitter mounted by Milvus Group members on the bird’s back and the metal ring from its right foot, market H001997 are both missing. Mr. Gatto also told us that “as you may very well see from the enclosed photographs, both the gps transmitter and the metal ring on its right foot were missing.”

The most plausible explanation for the missing satellite transmitter and right foot ring is that the bird was captured by someone who untied both the device and the ring. Fortunately the person who did this left the bird alive, unlike Lisa who was killed for the “adornments” which it wore (http://pomarina.ro/EN/migration-blog/120-acvil-ucis-de-superstiii”).

After these positive data we may only hope that Béni is still alive somewhere in the South of Africa and that in spring he will be back to the places where he was born to start the cycle of an adult Lesser Spotted Eagle: finding a partner, laying eggs and raising its offspring.

Each individual Aquila pomarina still alive is an extra chance for the survival of this species which is declining in all its territories from the north of the European continent to Turkey.

Later on we got more data about Köves from Achilles Byaruhanga of Uganda Wildlife Authority through Moldován István and Keith Betton, manager of the “African Bird Club” Association. Here’s what Mr. Byaruhanga told us about Köves: “When the security personnel acknowledged the presence of the transmitter-equipped bird, they took it to the police station (arrested it) until they would get more data about it. We only collaborated with our colleagues from the Uganda Wildlife Authority to recover the bird’s body (for which we had to pay bail!) We were told that the bird had fed itself on a poisoned goat and had died somewhere near Mubende wherefrom it had been taken to the police station. Briefly, we took the bird, registered the information from its rings (mounted on its feet) and kept it in our University Museum together with the transmitter. If the transmitter is still operational, you will see this from the change in its position and if not, than it is possible that it was deteriorated while in police custody. “ On a later date we received further proof of the fact that Köves was no longer alive, i.e. photos of the dead bird with the satellite transmitter on its back and the identification rings on its feet, sent by Mr. Roger Skeen from Birdlife Uganda. Now we are wondering how many bird victims has Africa taken. If we think of all the transmitter-equipped eagles monitored by the LIFE project during their migration to Africa, during the winter period spent on this continent and then on their way back home, the numbers are the following:

• In the two project years we mounted satellite transmitters on 19 Lesser Spotted Eagles: 6 in 2010 and 13 in 2011;
• Of the 6 eagles equipped with transmitters in 2010, two died (Adél in the Sinai Peninsula and Jakab in Ethiopia), two got rid of their transmitters (Cingár and Arthur), one had its transmitter and one identification ring removed (Béni 1) and the only one still sending information is Benjamin, the adult male eagle. Two of the transmitters, those of Cingár and Arthur were recovered and mounted back on two other birds in 2011.
• Of the 13 eagles equipped with transmitters in 2011, we have verified information that two of them are no longer alive (Lisa was killed in Zambia and Köves died in Uganda) and the transmitters of two other birds have stopped sending information since they got to Africa and we know nothing about their whereabouts (Béni 2 and Katona); the other 9 birds are alive and sending daily information from their wintering territories in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia etc.

We believe that the surprises related to the Lesser Spotted Eagles equipped with satellite transmitters will not end here. If we were to extrapolate the situation of the 19 eagles which we monitor in our project to the approximately 40,000 individuals of this species estimated to be left in the world, we could draw the conclusion that the species is extremely threatened.

Together with a large number of members of the Milvus Group and colleagues at BirdLife Hungary, on 15^th July have mounted the transmitter on an adult female of 178 grams. The bird, named Anita, was caught at the colony near Livada de Bihor (Bihor County), having an exceptional physical condition.
The transmitter, who for some time already entered into service will transmit us data about all the movements and will sketch the bird migration route and wintering areas in Africa.
A better knowledge of migration routes and places of agglomeration is very essential for the proper conservation of the species.
Anita, like other birds with satellite tags, is monitored daily, and a map about the migration rotes, updated every three days, can be found on the link: http://www.kekvercse.mme.hu/en/gmap
For further details on the Conservation of Falco even in the Pannonian region, funded by LIFE project (LIFE05/NAT/H/000122), please visit: http://www.falcoproject.hu/en/content/show