All Romanian birdwatchers know that thousands of raptors, white and black storks, and other gliding bird species migrate every autumn through Dobrogea.

In the past few years several studies have been made in order to identify the main migration periods for each raptor species. Maybe the most relevant among these studies was elaborated by the Milvus Group itself, based on the raptor migration observation camps held in the Măcin Mountains (link).

Even so, no data have been collected about the migration routes in Dobrogea so far.  This lack of information has generated a lot of misunderstanding between the wind farm companies and nature conservation NGOs, Milvus Group being one of the NGO’s opposing wind-farms in inadequate places. The great majority of the studies made with the aim of evaluating the impact of wind turbines on biodiversity are of very poor quality and are not based on relevant field studies. Generally, the leading idea of the wind farm companies is that there are no important migration routes for large, gliding birds in Dobrogea.

In order to clarify this situation, Milvus Group decided to organize migration observation camps in North Dobrogea simultaneously in 15 different sites in autumn 2010. The period to be covered is overlapping with the main migration peak of the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina), and data will be collected about the migrating species, the size of migrating populations, the routes followed by the birds, and so on.

Below you can find the first provisory data from our migration observation camps, and you are welcome to check on later for more detailed data analysis reports.