First the great story of the Houbara Bustard, followed by some technical information concerning satellite transmitters and how satellite tracking works and an example the trips of a Lesser White-fronted Goose or follow the Snowy Owls.
http://www.sas.com/corporate/profiles.bas.html
http://www.discovery.com/indep/newsfeatures/trackers/albatross.htm
http://www.discovery.com/indep/newsfeatures/trackers/eagle.htm
http://capi.internet.cz/resume_e.htm or http://capi.fido.cz/en
http://www.ospreys.org.uk/AWOP/Update.htm
http://www.wetlands.agro.nl/specialists/wetl_spec_gsg_riddle.html
http://www.explorado.org/solon
The "Abu Dhabi Houbara" is tracked to China and
back.(Between its wintering and breeding grounds this Houbara
traveled a staggering 12300km.
The Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency's
(ERWDA) National Avian Research Center (NARC) has today earned
international recognition as being one of the most success organizations
in the world in the satellite tracking of birds. This confirmation
comes in the light of an announcement that a Houbara Bustard,
that was caught and satellite tagged in Abu Dhabi Emirate in February
this year, flew to China for the summer breeding season and has
now returned to Abu Dhabi Emirate for the winter season. Since
1993, NARC's researchers have successfully tracked 31 Houbara
Bustards as well as 21 falcons.
"This is an extraordinary story, said Dr. Saif Al Ghais,
ERWDA's Secretary General, when our NARC researchers, Headed by
Dr. Fred Launay, caught this Houbara in February we had no idea
where it would fly, and so were excited when signals relayed from
the transmitter showed that it was heading East into China, a
country to which we have never tracked houbara before. It is even
more amazing that our researchers have been able to track this
very same bird back to the UAE eight months later."
Dr. Fred Launay, Director of ERWDA's Houbara Management and Research
Program continued: "We are proud to say that this is the first time ever that a Houbara has been tracked for a complete migratory cycle, first on its northerly and then southerly migration.
Our success this year is due to the use of a solar-powered
transmitter developed by Microwave Telemetry, USA, which prolongs
its battery life for two years. Previously the battery only lasted
for 5 months."
The male Houbara weighing 1950g was caught on the 26th of
February 1997, in the Baynunah area (Western region of Abu Dhabi
Emirate) with the help of the Wildlife Rangers and a specially
trained falcon, whose beak and talons had been disarmed so that
it didn't injure the Houbara in capture. After the bird's release,
the tiny transmitter, weighing only 35g, then sent signals that
the bird left the UAE on the 26 March 1997. (This hi-tech transmitter
is capable of sending signals to 3 orbiting satellites, 900kms
above the earth, which then down-load the information to a computer
system.) From the research station in Sweihan, researchers were
then able to plot, on a Geographical Information System, that
the houbara traveled 6600km in 54 days, stopping 4 times and crossing
4 countries; Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, before
settling in the Xinjiang province of China.
Since its flight from the UAE, NARC researchers have received
five hundred and eighty four (584) location points from the Houbara's
transmitter which has also sent back information that the bird
has experienced temperatures, in China, that have ranged from
43.3 C in August to - 8.5 C at night in September. It is strongly
suspected that the Houbara bred in China over the summer.
It was noticed in the middle of September that the Houbara
had started moving southward and 58 days, and 5700km later it
arrived in Abu Dhabi Emirate once more. The data proves that Houbara
travel very long distances and are strong fliers as on average
this bird traveled at a speed of 30km/h, with up to 1268km recorded
between two stop-overs and 700km flown in just 24 hours. Between
its wintering and breeding grounds this Houbara travels a staggering
12300km every year.
Realizing the importance of the Houbara's flight early on,
exchange visits have been made in the last few month with the
Institute of Desert Biology and Pedology of the Chinese Academy
of Science. During these visits, a 'Memorandum of Understanding'
has been signed between the Institute and ERWDA in which it was
agreed that a three year collaboration project will take place.
Fundamental to the 'Memorandum' is that joint studies will be
undertaken on the migration, genetics, population dynamics and
breeding biology of the Houbara population in the Xinjiang province.
Commenting on the importance of the collaboration between
the UAE and China, Dr. Saif Al Ghais, ERWDA's Secretary General,
commented: "The Abu Dhabi based Environmental Research and
Wildlife Development Agency has proved that it is the leading
organization in the world concerned with research and conservation
on the houbara bustard. We are delighted that we can offer scientific
expertise and advice to the Chinese Academy of Science on the
Houbara bustard. We look forward to working with them to protect
the Houbara in that region whose population numbers and dynamics
are virtually unknown."
Additional Information.
Background to NARC/ ERWDA's satellite tracking program. People
have always speculated where the Asian houbara bustard (Chlamydotis
undulata macqueenii), which is the favoured prey of Arab falconers,
migrates from to reach the Arabian Peninsular each winter. From
mere curiosity and speculation, the need to piece together a more
comprehensive picture of the Houbara bustards' movements has become
essential due to the continued decline in the Houbara's numbers.
This decline is believed to be as a result of destruction of their
wintering and breeding habitat, over trapping and over hunting.
The pioneering work first by researchers from NARC and now ERWDA,
has begun to unravel the mystery of the Asian houbara bustard's
migration routes.
After several years perfecting a satellite tracking system,
the story of NARC's remarkable Houbara bustard satellite tracking
success unfolded on the 28th of February 1995 when a male Houbara
bustard, was caught on its wintering ground in Abu Dhabi Emirate.
This bird flew to the border region of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan, a distance of 2, 765 kilometers. Subsequently,
fourteen houbara satellite tagged in Kazakhstan in 1995 and 1996
were followed on their southerly migration. This research showed
that the Houbara from the east and the Houbara from the west of
Kazakhstan take different migration routes and consequently end
up on different wintering grounds. In 1997, five wild Houbara
bustard were caught and released in Abu Dhabi Emirate and subsequently
migrated to their breeding grounds in Central Asia. One of these
Houbara flew to China.
Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA).
The Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency
was established under Law 4 for 1996. ERWDA's overall aim is to
enhance the sustainable development of Abu Dhabi Emirate's environment
and wildlife.
The Agency's four major functions are:
1. Terrestrial environmental research
2. Marine environmental research
3. Wildlife veterinary research
4. Forecasting, policy research on the environment and environmental
impact assessment.
For further information please contact:
ERWDA's Press and Information Officer (Theri Bailey)
tel: 03 747555, fax: 03 747607, pager: 91524684
e-mail: narc@emirates.net.ae
Thanks to the:
Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency
P.O. Box: 45553 ,Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
TEL: 971-2-414441 , FAX: 971-2-414131
e-ail: erwda@emirates.net.ae
P.O. Box : 10000 , Sweihan - Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
TEL: 971-3-747555 , FAX: 971-3-747607
e-mail: narc@emirates.net.ae
A question from P.C.Meijer, The Netherlands on this topic :
There was one male that flew to China and settled in the province Xiangjian. This bird had flown 6600 km in 54 days. All this seems possible to me, but the information that the bird during these days only stopped four times look unbelievable. Can the bird fly about ten days? Without water? So is this information correct, or is something wrong?
And the answer from the project, United Arab Emirates :
You are right. We did not meant that the Houbara stopped four times only but that it stopped 4 times for a long period (more than 3 days). Houbara are believed to fly some 3 to 8 hours a day during migration. They can probably fly for longer hours as we have one record of a bird flying about 900 km in a day.
>At present it is to firms which delivers satellite transmitters: Toyocom and Microwave. For the Lesser White-fronted Goose we have used Microwave transmitters. The lightest version weight approximately 20-21 grams. This transmitter have a fix duty cycle. This means that if you want to look at short term movements you can set it to send for 8 hours and stay off for 8 hours etc., or in a longer term, e.g. 8 hours on and 240 hours off. This cycle will be followed as long as the batteries last. Another option is a transmitter with a varying duty cycle (like the one we have used for the Lesser White-fronted Goose). Then the transmitter is programmed to send for 8 hours and be off in (e.g.) 72 hours, and then a new bout of 8 hours. After 100 transmitting hours the cycle changes so that the transmitter sends for 8 hours and stays off 8 hours, before a new bout of 8 hours transmitting. And….. then after another 150 hours transmitting it can change again. This is a neat option if you need much information during some times of the year or month and not so much information during other periods. The device which makes this possibly has unfortunately a little drawback - it increases the weight of the transmitter with some 8-9 grams.
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Tungasletta 2, N-7005 Trondheim, Norway.
phone:+ 47 73580776 and fax:+ 47 73915433
e-mail: taarvak@online.no
As part of an ongoing project on the threatened Lesser White-fronted Goose a satellite transmitter study is conducted to locate migration routes, staging- and wintering areas. This project is carried out in a co-operation between the Norwegian Ornithological Society (NOF), WWF-Finland and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).
The background and reason for this study is the huge decline in population numbers seen in this species. The Fennoscandian population has declined from more than 10,000 individuals early in this century to 30-50 pairs in 1996 (see Øien et al. 1996). A decline has also been observed in the main breeding areas in Russia. The world population is currently estimated to be less than 15 000 individuals in spring (Lorentsen et al. in press), and is classified as globally threatened, i.e. considered to become extinct if the negative trend continues (Tucker & Heat, 1994). The population of Lesser White-fronted Goose has traditionally been divided in three. The Fennoscandian, the central Russian and the far eastern (eastern Siberia, China, Japan, etc.). The far eastern population is not well monitored, but recent estimates varies between 1 000 and 6 000 individuals. However, 14 000 were found in the areas of the east Dongting Lake in 1997 (Iwabuchi et al. 1997). This does, however, not influence the estimate of the world population since this count involves both adults birds and the years offspring. For Kazakhstan 8 000 individuals were seen during autumn migration in October 1996 (Tolvanen & Pynnönen 1997).
The reasons for the dramatic population decline are unknown but is thought to be caused by negative factors along the migration route and at the wintering grounds. Negative factors at the wintering grounds are deterioration of feeding conditions through cultivation of land and over-exploitation through hunting and increased water level in the Caspian Sea. However, little information exists about the migration of the species. This hamper possible actions to be carried out to protect the species during its most vulnerable period in the year. Hunting is believed to be the most important factor in the negative population development, as based on high recovery rates of ringed Lesser White-fronted Geese (see Aarvak et al. 1997).
In 1995 four Lesser White-fronted Geese were caught in Finnmark County in Norway. One pair was caught during spring staging and two individuals during moult in a breeding area. After commenced moult all individuals returned to the staging area at the Valdak Marshes, where they spent approximately two weeks before they all flew directly eastwards to the Kanin Peninsula, Northwest Russia. From here the individuals divided and followed two different routes. Two of the individuals followed a south-western route to East Germany, where one individual disappeared (probably shot). The remaining bird went to Hungary, Northern Greece and then ended up in the border areas of the Evros Delta between Greece and Turkey (Lorentsen et al. 1998). This individual was observed at the staging ground in Finnmark the following spring and autumn, and later during the winter in Lake Kerkini. The other two satellite tagged individuals went eastwards from the Kanin Peninsula and one bird was shot on the west side of the Ural Mountains. The last individual disappeared (probably shot) in the Ob Valley on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains (Lorentsen et al. 1998). Also in Finland WWF-Finland had caught a male Lesser White-fronted Goose in 1995 and equipped it with a satellite transmitter. This individual also went to the Kanin Peninsula. From there it followed the formerly unknown eastern route and went all the way to Northern Kazakhstan (Kustanai District) before it disappeared. Two of the goslings belonging to this male were reported shot in the same area (Tolvanen & Pynnönen 1997). By this, two autumn migration routes were detected, and the wintering area for the birds following the western route was located. However, the eastern route, which is probably the most important for the Lesser White-fronted Goose in general, could not be traced all the way to the wintering areas, which are believed to be in the southern areas of the Caspian Sea, notably in Azerbaijan.
In spring 1997 four individuals were caught and equipped with satellite transmitters in Finnmark. By October only one remained. This individual went from the breeding areas to the Kolgujev Island in Northwest Russia where it spent the summer. In the end of September it migrated south-westwards, with a short stop north of St. Petersburg before it continued to Poland were it was until the end of December. A cold spell hit Poland in this period and the bird moved to eastern Germany where it disappeared soon afterwards. A Lesser White-fronted Goose was also tagged with satellite transmitter at the Yamal Peninsula. This individual was tracked from Yamal to the Kustanai District in NW Kazakhstan, and further SW, approximately 500 km NE of the Caspian Sea (Karvonen & Markkola 1997).
This summer were three adults caught at the Taimyr Peninsula, and the positions and movements of these birds will be posted regularly to this site as soon as new information arrives. Two adults and a young caught together. The adults were named Church Lake male and female after the locality, and they have identity numbers 01355 and 10864 respectively. The last adult caught was named the Cold Brook female, with identity number 01107.
Still, there is a lack of information about the wintering areas for the eastern route as well as information about the spring migration routes. As has been shown for the White-fronted Goose Anser a. albifrons, there is a considerably variation between years in the movement and it is reasonable to assume that there is a long way ahead for the complete understanding of the migration of Lesser White-fronted Geese.
A short remark on the recent satellite location news:
Some information about the satellite locations. In the recent news you will often find a comment on the location class of the position. This gives information on the accuracy of the locations, which is relevant, not only for the analysis of the area use, but also for the observers trying to locate the bird.
Location class Accuracy
3 < 150 m
2 150 m ( accuracy < 350 m
1 350 m ( accuracy < 1000 m
0 < 1000 m
A no estimate of accuracy
B no estimate of accuracy
You will also often see a reference to time of day. Day means a 24-hour period starting at 00:00 in the Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Are you likely to see Lesser White-fronted Geese not belonging to the introduced Swedish population??
Counts of wintering geese are conducted each year in Europe. Lesser White-fronted Geese, however, are rarely seen during these counts. This is assumed to be partly related to the sparse occurrence of the species and the difficulties in separating it from the White-fronted Goose. It is therefore important that observers use time when searching through geese flocks.
When Lesser White-fronted Geese are observed it is important to try to make accurate counts of numbers and age distribution of the flock. This is important because this contributes to the general knowledge about migration patterns. It also give valuable information about mortality patterns, which can be utilized to reveal factors influencing population development. Normally the broods follow their parents until early spring. If you see Lesser White-fronted Geese, try also to get numbers of the young in the different families. Even though it is quite common for goslings to be adopted by other families, this information can tell us something about the proportion of adult geese that have been breeding during the last summer.
Information about observations and questions can be sent to:
Ingar Jostein Øien , Norwegian Ornithological Society , Seminarplassen 5
N-7060 Klæbu , Norway.
e-mail: ingar@birdlife.no
Petteri Tolvanen
WWF Finland / Lesser White-fronted Goose project , Lintulahdenkatu 10 , 00500 Helsinki , Finland.
E-mail: tolvanen@ulko.sll.fi
References.
Iwabuchi, S., Ikeuchi, T., Lei, G., Jiang, Y. & Sun, P.Y. 1997. The > short report on survey of Lesser White-fronted Geese at Dongting Lakes > in China. Bulletin of Sendai Science Museum No.7: 103-105. >
Karvonen, R. & Markkola, J. 1997. Satellite follow-up of the Yamal Lesser white-fronted Goose Sibyako (the mother). In: Tolvanen, P., Ruokolainen, K., Markkola, j. & Karvonen, R. (eds.). Finnish Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project. Annual report 1997. WWF Finland Report No 9:36-37.
Lorentsen, S.-H., Øien, I.J., Aarvak, T. 1998. Migration of Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus mapped by satellite telemetry. Biological Conservation 84:47-52.
Lorentsen, S.-H., Øien, I.J., Aarvak, T., von Essen, L., Farago, S., Markkola, J., Morozov, V., Syroechkovski Jr., E.E. & Tolvanen, P. (MS). Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. Pp.: xx-xx in: Madsen, J., Fox, T. & Cracknell, J. (eds.) Review of goose populations wintering in the Western Palearctic. Wetlands International, Cambridge, UK.
Tolvanen, P. & Pynnönen, P. 1997. Monitoring the autumn migration of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus and other geese in NW Kazahstan in October 1996. In: Tolvanen, P., Ruokolainen, K., Markkola, j. & Karvonen, R. (eds.). Finnish Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project. Annual report 1997. WWF Finland Report No 9:19-20.
Tucker, G. & Heat, M.F. 1994. Birds in Europe: their conservation status. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife International (BirdLife Conservation Series no. 3).
Øien, I.J., Aarvak, T., Lorentsen, S.-H. & Bangjord, G. 1996. Use of individual differences in belly patches in population monitoring of Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus at a staging ground. Fauna Norv. Ser. C., Cinclus. 19:79-86.
provided by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development
Agency, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Houbara bustard project.
>The satellite tracking system consists of four components: the transmitter, the satellites, the computer data processing in France, and a modem link from Abu Dhabi to France.
The transmitter weighs about 34g but only 3.5g of this is the electronics, the bulk being the high rate lithium battery which is recharged by solar energy. Signals are pulsed from the transmitter every 60 seconds at a very stable frequency of 401. 65MHz. Each pulse lasts 360ms and contains information on the identity of the transmitter, activity of the bird, temperature and battery voltage. Power output is about 6 times higher than a conventional falconry tag in order that the signal travels the 1000km to the satellites. Transmitters turn themselves on and off to conserve battery life. They are on for 10 hrs and off for 21 hrs.
Signals are received by three National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites (which also collect weather data). These orbit the earth from the north to south pole once every 102 minutes. Each orbit is displaced from the previous by 25 to the west, so the satellite path covers the entire earth during the course of each day. Data are collected from any transmitter in Abu Dhabi or Iran and then stored by the satellite until it passes over France when the information is sent down to an earth receiving station.
In France the data is sent to the processing computer. Although the analysis is complex, it is quite easy to understand by an analogy. If you are driving in a car past an alarm or car horn, the sound you hear appears to start at a high pitch and then gets deeper as you pass by. This change from a high to low perceived frequency is known as a Doppler shift. As the orbiting satellite passes a transmitter, it receives the signal first at an elevated frequency and then at a lower frequency. When the received frequency is exactly what it should be (i.e. 401.65MHz) the satellite is in
line with the transmitter (giving us the latitude). The rate at which the frequency changes from high to low tells us how far away the transmitter is from the satellite, allowing us to calculate longitude. In this way, the position of the transmitter is calculated from the transmit frequencies received on board the satellite. Of course, the system is not perfect but most locations are within 5km of the true point, a remarkable accuracy for tracking migration routes.
The last link in the system is the modem link from Abu Dhabi to France. By dialing special access codes, a personal computer in Abu Dhabi can talk to the processing computer in France, allowing ERWDA researchers to read the data. Generally, it takes 2-3 hours for a signal to be sent from the houbara to the satellite, to France for processing, and then to Abu Dhabi.
Lesser White-fronted Goose - Anser erythropus
Thanks to Christian Steel, who pointed out this website.
Pay a visit to the website of the Norwegian Ornithological
Society on http://www.uio.no/~csteel/nof
and go in the field to spot these birds.
news on Wednesday 16.09.98.
The Norwegian Ornithological Society, WWF-Finland, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and the All-Russian Institute of Nature Conservation attached this summer satellite transmitters to three adult Lesser White-fronted Geese on Taimyr and three at the Yamal Peninsula (Russia). However, none of the transmitters at Yamal seems to work properly. The three transmitters at Taimyr works well, and the geese have moved between 40-150 km away from the place of ringing (a small difference between the individuals). In just a few weeks we expect them to start the migration southwards. This is probably the most critical period, since we do not know yet whether they will be able to handle the stress by carrying the transmitters. We expect them to follow the eastern side of the Ural mountains down to the Kustanai region in northern Kazakhstan, and then hopefully.....to the wintering areas.... Ingar J. Øien and some of our Finnish colleagues will travel to and work in this area in the period 1-17 October.
Tomas Aarvak, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Tungasletta 2, N-7005 Trondheim, Norway.
Phone: +47 73 80 14 45 ; Fax: +47 73 80 14 01
e-mail: taarvak@online.no
web-site: http://www.nina.no/
Private: Mellomveien 11, N-7042 Trondheim, Norway.
Phone: +47 73524034
news on Thursday 17.09.98.
New locations have arrived today for the Church Lake female (10864) (the best is 70*07N 88*56E, location class 1), which is now approximately 94 km North of Norilsk. At the map it looks as it is in a tributary to the Dudypta River on the western side of the Putorana Mountains. This is some 270 km south-west from the place of ringing.
If you look in the NOF report from last year (the latest), page 18, the position is just at the place north of Norilsk with three triangles (two black and one grey). The Church Lake Male (01355) was also situated here last night (best position 70*07N 88*48E, location class 1).
The Cold Brook female (01107) has not given any new positions, and I fear that this individual is lost. We got a position (one single location) two days ago (day number 258, and we are today at day 260).
The location was:
01107 71.565N 90.755E 0 258/0802Z - 241/0611
(1) 74 132 195 189
As you can see the day numbers is not correct, with start and end of the tracking with two different days: 258 and 241. It looks suspiciously like a mirror location from day 241, which is long ago. We just have to cross our fingers and just hope.....
news on Monday 21.09.98. - 19.56h.-
New locations have arrived today for the Church Lake Male (01355). He has moved from the western side of the Putorana mountains at the Taimyr Peninsula (best position 70*07N 88*48E, at Thursday 17th of September) in an South-western direction (heading against Kazakhstan) and is now situated close to the village Nizhneye Lyamino which is between the cities Surgut and Khanty Mansiysk in the Ob river valley: position 61*18N 71*39E at 10 a.m. (location class 0). At 11 a.m. he was positioned at 61*20N 72*09E (location class 0). The distance covered is approximately 1150 km. This area is known from former times as an important staging area during the migration periods. However, no reliable information exists from recent times.
news on Tuesday 22.09.98. - 06.09h.
I checked the locations of the Church Lake female (Id.10864) at 05.50 this morning (Norwegian time [03.50 in the ARGOS system]), and they were incoming...and not finished .....but, it seems promising, since one of the plots were 61.336N 71.948E. The locations yesterday morning of the Church Lake male was 61*18N 71*39E (see last mail about the locations)! I will send out the more accurate locations when I am back in the office in some 8-10 hours.
news on Thursday 24.09.98.
Here is the promised updated satellite location for the Church Lake female (10864). It was located at 61*19'01N 72*00'25E at 02' a.m. (location class 1). The activity of the transmitter was zero (02), which means that the bird is resting and that this location probably tells us where the roosting lake is. This is more or less the same location as for the Church lake male, so it looks as they are still together!
news on Saturday 26.09.98. - 16.30h.
New locations arrived late last evening and today. The geese (the Church lake pair) are in the same area in the Ob river Valley as five days ago. The positions are:
61*19'N 72*01'E for the Church lake female (10864) today at 09' UTC
(class 0).
61*19'N 72*00'E for the Church lake male (01355) yesterday at 21' UTC
(class 2).
No new signals from the Cold Brook female......
news on Monday 28.09.98 - 11.37h.
New locations arrived late last evening and today. The geese (the Church lake pair) are in the same area in the Ob river Valley as five days ago. The positions are:
61*19'N 72*01'E for the Church lake female (10864) today at 09' UTC
(class 0).
61*19'N 72*00'E for the Church lake male (01355) yesterday at 21' UTC
(class 2).
The male moved (practically due to inaccuracy of former plots) 6,8 km
between September 22 and 25. I.e. the same place.
news on Wednesday 30.09.98
Today we got a plot that showed that the Taimyr "Church Lake" male Lesser White-fronted Goose "Tjate" (the Father) (and of course probabaly the whole family) has arrived at Kazahstan!
The plot is of the quality class "0" (error more than 1000 m, can be kilometers, even more seldom):
52 deg 13 min 44 sec N, 68 deg 40 min 37 sec
The area is in NW Kazahstan and in larger scale the same area as Doaivu in 1995 or Sibyako last year, but it is anyhow distinctively more east and even in another oblast (district, Zelinograd Oblast, I suppose). The plot is situated ca 40 km NNE of the town of Atbassar, very near or at a tributary of the River Ischim, running from the north to the main stream. I suppose Johan Mooij has a number of White-front recoveries from this area.
The Church Lake female was located at the 1th of October (00.13 UTC) at 50*41'N 70*36'E (Location class 1). This place is 187 km SE of the latest plot of the Church Lake male. According to the map it is on the river Nura running from the east to Lake Tengis. It is only 70 km SE of Zelinograd/Astana. This place is as far as 400 km E of the great goose lakes of Kustanay region.
news on Monday 05.10.98.
New locations of the Church Lake male (01355) today at 1158 UTC. It was located at 51*03'N 69*33'E. This is the same area as a few days ago, just a short distance SE of Lake Tengis in Kazakhstan.
news on Tuesday 06.10.98.
The Church Lake female (10864) is still alive and together with the male. She was located in the same area close to Lake Tengis, 50*38'N 70*58'E at 11.35 UTC today (Location class 0).
As can be seen there is a little variation between the locations when the birds are in the same area. It is partly due to location error, but mostly because the geese changes locations during the day and night. They also obviously move around in different fields during daytime, and then travel some distance to the roosting lake.
news on Sunday 11.10.98. - 08.10u.
New satellite locations has arrived for both the Church Lake male and female. The best position came from the female (10864). She is in the same area in Kazakhstan, 50*33'N 7046'E, at 22.35 last evening (location class 1). The signals from the male was not good enough to obtain a accurate position.
news on Wednesday 14.10.98.
New locations has arrived for both the Church Lake male (yesterday) and female (this morning). They are both in the same area in Kazakhstan. However, the coverage of the satellites was probably quite poor, since we received inaccurate locations with (location class B for the female) few messages (the male even had mirror locations from the 5th of October). The position of the female was 50*24'N 70*55'E.
news on Wednesday 21.10.98.
New locations of the Church Lake female arrived on the evening the 18th. She was located in the same area (5024'N 7055'E) in Kazakhstan, but the quality of the locations where low (Class B). No news from the male which is a little worrying. Hopefully, we will have the female for another one to two weeks, which is when we expect them to continue further!
news on Friday 23.10.98.
New locations of the Church Lake male and female: The male was located yesterday at 51*09N 69*56'E (Location class 2) which is a little more northwards, but still in the same area in Kazakhstan. The female was this morning (signals incoming) at 50*36'N 71*00'E (location class B).
news on Monday 26.10.98.
New locations 12UTC today of the Church Lake male, which is situated in the same area still at 51*10'N69*56'E (location class 1).
news on Saturday 31.10.98.
The Church Lake male was on Oct. 26 still near the Lake Tengiz. The Church Lake female however, has moved on and was located at October 7th at 16:41 ca 70 km NW of the Aral Sea (still in Kazakhstan): N 46*49'48N E 58*45'28E (location class A). Yesterday the Church Lake male was located at 51*09'N 69*57'E (location class 1), 30th of October at 2:04. This is still in the same area in Kazakhstan. This means that the pair has splitted and are no longer together. This happened also in 1995 hen one pair took two different routes further from the Kanin Peninsula (See Lorentsen et al. 1998). Whether this is a common phenomenon or an effect of the satellite transmitters is a difficult question. The distance moved by the female is some 960 km.
news on Sunday 15.11.98 (sorry for the delay, D. Raes).
A new (location class b again) position of the Church Lake female (10864), November 10 at 04:24 (UTC): 44*20'24N 46*41'20E.This is in the same area at the Kizlyarskiy Zaliv, in Russia. The new location is ca 7 km SSE of the previous location.
news on Wednesday 17.11.98.
I have the last days, from different persons, been asked about new satellite locations from the Church Lake Lessers. The situation is that we have not received any new locations since the 10th of November for the Church Lake female and 8th of November for the male. I fear that we have lost both birds, but this could (hopefully) also be due to poor coverage by the satellites. For the female, the duty cycle of the transmitter is supposed to change on the 5th of December with signals emitted every 5.3 days afterwards (every 4.3 days until 5th of December).
The last locations we received were poor for both birds (poor coverage of the satellites or it could be because the antennas were damaged - there are many possibilities).
The Church Lake female was last located at Kizlyarskiy Zaliv on the western side of the Caspian Sea (44*20'24N 46*41'20E - location class B).
The Church Lake male was ca 115 km west of Lake Tengiz in Kazakhstan (50*39'47N 67*08'52E).
I will of course inform you if we happen to receive new locations!
news on Tuesday 15.12.98.
Sad but anyhow interesting information about the fate of the Church Lake Female: As you are aware of we had the last satellite transmitter signals from this individual on 10th of November from the western side of the Caspian Sea in Dagestan. Today we received information from the Russian scientist Sergey Ncheltsov that he had received the transmitter, leg colour-ring and the metal ring (CS 001461) from a hunter in Dagestan. We have however not yet, received more.
news on Wednesday 03.03.99.
More sad and interesting news of the fate of the satellite transmitter tagged Lesser White-fronted Geese from Taimyr in 1998. We have now got the confirmation that also the Church Lake male has been shot.
According to the information we have received from Dr. Sergey Yerohov, the bird was shot in late October about 70 km to NW from the South coast of the Tengiz Lake in Kazakhstan. A local hunter has reported to the local hunting inspection that he had shot a goose with: "the plastic and metal rings on the leg and anything between the wings on the back". This confirmed our opinion that the goose had been shot when the satellite transmitter signals ceased in Kazakhstan in late autumn.
In other words - of the three adults geese equipped with satellite transmitters in 1998 at the Taimyr Peninsula, two of them have been confirmed shot. One in Dagestan and one in Kazakhstan. For further information about this project you can visit the WebPages of the Norwegian Ornithological Society at:
http://www.uio.no/~csteel/nof/docs/projects/lesserwhitefronted.htm
Or
http://www.uio.no/~csteel/nof/nof-hovedside.htm