The Greater spotted eagle we have been following was just west of Basrah, Iraq at 1300 local time today (15 October). It was about 40 km from the Iraq/Kuwait border and about 130 km from the Al Jahra Pools Reserve. If it keeps up a typical pace, it could cross the border and make it to Al Jahra today.
As of 1300 local time, 6488 was located about 100 km north of Basrah, Iraq. It is steadily making its way south, and we are still hopeful that it will settle at the Al Jahra Pools this winter. Click on the map below and it will open in a new window and will be easier to view.
Oh yeah... today is Arab Environment Day. Make it a good one!
The Greater spotted eagle we are tracking spent the night of 12 October about 70 km north of Ahvaz, Iran, which is about 300 km from the Al Jahra wetlands where it spent the winter last year. At this rate, if its destination is Al Jahra, then, at this pace it could arrive on 13 or 14 October. The locations near Ahvaz were in and near agricultural land and wetlands.
Below are maps of the migration, a zoomed in map of where it was on 12 October, and of its range during last winter at Al Jahra.
The Greater spotted eagle that we are tracking is now about 200 km SW of Qom, Iran. In the past 24 hrs it has travelled 372 km, almost in a straight line (straight line would be 365 km). It is about 490 km from the Al Jahra wetlands, Kuwait, where it wintered last year. Assuming it will winter there again, it may arrive sometime in the next three days (depending on weather and whether it stopsover at some location).
The Steppe eagle (6687) seems to have settled in Yemen, near the town of Al Bayda. It arrived there arond 30 September after travelling through western Saudi, inland from the coast. See map below.
Last year, a number of the eagles being tracked from Oman spent at least part of their winter in the same area Click here to see more. So far it seems to be spending most of its time on escarpment, south of the town.
Finally, after a long period spent on a wetland SW of Torgay, Kazakhstan, our tagged Greater Spotted Eagle (6488) has started to move south. We got a forewarning of this when we lost GSM contact for four days. On 9 October the tag downloaded data that showed it had left the summering area on 5 October. By the 9th it was on the border between Iran and Turkmenistan at the SE corner of the Caspian. By the 10th it was at a location just east of Tehran. Below is a map of the migration so far. We'll be posting new maps every day or (whenever we get new data), so please visit the blog regularly, and tell your friends and colleagues to do so, also. (Reminder: Click on the map and it will open in a new window for easier viewing)
Continuing the post-spring migration updates for the birds we are tracking.... A Greater spotted eagle at Al Jahra, Kuwait during winter 20...
