News from Bosphorus 6

Today was an impressive migration day thank to the passage of about 2500 raptors (mostly Lesser-spotted Eagles) and more than 200 Black Storks. The sky was covered by clouds and a strong wind blew from North East.

Dardanelles Autumn 7

Today about 250 Red-footed Falcons were observed migrating through the Gallipoli Peninsula. They passed in flocks flying high over our watchpoint.

Satellite tracking of Short-toed Snake Eagles from Southern Italy to Africa

Ugo Mellone together with the University of Alicante (Spain) and the Faunistic Observatory of Basilicata Region is studying the migration of Short-toed Snake Eagles. In particular he is tracking with GPS Satellite transmitters two juveniles fledged in Gallipoli Cognato Piccole Dolomiti Lucane Regional Park. One of the two eagles started the migration today and up to now it's going towards the North. To follow their movements click on the picture below.

News from Bosphorus 5

Like in Marettimo, also here in Turkey we took pictures of an adult and a juvenile Egyptian Vultures migrating together.

In Autumn 1966 Porter and Willis counted 367 Egyptian Vultures but now the individuals observed migrating through the Bosphorus are much less. This is a signal of a dramatic decline of this species in Europe.

News from Bosphorus 4

Yesterday was a really good day for migration here at Bosphorus (but also the day before yesterday and today...) and we observed also a rare species, a juvenile White Tailed Eagle.

Egyptian Vultures over Marettimo

Here below, some pictures taken on the 4th September by Giuseppe Speranza. These migrating Egyptian Vultures were observed passing over the island of Marettimo (Western Sicily), that is an important site for the migration of this endangered species. In the past years we counted up to 74 individuals between the end of August and the first half of September.

Dardanelles Autumn 6

Few migrating raptors at Dardanelles in these days but a lot of Bee Eaters. Yesterday the peak with more than 500 individuals.