Harmonizing pan-European raptor monitoring standards

Last week end in the Western Pyrenees a workshop has been held promoted by EURAPMON. Participants at the meeting were people involved in monitoring projects at raptors bottle-necks of the Western Palearctic. The following sites were represented:

• Batumi (Georgia)
• Eilat (Israel)
• Burgas (Bulgaria)
• Antikythira (Greece)
• Malta (Malta)
• Strait of Messina (Italy)
• Pyrenees (France)
• Strait of Gibraltar (Spain)

Moreover also other people involved in land bird migration count attended at the workshop. All the participants agree to constitute a permanent network with the aim to promote conservation and knowledge of migrating raptors, to share best practices, volunteers management and to cooperate. It is important, in fact, to let the activity working at the different sites and to analyse data collected at the different sites in order to give a wider perspective to our work and to answer major questions related to raptor conservation and ecology. 

We are proud that the proposed name of the newborn network recall the one of our smaller Mediterranean network. The name is Raptor Migration Network. Soon an official document of the Network will be published online  and in the next month a new website will be available.

Here below a picture of a plenary session and one of the Central flyway working group.

EURAPMON Final Conference - short report

Last week the Eurapmon Final Conference was held in the Sierra Espuña Natural Park, Spain. It was the chance to make the point of the activity made by the network during the five years of activity and to discuss about the future of networking people studying raptors.

Here following some pictures of the meeting

EURAPMON Final Conference

In the next days the Eurapmon Conference will be held near Murcia, Spain. This Final Conference is the concluding event of the European Science Foundation (ESF) Research Networking Programme EURAPMON (Research and monitoring for and with raptors in Europe) which started in May 2010 and will finish in May 2015. The final conference will combine plenary talks given by leading raptor researchers, presentations of EURAPMON results, four workshops, poster presentations and a fieldtrip. The conference aims to improve transnational cooperation in raptor research and monitoring through sharing of knowledge and experience and consider challenges and opportunities for the future beyond EURAPMON. Medraptors will present different contributions at the Conference.

EURAPMON SUMMER SCHOOL

ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

- EURAPMON SUMMER SCHOOL -

MONITORING FOR AND WITH RAPTORS 

Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands 

27–29 August 2014 

JOIN LEADING SCIENTISTS AND PRACTITIONERS AT ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS 

APPLY NOW – FULL FUNDING AVAILABLE TO WINNING APPLICANTS – DEADLINE: Monday 28 JULY 2014!

For more information click on the picture below:

Eurapmon on the special issue of Acrocephalus journal

A special number of Acrocephalus journal has been made to publish papers resulting from the Eurapmon network meeting that has been held in Mursia (Spain) in February 2012. 25 papers describe the conservation status and the research state for raptors in 25 European countries. Medraptors research activity is reported in the Italian and Greek papers.  

To dowload the papers click on the picture below.

Second Eurapmon workshop

Last week was held the second Eurapmon meeting in Murcia (Spain). Tens of researchers from 27 different countries of Europe, from Portugal to Russia, took part at the workshop. During the two days meeting, the National Coordinators showed the monitoring activities that are already active in the different countries. Moreover it was discussed a questionnaire to complete an inventary of the monitoring projects "with" and "for" raptors in Europe. For Italy ISPRA presented the actual situation. The new website is already active (to see it click here). Here below a picture of the workshop.

MIGRATION STUDY PROTOCOLS and ECOVOLUNTEERS MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP

Pyrénées-Atlantiques, FRANCE - October 2011
Last week there was a workshop organized by EUROMIGRANS Network. The associations taking part in the workshopv were: LPO (France), Fundacion Migres (Spain), BTO (Great Britain), Batumi Raptor Count, Medraptors and other organizations. Among the speakers also Keith Bildstein from the Hawkmountain Sanctuary, USA. Many participants from different countries: France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, Romania, Latvia. Topics covered during the workshop were the proposal to use a common protocol for counts of migrants in Europe and management of eco-volunteers. At the end there was a panel on the future of EUROMIGRANS and many proposals were made and soon a new website of this international network will be available online. The workshop was held in the picturesque setting of the Pyrenees Atlantiques and the organization was excellent thanks to the efforts of the coordinator, Jean-Paul Urcun (LPO-Lindus). Although most of the time was spent inside the building where the workshop sessions were held, there was the chance to see many raptors, among them Red Kites and Griffon Vultures.
Here following some pictures from the meeting.