Autumn migration 2013-2014 | Lifewatch regional portal

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Autumn migration 2013-2014

In the course of August and September 2013, the Lesser Black-backed Gulls started their autumn migration and exchanged their breeding grounds in Zeebrugge for their winter grounds in the South of Spain and Portugal and North Africa. By October 20th the last tagged gulls left Flanders. Some birds traveled over land, while others seemed to prefer to follow the coastlines. 

In the course of September 2013, also the Western Marsh Harriers started traveling south to their winter grounds in Northwest Africa.

By clicking on the map on the right, you are redirected to an interactive map displaying the autumn migration of 2013. The map shows the data of Eric by default, but in the map legend you can select other individuals. 

Below you can find out more about the peculiar journeys of Harry, Sanne, Nico and Peter.

During the winter season of 2013-2014 (December to March), the three bird species have different wintering locations. Below you can also find out more about the winter locations of specific birds.

 

Past data - Harry and the UK trip

 

Harry and the UK trip

When the autumn migration starts, it seems that not all Lesser Black-backed Gulls go straight South. Harry, a male Lesser Black-backed Gull, for instance first made an excursion to the UK in late July and stayed there for almost two months. Mid-September he traveled South across the English Channel, the Northwest of France, the Bay of Biscay, the Spanish and Portuguese mainland, until he reached his final destination, Sevilla, at the end of September.

For an animated visualization of Harry's UK trip, click on the image on the left.

For an additional CartoDB visualization, click here.

 

Sanne and Nico: let's go further than the others

While most Lesser Black-backed Gulls migrate to the southern parts of Spain and Portugal during winter, two of the tagged gulls decided to find their luck a little further: Sanne (female) and Nico (male). Already at the end of July 2013, their southern adventure began. For a few weeks Sanne foraged in Northern France to gain strength for the long journey. After a few days' break in a coastal city in Western Portugal, she continued her journey along the coastline of Northwest Africa until she reached her final destination, a beach in the vicinity of Dakar, early October 2013. Nico left Flanders at the same time as Sanne, but stayed in the Northern France region for a few months. Only by mid-November he traveled South and reached the shores of Mauritania mid-December.

For an animated visualization of Sanne's and Nico's competition, click on the image on the left.

Past data - Peter and Zeebrugge-Paris-Dakar

 

Peter and Paris-Dakar

Very surprisingly, the Western Marsh Harriers traveled South even further than the Lesser Black-backed Gulls: they went as far as the coast of Senegal and the Southern border of Mauritania. Peter for instance, one of the two tagged males, traveled south in early September. His journey went across the French mainland (via Paris), along the East coast of Spain, across the Alboran Sea and the Saharan dessert, until he reached his final destination, Dakar, in early October.

For an animated visualization of Peter's journey, click on the image on the left.

 

Winter locations

During the winter season of 2013-2014 (December to March), the three bird species had different wintering locations. The Lesser Black-backed Gulls left cold Flanders for warmer places and could be found in the vicinity of the cities of Madrid (Joke), Sevilla (Harry), Lisbon (Marieke), Coimbra (Marieke), Agadir (Eric and Jasmin), and along the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania (Sanne and Nico). Also the Western Marsh Harriers traveled south and were located in Northwest Africa, as far as the coast of Senegal (Peter) and the Southern border of Mauritania (Jozef). The European Herring Gulls, not being migratory birds, didn't leave their Flemish breeding grounds and remained in Ostend.

To see where the birds spent their winter, click on the image on the left.