5.04 One swallow does not make a summer... but two geese do make spring

A huge re-organisation at the spring battle field. Christiane and Lukasz are on their way north already. This is a bit earlier than last year but still within 'geese' limits. The winter was very mild this year (especially at the beginning) and spring came relatively early so I assume this is a good time to leave. Few hundred pinkies are already observed in Trøndelag so these two geese are not the only one heading north.
R62 and R53 have also moved north but are still in Denmark. Now they are close to the nature reserve where other pinkies are also observed. Note that R62 followed the coast to get to Thisted area and made several stop on his way.

The rest of our geese are still around Ringkøbing and Stadil fjord. The transmitters of birds tagged this year are now set to transmit three positions per day (at 7:00, 11:00 and 15:00) and it seems like birds spend the entire daytime on fields, building up energy for the coming journey. On the other hand, birds from last year, are suppose to send us signal every hour. We can than capture their diurnal rhythm and as seen in case of Danuta and Ingunn, they come back to the roost during the night and forage in the fields under day light. Roost is a much safer place to rest during night cause predators (like foxes or raccoon dogs) cannot enter the roost. 

Tomorrow all new tags are switching protocols from sending us 3 positions per day to sending us one position per hour. Hopefully we can get more details about their journey.

Happy Easter to all of you and see you next week.