Following their successful first flights from the hacking cavity, the three captive-bred Egyptian vultures released experimentally in northern Bulgaria have been flying around the hacking site in Rusenski Lom Nature Park (NE Bulgaria) – and one of them – Regina, born in Vienna Zoo from Turkish-origin birds, already started its migration and is now in Turkey!
On the 2rd September, she left south, reaching the Eastern Rhodopes Mountains. She spent the first night of her journey sleeping in a forest some 15 km from Dadia National Park in Greece. The next day she crossed the border with Turkey and continued flying south to the shore of the Marmara Sea where she spent the night in a forest again. On 4th she crossed the Dardanelles and continued to fly south to Izmir (Aegean Sea) where she roosted on a hill. Then she continued south, reaching the coastal resort town of Marmaris
The hope is that she continues southeast now towards the Middle East – and not south through he Greek islands, where most of the juvenile Egyptian vultures tagged in wild nests in the Western Balkans have flown through in the last few years, and that in most cases ended in tragedy, with most birds drowned at sea
You can follow Regina’s journey here – we will continue to post updates on her journey. We also expect Lom and Elodi to start their migration soon!
