“Well we don’t need to wait until JX’s PTT turns on again….”
said Chris Hassell and Kerry Hadley at Wader Beach, Roebuck Bay, Broome: JX is the first
Whimbrel back home!
Photo 1: JX found
and photographed back in Broome at noon on 12-Aug-17. Photo by Kerry Hadley
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It was really exciting to see JX's appearance at Roebuck Bay at 12:01, well before we received the signal from the satellite later in the afternoon at 15:21. JX was spotted roosting
at Wader Beach during high tide, mixing with a good flock of Knots, Godwits,
and Sandpipers etc. (as you can tell from the photo). It is looking a bit
thin (abdominal profile = 2) after another day
of continuous flight from Indonesia.
Fig 1: Satellite
signals showing JX’s home run back to Roebuck Bay
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In order to reach Broome
at 12:01 on 12-Aug-17, JX has made another 1,091km flight from Bima. Based on
the last signal JX sent from Bima at 19:00 on 10-Aug-17, JX could either have stayed at Bima for only a short while, or, it didn’t make a stop at all and flew directly back to Broome. If JX has kept its speed at 41.3km/h as per its flight
from Palawan to Bima earlier, it could have reached Broome on 11-Aug-17 at
around 21:00 (even before I was typing Project Updates #9)!
Fig 2. The complete
migration route of JX
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Observation
from the field shows that the satellite transmitter and its antenna are at perfect position. Given the sunny
weather in Broome, the transmitter must have been well charged by solar power
to show us JX’s movement around the Bay after it came home.
JX is now in the good hands (eyes) of the Broome
local birdwatchers/observers. After such amazing journey, we hope JX could soon
replenish and continue to thrive in the Bay.
As of 12 August 2017:
Migration tracks of our Whimbrels:
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Migration summary on our Whimbrels
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Katherine Leung
12 August 2017
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