A quick update on the satellite tracked Brent Geese as of 13th May 2019. Unfortunately we only have one tracker still working. The following is the latest update.
BRAN01 stopped working on 22nd Feb 2019 giving 243 location fixes whilst working all in the Crouch Estuary. We know this bird is still alive and it has been observed in Germany in early May.
BRAN02 is the one transmitter still working and this bird has been working its way along the Dutch coast for the last few weeks.
BRAN03 stopped working on 29th January giving 91 location fixes whilst it worked all in the Crouch Estuary. We know this bird was still alive some weeks after the tracker stopped working as it was observed by David Low at Blue House Farm.
BRAN04 stopped transmitting on 1st May giving 732 location fixes whilst it worked we tracked this bird to Germany and showed some great site fidelity on staging. We are fairly sure from the acvitivy on the tracker that the bird was still alive and well although it has not yet been observed in the field after the tracker stopped working.
BRAN05 this bird died between 17th and 20th April in the German Wadden Sea. It gave 693 location fixes before the bird died. We have no idea of the cause of death as the bird was not recovered and appeared to have died at sea (possibly roosting at night) and was carried by the tide.
The map below shows BRAN02 between 2nd April and 13th May working its way along the Dutch Wadden Sea using islands and the mainland.