Yesterday a Motus system automated telemetry aerial was kindly supplied and fitted by Wageningen Marine Research based at Wageningen University, Holland. As it was getting dark a Parti-coloured Bat was released fitted with a transmitter so that its movements will, hopefully, be picked up by other receivers. This bat had been found on a vessel in the southern North Sea last September and has been kept in quarantine, as it is a non native species, before a licence was acquired to allow its release. Further information on this research is below.
Nick
Whitehouse from Spurn Bird Observatory has recently released this press
release:
At
the British Bird Observatories Council meeting in February held at BTO HQ in
Norfolk, Spurn Bird Observatory tabled a motion proposing that British bird observatories
should work together with other key partners here and on the continent to utilise modern tracking technology with the aim of understanding more about the
movements of so-called theorised ‘reverse migrants’ across Western Europe into
Britain and beyond.
The
proposal was enthusiastically received and the advantages and limitations of
the three key tracking technologies i.e. satellite, geolocation and radio
telemetry, were discussed. The Motus system which uses fixed radio
telemetry was identified as having real potential to assist in such studies,
being already in use, with a proven track record in North America and
continental Europe. The idea would be to develop a coordinated network of
receivers here in Britain to compliment those in Europe and begin to monitor
the movements of certain key species fitted with ultra-lightweight nanotags.
Yellow-browed
Warbler is a typical species of interest, though there are other reverse and
drift migrants and other species of which we could learn more about using the
system. It was decided that before any such national project could get
underway, the support of a University would be desirable to help develop the
plan. A meeting with the University of Hull then took place at Spurn in March
where our vision was explained. To everyone’s delight the university were keen
to play a significant role in what has been named “Project Yellow-browed”. They
have agreed to act as project managers, coordinating activity to develop the
network as well as in due course taking on data collation and analysis work.
Funding is of course a prime issue, and individual observatories are endeavouring to secure ‘seed funding’ to purchase their own first receivers. By
doing so, larger funding bids, led by the university are more likely to be
successful. A receiving station costs around £4- 5k.
A
number of bird observatories are wanting to be amongst the first tranche of
Motus users including Landguard, Sandwich Bay and Dungeness in the south-east,
Bardsey and Portland in the south-west, Fair Isle and of course ourselves at
Spurn. Others are talking to their own governing bodies about becoming
involved. It would be great for example to have a Yorkshire coast ‘cluster’ of
receivers at the county’s observatories and even some inland, for instance up
on the Pennies. By having a project Steering Committee with a broad membership
including the University of Hull, BTO, Bird Observatories Council and others,
issues such as licensing and standards for members wanting to register for the
scheme and have their own receiver(s) can be fully covered within the project.
The committee can also be flexible and adapt through time to changing
technologies, their costs and effectiveness. The great thing about Motus is
that private individuals, bird clubs, ringing groups and conservation bodies
can also get involved. See motus.org for information about the system.
Some
early work has started with fact finding visits planned by the university to
look at and learn about the equipment first hand with colleagues across the
North Sea in Helgoland. Word spreads quickly and bat study groups on the
continent have been in touch wanting to help as the system has wider
applications than avian research. They are wanting to support the positioning
of several receivers on the Norfolk coast. The more receivers the merrier
increasing the chances of ‘hits’ on tagged subjects, whether birds or other
animals.
So,
some promising progress to report, but as ever it’s one step at a time and we
must be prepared for ups and downs on the project. There is a great sense that
fellow bird observatories want to step up to the mark and get involved with
modern technologies where possible. It is after all nearly 100 years since bird
ringing started, and that continues to provide excellent results. Using modern
technologies can complement on-going ringing work and take migration studies
even further forward.
