Sparrow Kings Begins the 2009 Spring Migration

The northbound migration has begun.

Sparrow King is the first of our three satellite-tagged peregrines to start north. Since his transmitter generates signals every two days, we can't be certain of his exact start time but Don McCall writes...

"Signals for Sparrow King that were received early this morning indicate that he departed Antofagasta, Chile sometime after 1453Z on 08 April, and by yesterday evening had travelled 727 km (451 mi) north. He is already in Peru, on the coast approximately 80 km south of Arequipa."

And, of course, this is his third migration with a transmitter so we will be able to compare how his routes may differ each year.

For example, he left earlier this year (8 April) than the two earlier years (12 and 19 April) but still within an 11 day period. Great stuff!

And so begins the migration once again....