The biggest celebration of family, sport, and healthy lifestyle - Familathlon 2022, will finally be live again in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event has been running for over a decade now. This year, Familathlon 2022 will be in the fall - on September 3 between 10:00 and 16:00. We will be expecting all parents and children at a new location - Sofia Summer Fest, behind the "Earth and Man” National Museum.
Great news from Slovakia - the successful previous year in terms of the number of chicks was surpassed! This year the team from the Coordinating Beneficiary Raptor Protection of Slovakia recorded over 160 chicks in total! The Saker Falcon, also called the jewel of our lowlands, was struggling to find a sufficient supply of nests in natural conditions (as it does not build its own nests). With the gradual destruction of nesting habitats, especially by intensive forestry activities, falcons lost the space for breeding.
Tracking the movements of 6 Imperial Eagles will be possible thanks to the installation of 6 satellite transmitters in Slovakia. Data from the transmitters will be helpful in targeting the dangerous pylons in the project area that might cause danger for young individuals. Besides these juveniles in Slovakia, the satellite transmitters will be installed on 6 Saker Falcons in Serbia and 6 Dalmatian Pelicans from Romania. We are already looking forward to the data on where their paths will lead!
On June 27 (Monday) at the National Museum of Natural History, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) will celebrate National Eagle Day. We will introduce the guests of the museum to interesting facts about some of the most emblematic and rare eagles in our country - the Imperial Eagle, the Lesser Spotted Eagle, the White-tailed Eagle, the Golden Eagle, the Booted Eagle, and the Short-toed eagle.
We will prepare an introductory game for the young visitors, as the first 50 children who solved the riddles will receive a gift - a badge with a bird.
The date is not accidental - June 27 was chosen as National Eagle Day during the campaign " “Life for the Eagles in Bulgaria", which BSPB organized years ago to draw public attention to these majestic but increasingly rare birds and the threats to their habitats. This day every year reminds us of the indispensable role of eagles in nature through information campaigns and educational initiatives.
The event is organized jointly with the National Museum of Natural History within the LIFE projects “LIFE for Eagle’s Habitats“, and “Life Danube Free Sky”.
The bird-watching camp was held in the area of the Public Institution Nature Park Kopački rit, Croatia for the students of the Department of Biology. On this occasion, we marked World Migratory Bird Day and 30 years of the LIFE Programme of the European Union. The project and its activities were presented to the students, after which we observed and recorded birds with a walk along the rabbit embankment to the Sakadaš dock and a touristic ship ride in the Special Zoological Reserve.
From April 25 to 27, we presented the LIFE Danube Free Sky project at the 4th Adriatic Flyway Conference held in Zadar. The conference was attended by more than 70 participants from 13 countries. The lectures were related to the topic of illegal killing of birds, fatalities caused by electrocution and collision with power lines, and poisoning. As part of the conference, we also visited the island of Pag, where the ornithological reserve Veliko and Malo Blato is located, and the Pag Salina - valuable habitats for many species of birds that inhabit or use them as stops during migrations.
World Migratory Bird Day major events are held on the Second Saturday in May and in October each year. With the approaching May date, the lecture about the bird migration, its wonders, and interesting facts will be held by ornithologist Roman Slobodník from Raptor Protection of Slovakia in the University Library in Bratislava on the 11th of May. Find out more info here, or click on the Read More button. To find out more about the WMBD go to https://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/