Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Mr Hannah moving northward right on schedule!


This report is an update from biologist friend Bob Kennedy in Nantucket who is tracking an osprey named Mr. Hannah with a tiny radio knapsack on his back flying north from Brazil and more recently Cuba and Florida. To date he has traveled over 3000 miles in 18 days.
"As of 10 am this morning, Tuesday, March 23rd, Mr. Hannah was in South Carolina, 60 miles east of Columbus where he seemed to be following I-95 North as he was entering Florence, SC. How many of you have travelled that exact route?

In my last email, Mr. Hannah had reached central Cuba by 14 March. (He did not stop in Port au Prince.) He continued to move up the backbone of Cuba until he reached the coastal town of Cardenas on the 18th. At 12 noon on March 18th he headed out over the Straights of Florida, flew overnight and reached Florida Bay near Flamingo in Everglades National Park by 5 am just before sunrise on the 19th. He did not stop there as he continued up the central part of Florida to spend the evening near the Magic Kingdom. Guess he wanted to see some of his friends. The next day, the 20th, he flew across the Florida/Georgia border and over the Okefenokee Swamp. He continued at a steady pace reaching South Carolina on the 22nd. His return trip is fairly similar to his southern migration, but he seems to be flying over the Piedmont more on this return trip. So far he has travelled over 3,000 miles in just a little over 18 days. At his current rate, and with about 1,000 miles to go, I suspect he will reach Nantucket on the 27th or 28th of March, right on schedule."

No comments: