At 1pm on 20th August Kim had left Wales and was located near Church Stretton in Shropshire on the start of her southward migration. This was the first GPS location we had received for many weeks. We feared the satellite tag has stopped working but in fact the lack of signals was presumably due to a paucity of sunlight and her spending most of her time under the canopy. Kim’s departure is eight days earlier than last year and confirms suspicions that she has been unsuccessful in any nesting attempt she may have made this year. Wider wanderings in late May and early June, when she should have been settled, point to her having difficulties finding a mate. At several sites in Wales this year males failed to return including our other satellite tagged bird Mel who almost certainly perished in his winter quarters (our last confirmed position was on 14th February). Plans to tag two more birds this year were forced to be put on hold.

Kim’s autumn migration so far has been rapid. She left Kent on the morning of 25th August, crossed into Spain on the evening of 29th August and arrived in North Africa on the evening of 1st September. On the night of 3rd September she was on the border of Morocco and Algeria poised for another assault of the vast and inhospitable Sahara Desert.

We will upload a more detailed route-map and migration chart soon.