Posts tonen met het label Champions of the Flyway. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Champions of the Flyway. Alle posts tonen

maandag 16 februari 2015

AGAMI photographers joining Champions of the Flyway 2015

AGAMI photographers Marc Guyt and Martijn Verdoes are joining the 2015 Champions of the Flyway in Eilat, Israel.

Together with Gert Ottens (editor at Birdlife Netherlands) they formed the Dutch Knights. An all Dutch team racing for conservation. Alongside some familiar teams from last year we are delighted that many new teams are entering as well in 2015. We want to become the Champions of the Flyway and win the trophy for the team with the most money raised so the pressure is on!

This year the Champions of the Flyway are combatting illegal trapping of migrating birds in Cyprus.
 
Illegal caught European Bee-eater - one bird that will never reach Europe again...
Copyright Birdlife Cyprus

Twice a year Cyprus, the third greatest island in the Mediterranean, is a crucial stopover site for  millions of migrating birds during their sea crossings.

Due to these hugh numbers of migrating birds hunting and trapping has alwasy been part of the island history. In the past, songbirds – mainly Blackcaps and similar-sized warblers – were trapped for consumption by the rather poor islanders who saw the twice-yearly influx of birds as a valuable source of protein while they scraped their meagre existence, living off the land. The impact this had on bird populations then would have been tiny and quite sustainable.

Nowadays however, bird trapping in Cyprus has little to do with tradition or history. Nor is it sustainable. It has become widespread, extensive and is driven by by profits sought by organised crime.

The reason is the demand for a local dish made from small passerines called Ambelopoulia which is considered a delicacy by certain members of the Cypriot community and, perhaps more worryingly, some misguided tourists. The dish is in such demand that would-be diners are prepared to pay in excess of €5 per bird with the associated illegal industry considered to be worth in excess of €15,000,000 per year.

This is how lunch in Cyprus looks like... Ambelopoulia
Copyright Birdlife Cyprus

The organized hunting had deep impact on numbers of birds. Many of the species caught are red list species in many countries. The support generated by the Champions of the Flyway event in 2015 will secure vital funding to aid BirdLife Cyprus in their fight against illegal killing of birds and to help them turn the tide on the needless slaughter.

Support us in our quest to stop the widespread, illegal killing of migrating birds in Southern Europe. If you want to support the cause and our team, please DONATE HERE. Every bird counts so every penny, every euro is much appreciated!

Marc, Martijn and Gert
Dutch Knights


PS: You can also like our Dutch Knights Facebook page or follow us on twitter.

dinsdag 18 maart 2014

The magic of migration

Dunes of Katwijk, Netherlands. Marc Guyt / www.agami.nl


The magic of migration has always attracted me. Living at a coastal migration hotspot in the Netherlands, I spend my birding childhood glued to a small hill just north of Katwijk. This small hill overlooked beautiful dunes and this was our theater in autumn – the site for 100,000’s of migrating birds to pass through, heading south each year. Memories of massive migration of Meadow Pipits just flying inches over your head, or thrush and starling migration in numbers beyond comprehansion. Where did they come from? And where do they go? Questions in your head when you watched in awe looking at the birds flying to unknown destinations. And there was always the chance of something odd or something rare between the big numbers of migrants. An extra dimension in an already exceptional phenomenon. A diamont in a jar of pearls.

When I grew older I spread my wings as well. I wanted to see where those birds breed, I wanted to see where the spent their winter and who they meet in their wintering quarters. I wanted to see where our rare migrants came from and see their migration in real life over there. I wanted to see and experience it all!

Siberian Flycatcher, Happy Island, China. Marc Guyt / www.agami.nl
Memories etched in my mind include massive falls of eastern warblers on Happy Island off the east coast of China. Numbers beyond comprehension of species that are extreme rarities in Europe. A bird covered Eilat with migrants at every green patch. Or the unexpected migation of 10.000’s of Pacific Swifts over Taman Negara in Malaysia. A darkend sky by swifts, flying low over pristine lowland rainforest. It couldn’t get any better.

 


But as you grow older, and when you spread your own wings, you see and hear also the dangers these beautiful birds face. Both natural and unnatural. Life as a free living bird is not without dangers. Some they have to face because they are a fact of live but other dangers, the unnatural ones, are just so unfair. Millions of birds are ilegally killed each year for food, or even worse, fun. Lime sticks in Spain or France, mist-nests for migrants at the coast in Egypt, or waders in Bangladesh, millions of hunters in Europe alone waiting for a tired migrant to come into range. And for what? Because it is tradition? Because there is demand for it? Because they happen to be there in huge numbers?
A few examples of what the birds face during their migration can be seen here or here. It is heartbreaking.

That is why I partipate in the Champions of the Flyway in Eilat (Israel). To celibrate the magic of migration, instead of shooting at it. On April 1st this year more then 15 international teams will be looking at birds competitively, and raise awareness and money for protecting the migrating birds in the process. I am in one of those teams; the Spinters. Please help our cause by donating TODAY! You can do this via this link. Every Euro counts!

Thanks for your help!
Marc Guyt


Information about Champions of the Flyway:
Champions of the Flyway is a major new international bird race taking place in Eilat, Israel - one of the world’s most spectacular migration hot spots and rewarding birding destinations.
Competing teams from around the world will try to find, identify and log as many species as possible – as they go head to head in an intense 24 hour contest to win the coveted title “Champions of the Flyway”.

The birders taking part are of many different nationalities and represent a huge variety of businesses, conservation organisations and bird clubs. On April 1st 2014, all will line up together in Eilat with a common purpose – to celebrate the miracle of migration in this spectacular part of the Great Rift Valley and to help protect its future throughout the Africa Eurasia Flyway.

The race teams will initially meet in Eilat on March 28th and then spend three days familiarizing themselves with the course and birds, in preparation for race day. Champions of the Flyway is a focal event during the famous annual Eilat Bird Festival.

The Champions of the Flyway bird race is being staged by The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (BirdLife’s national Partner in Israel) and is a BirdLife International Migratory Birds & Flyways Programme initiative.

“While the race will be fun, the goal is serious – to raise conservation funding that will help BirdLife International tackle the illegal killing of birds in Southern and Eastern Europe.”



A few images of the migrants that face these threats and that we hope to see in Israel. More images on www.agami.nl.



Cretzschmar's Bunting, Eilat, Israel. Marc Guyt / www.agami.nl

Egyptian Nightjar, Israel. Marc Guyt / www.agami.nl 

Black Stork, Lesvos, Greece. Marc Guyt / www.agami.nl

Whiskered Tern, Lesvos, Greece. Marc Guyt / www.agami.nl