Friday, August 30, 2019

First Kites reach South America


Bayou Vincent has reached the Amazon region of Peru. OK has fallen in line behind Bayou after crossing the Andes Mountains of Colombia. Babcock appears to be in the same place as the last update; however, the lack of cell coverage in this region means we have not gotten data from her for a few weeks. We will see where she truly is when her transmitter pings in again.
Five kites in a row in Panama: PBC-ERM Female, Lacombe, JAX, Sanibel, and Suwannee. Sarasota has made his way to Nicaragua. PBC-ERM male and Sawgrass seem to be making a long stopover in Quintana Roo, Mexico, and were joined by Apopka on the 22nd of August.
Holobochitto has made progress along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Ponchitolawa headed east once he got to Cuba, only to correct his course and head west over open ocean. We hope he makes it to Belize or Honduras safely. Pritchard passed quickly through Georgia and Florida and left the Florida Keys behind on 26 August.
Our lone remaining Swallow-tailed Kite, Wilson, is enjoying the Savannah River National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. Any day he too will start south.