He’s back! Plover CAU returns to South Australia.

Sometime after the 15th of May, the male Grey Plover CAU, departed the Kimberley coast and has flown back to Gulf St Vincent in South Australian, returning to its previous site at Bald Hill by the 22nd of May 2017.

Not much appeared to have happened in the period between the last update, apart from daily passage over the tidal flats. On the 27th of April a poor quality signal was giving a position that Male Grey Plover CAU may have departed the Kimberley coast, however better quality signals indicated that the bird remained off the Prince Regent River coast of the Kimberley.

The bird had previously departed Bald Hill on the 17th April, where it had spent the summer. The transmitter was deployed on this bird in December 2016.

Signals from our other Gulf St Vincent birds have not been received since April. This may be due to transmitter failure, loss of the harness or loss of the bird.

As of the last transmission on the 25th of April, Grey Plover CAS was approaching the island of Panay in the Philippines, some 1000 kilometres from its stopover site on northern Sulawesi from where the bird left sometime after the 23rd April. The plover had flown over 5530 kilometres since departing Bald Hill South Australia sometime after the 7th of April transmission cycle.

Transmission for Grey Plover CAR was received again on the 21st April after a break since the 14th April. This female bird still appears to be stopping over on the western shores of the Gulf of Boni. The Plover was on the coast and amongst rice paddies of a small river delta near the town of Benteng, Pakkasalo, Sibulue in the Bone Regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. CAR had travelled over 3,700 kilometres from Bald Hill in South Australia.

The last position received for CMN was 4th April west of Kupang Indonesia, over Faifua in East Rote, East Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia, having made over 3,000 kilometres from Thompson Beach. It appears transmission for the bird has been lost.