The sun is shining today, and it's having the desired effect on our tags' solar-powered batteries. This morning there's new data from four birds including Russian migrant Smithy.
Smithy was last in touch with us in July 2015, at which point he was still on his breeding grounds in Western Russia. Data received yesterday shows that Smithy has made it back to within a stone's throw of the site where he was caught in March 2014.
We are hoping that this sudden reappearance, just ahead of the spring migration period, will allow us to track Smithy on another outward journey. To date, we have tracked four woodcock over three consecutive springs, but successful 2016 migrations from Knepp, Nastasia and Smithy, could bring this total up to seven.
Recent sunny conditions have allowed four of our birds to transmit in the past few days (those highlighted in yellow – Doc, Smithy, Nastasia and Knepp). We are also regularly hearing from Olwen in Lincolnshire.