The whereabouts of Plagara during the pre-breeding period

For the second consecutive year the Eleonora’s falcon by the name “Plagara” has returned from Madagascar.

The falcon was tagged in 2016 with a GPS transmitter, which is able to send up to 12 GPS points per day, thus enabling the ornithologists of the project to monitor its trips regularly.

This year Plagara reached its breeding grounds at Antikythira island on the 26^th of April. It was not before the end of May when she decided that it was time to leave the colony and head to the mainland in order to find swarms of insects that are the main prey for the Eleonora’s falcons during that period of the year.  Her favorite spot was once more at the Dardanelles strait, in mainland Turkey. She stayed there up until the mid of July with only one short three-day visit back to Antikythira.

During the rest of July and half of the August, Plagara was conducting daily trips to the mainland of Peloponnese and particularly Lakonia region. She was flying every day from Antikythira to the area of Monemvasia and in a number of occasions she reached as north as Sparta, covering 200-300 km per trip.