Following Karls' Families

[Hulbi Lorm]

Hi everyone ,

I was afraid this could happen today, but of course it's also a good sign showing us that Bonus is still making miles on his / her way south. Could be some patchy days ahead datawise. Let's see when and where Bonus shows up again.

As for Waba, a lazier day again, which I'll take as a good sign concerning the food situation. I was wondering, what are the circles that can be seen in the area, does anyone know? It looks like round fields, but does that make sense? I first thought that it could be water refinement, which, as I learned, can be a danger. But the "not-green" circles don't look like that at all...

[Anne7]

… what are the circles that can be seen in the area …

Hulbi

These are indeed circular fields…

We see center-pivot irrigation (sometimes called central pivot irrigation), also called water-wheel and circle irrigation, a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. A circular area centered on the pivot is irrigated, often creating a circular pattern in crops when viewed from above.

More information and pictures here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center-pivot_irrigation

[Hulbi Lorm]

Wow, thanks for that background, Anne. Never seen those before.

That big picture from Kansas looks completely surreal from a European perspective.

[Francesca_V]

Yes! It looks like a piece of modern art!

[Anne7]

I also like those aerial photos.

Storks don't seem to object to such an irrigation system either.
One finds refreshment, can sleep on it with the whole family and presumably it attracts lots of goodies.


https://news.walla.co.il/item/1725913

Good night

[Francesca_V]

What a picture!

[fussel]

Stork-meeting with 2 (or 3) querulous

[Bea]

☼ ☼


Hello everyone!

WABA

▶︎ TRACKER MAP
WABA 01.12./02.12.2022
From 01.12._11:03 until 02.12._11:03

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... sp=sharing

Distance flown: 49,3 km
Battery level: 100%

Waba is still in Sudan, at the downside 'knee' of the river Nile


Again activity between Girra Barra and Affat

[Anne7]

Hello all

Thank you, Bea and Francesca

A few interesting facts about Waba's current area:

Several Palaeolithic sites have been identified on the left bank of the Nile around Affad in Sudan.
"Late-Pleistocene sites at Affad. Location of sites visited in 2012"

© https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Lat ... _264534954

Affad 23, close to the circular fields, is one of these sites.


Affad 23 is an African archaeological site located in alluvial deposits formed by an ancient channel of the Nile in the Affad district of southern Dongola in northern Sudan.
In 2013, archaeologists from the "Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences" in Poznań, uncovered the remains of a settlement with numerous post holes, pits and hearths estimated to be 50000 years old (!). Permanent structures were previously believed to be related to the exodus from Africa and subsequent occupation of territories in Europe and Asia. The location of the site, the lithic artefacts collected in 2003 and 2012-2014, the freshness, burials and distribution of the artefacts all indicate that it was a Late Stone Age workshop used intermittently and for short periods.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affad_23

More info
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Lat ... _264534954

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... each_Sudan

https://archeosudan.org/2018-rok-przelomu/

Wild and Domestic Cattle in the Ancient Nile Valley: Marks of Ecological Change
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10. ... 21.1924491

[Anne7]

.
Field seasons 2017 and 2018 of the PalaeoAffad Project
By Marta Osypińska, Piotr Osypiński, Marek Chłodnicki, Michał Kuc, Paweł Wiktorowicz, Robert Ryndziewicz

https://pam-journal.pl/api/files/view/1440254.pdf

... In conclusion, the archaeological landscape in the Affad Basin took on a new face in the winter of 2018. Affad was seen first at the beginning of the century, when the first archaeological sites were explored (Żurawski 2003). The second Affad, which is the region that we have been exploring in the past 15 years, bore many signs of modern Sudanese culture encroaching upon the desert. In 2009, an asphalt road was constructed, and shortly thereafter, the Debba bridge and power lines from the hydroelectric power station in the Fourth Cataract were constructed. Affad 3.0 is what the site looks like today: extensive industrial-scale farms set up on terraces too far away from the river for traditional agriculture. Unfortunately, these investments have caused irreversible destruction to the archaeological heritage. The Cattle+ in the title refers to new data on large ruminants. Both the discovery of auroch remains and the Neolithic cattle data are extremely important proxies for the adaptation strategies of people inhabiting the Southern Dongola Reach in prehistory.
Research in the Affad Basin will be continued.


Water-supply installations, 700 m wide, in the northwestern part of Affad Basin in December 2018 (PalaeoAffad Project | photo P. Osypiński)


One of the posts erected in 2017 around five of the most valuable archaeological sites in the northwestern part of Affad Basin; all of them had disappeared within the next ten months (PalaeoAffad Project | photo M. Osypińska)

[Anne7]

.
Aldabba Bridge (Debba Bridge) crossing the Nile in Al Dabba, Oct 2021

© Alpra Ali; https://goo.gl/maps/cEwT6xbZnt3HBzoi9

Aldabba Bridge (Debba Bridge), Oct 2021

© Alpra Ali; https://goo.gl/maps/wpFv3uQReovueCZT9

Al Dabbah (also known as Ed Debba, El Debba, El Debbah or Ed Debbah) is a town on the river banks of the Nile, which is served by the Al Dabbah Airport. It has an estimated population of 52,000.
Wikipedia


Edit:
The most recent NDMI index in Waba's area (El Fung island and the circular fields northeast of it). (Thanks again for this tool, Askja!)
(I tried to insert the last known route as exactly as possible, in red)

[Anne7]

.
BONUS

Bonus sent data!

I will make 2 tracker maps, one for yesterday and one for today.
You will hardly believe your eyes!

Here you are:
▶︎ TRACKER MAP
Bonus 01.12.2022
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... sp=sharing

Distance: 210 km
Battery: 100%



Bonus' crossing of the Gulf of Iskenderun, in just under an hour.
Google Earth View to the south-west


Bonus latest shown location (still in flight at 41 km/h), in Syria, yesterday 01.12
https://up.picr.de/44799384pj.png

This is what that area looks like. The landscape is pretty impressive.

© Mohannad Ali

[Anne7]

.
▶︎ TRACKER MAP
Bonus 02.12.2022
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... sp=sharing

Distance: 886 km
(The popular fake flight to Ankara airport included.
I think we will have to subtract about 665 km = 221 km )
Battery: 100%



Bonus' (probable) night area in Syria (night 01 to 02 December) + early morning.
In Syria, close to Bani Naem, near the Lebanese border.


Last shown location, on te west bank of the Jordan River, north of the Sea of Galilee in Israel.
Still in flight, speed 35 km/h

[Anne7]

.
It looks like, in reality, Bonus is even a bit further south.
There is an extra single data point, sent by GSM (see the red arrow)

Bonus last known location (UTC time 14:29)


Bonus is currently a little south of the Kfar HaNasi bridge, and a little north of ​the Majrase – Beteha (Bethsaida Valley) Nature Reserve

Kfar HaNasi bridge

© Hilik Yaniv

Majrase – Beteha (Bethsaida Valley) Nature Reserve is a unique meeting point, draining the delta formed by a number of the major streams of the Golan on their way to the Sea of Galilee.

Majrase Nature Reserve (also called Beteha Nature Reserve) is in the Bethsaida Valley northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Within the reserve is the meeting point of several Golan streams that merge to form a delta as they drain into the Sea of Galilee. This lush nature reserve is known for its wet hike trails where visitors come in spring and summer to hike through the streams and swim in the natural pools

Majrase Nature Reserve

© Doron; https://www.beinharimtours.com/majrase/

Good night!

[Francesca_V]

This is amazing!

Little bonus always surprises us. He even flew over water - over the bay of Iskenderun. I had expected, as we "know" him (a bit hesitant and cautious), that he would fly over land.

Anne, I'm looking forward to your pictures!

[Jo UK]

Thankyou for the good news about Bonus, Anne.

I always feel relieved when a bird has crossed Iskenderun Bay.
Now we hope he remembers to turn to the West as he reaches Port Said - Suez area.

[fussel]

Hi everyone, thanks Bea, thanks Anne

The joy is huge .



As I read, the little bonus even flew under water ...

[Hulbi Lorm]

Hi everyone,

I guess I'll have to visit Bonus' stopover place and its ditches myself, if this is what they make of you.

An amazing week for our dear Bonus, and I guess s/he could stop any time now and be quite safe foodwise. But I guess now that s/he is on a roll, Bonus won't end the journey that soon.

[Treia]

A wonderful flight from our Bonus

[asteria]

Well done, Bonus!

Now let us see whether he moves to Africa or stays in Israel with many other storks.