TIMMU, adult male (from 01.01.2022)

[marika.solo]

TIMMU http://birdmap.5dvision.ee/EN/2021/autu ... =0&speed=1

continuation - previous post viewtopic.php?p=849#p849 (as of 31.12.2021)

Timmu reached her wintering area in Ethiopia (not far from Metema to the north-east) on 25.09.2021
(last year Timmu reached his wintering site in October 2nd and to spring migration started in March 2nd)

Ethiopia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia
Amhara Region - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amhara_Region
Semien Gondar/North Gondar Zone - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Gondar_Zone
Metema District (woreda) and town - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metemma
Atbarah River (Bahr-el-Aswad, or Black River) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atbarah_River

we have the opportunity to follow Timmu's migration since 2020 (the second season)

[marika.solo]

TIMMU
Madli, thank you very much for hint

New Years present from Urmas http://birdmap.5dvision.ee/EN/2021/autu ... =0&speed=1

A minute before trapping


A minute before release


Timmu did not want to fly after release

[Madli]

TIMMU

Timmu's updated description on the birdmap:
http://birdmap.5dvision.ee/EN/2021/autumn/timmu?line=1&track=0&speed=1

Adult black stork from Pärnu county, Estonia. Caught in the beginning of August 2020, on the old wood rafting channel Timmkanal, after which he was named. We only found out about Timmu's nest in the next year, because in 2020 he had no brood. After his capture and installation of the transmitter, Timmu stayed at the release point for several days probably due to stress and did not want to fly. But when he started flying, he went on migration on August 17, 2020. Timmu made a stop in the southern part of Belarus on August 21, where he spent almost a month. Timmu then flew for two weeks without longer stop overs to winter in Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. Timmu reached wintering site in October 2nd. He has a wintering area of ​​about 160 square kilometers. During the spring migration (March 2nd - April 15th), Timmu did not make any long migration stops. Breeding in 2021 was successful with two chicks fledged. Timmu also reached the same wintering place in 2021, but made two stops during the autumn migration, in southern Belarus and Romania. In time he started wintering in 2021, Ethiopia did not have as good a mobile network as a year earlier. Sometimes we had to wait a long time for data. Maybe it was caused by the conflict between Sudan and Ethiopia?

[marika.solo]

January 02
Hello everyone

TIMMU http://birdmap.5dvision.ee/EE/2021/autu ... =0&speed=1
(previous post viewtopic.php?p=849#p849)

previous data:
31.12 2021 - 7058 km; on his wintering place (Metema woreda/district in the North Gondar Zone, the largest of the administrative zones of Amhara National Regional State, NW Ethiopia
new data::
01.01.2021 - 7065 km (plus 7 km); on his wintering place

Ethiopia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia
Amhara Region - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amhara_Region
Semien Gondar/North Gondar Zone - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Gondar_Zone
Metema District (woreda) and town - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metemma
Atbarah River (Bahr-el-Aswad, or Black River) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atbarah_River

maps: (later - done)





EDIT:
3D view

[marika.solo]

TIMMU continuation
there are sometimes problems with the names on the maps

a/ the river: googlemaps describes the tributary of the river Atbarah, where Timmu is the same name - Atbarah, on one another map I found the name of this tributary: Shiager
......
edit:
Timmu's river is named maybe Wudi Gemzu (some authors are Ethiopians) - big pic (you can zoom it): https://bit.ly/32Lk4k8



source: Katabarwa, M. N., Zarroug, I., Negussu, N., Aziz, N. M., Tadesse, Z., Elmubark, W. A., Shumo, Z., Meribo, K., Kamal, H., Mohammed, A., Bitew, Y., Seid, T., Bekele, F., Yilak, A., Endeshaw, T., Hassen, M., Tillahun, A., Samuel, F., Birhanu, H., Asmare, T., … Richards, F. (2020). The Galabat-Metema cross-border onchocerciasis focus: The first coordinated interruption of onchocerciasis transmission in Africa. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 14(2), e0007830. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007830
------

b/ the settlement: on the maps using the mapbox there is the settlement where Timmu is described as Wedi Gemzo (pic: https://i.postimg.cc/vm2jYBps/2021-12-2 ... gemzo2.jpg in this post: viewtopic.php?p=818#p818), but it seems that settlement is maybe in a different place (GPS)

"The most relevant discovery, however, was a shelter with cave paintings, in the locality of Wadi Gemzo (13º17'06 ”N, 36º17'08” E), in the mountainous foothills north of the Metema wereda. ..."

source: Ruíbal, A., Vila, X.M., Megenassa, W.D., Aparicio, Á.F., & Lorente, M. (2015). Prospección arqueológica y etnoarqueológica de Metema y Qwara (Etiopía). : Informes y Trabajos: Excavaciones en el exterior, 12/2015 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Excavaciones en el exterior 2013), pp. 95-112

[marika.solo]

TIMMU
Until we get data from the other monitored storks in the spring, Madli will continue to report on Timmu's wintering. Thank you .

[Madli]

January 06
Good evening!

TIMMU
Indeed, I will be taking over the documenting until the springtime. This lead me to do some research about this area to have some knowledge of my own.

The naming of these landmarks differ in different sources.
a/ On most of the maps the main river in TIMMU's area is indeed called the Atbara river, but this actually only seems to be in the Sudan part.
b/ In Ethiopia, the river is called the Guang river ( as Marika already found out), or also Goang or Gwang river.

Image from a video " Tekeze-Atbara: All that we share" - starting from 05.07.

(source: https://youtu.be/bHETSD4mdLk)

Atbara/Guang, Goang, Gwang River - I found this photo from a study conducted in Metema:

Figure 1 Gwang River, onepart of a border contested by Ethiopia and Sudan

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Gwang-River-onepart-of-a-border-contested-by-Ethiopia-and-Sudan_fig1_338953614

edit (marika.solo)
source: KEBEDE, TEMESGEN. (2020). Impacts of Border in Borderland Conflict along the Ethio-Sudan Border: Evidence from Metema Woreda, North-Western Ethiopia. Jurnal Humaniora. 32. 10. 10.22146/jh.52088.

[Madli]

The Ethiopian-Sudanese border conflicts
The main factor underlying the Ethio-Sudan cross borderland conflict is the contested nature of the border that demarcates the two countries. At borderland level, Ethiopia and Sudan have no definite mutually acceptable borders since the assumed border has colonial roots and has unclear natural feature markers. Hence, it gives rise to irreconcilable claims between the two groups of border landers. Beyond this, both borderland peoples make contradictory claims about the precise location of the Ethiopia-Sudan border in Metema Woreda. Border land is symbolic in the minds of borderland people on both sides. This perception and unclear physical boundaries have created competing land ownership claims and conflict among the borderland people. As the Ethiopia-Sudan border area in Metema is a dynamic site of agricultural investment and farming, the border plays a significant role in land-based conflicts. Until there is effective mediation, the disputed border will continue to be a source of intermittent conflict as people on either side continue to pursue their livelihood and national identity interests.
KEBEDE, TEMESGEN. (2020). Impacts of Border in Borderland Conflict along the Ethio-Sudan Border: Evidence from Metema Woreda, North-Western Ethiopia. Jurnal Humaniora. 32. 10. 10.22146/jh.52088.

Tigray War
In addition to the national conflict with Sudan, there is a civil war ongoing in Northern Ethiopia, in the Amhara and Tigray regions.
Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigray_War

So poor GSM reception could very likely be caused by different conflicts, as it was mentioned as a possibility in Timmu's biography in the birdmap.

[Madli]

TIMMU continuation

But not all is only bad in this region. There is an ongoing project " The Future Forest Project" by the Tree Aid.

The Project:
In northern Ethiopia, temperatures are rising, trees are disappearing, land is becoming infertile and the desert is spreading. The Metema forest in Ethiopia is in the last green belt before the start of the desert. Without action, it will be on the brink of extinction in just 20 years.
With tools and training, the local community in Metema can learn ways to harvest frankincense sustainably while protecting their forest and bringing it back from the brink. All of this work will also contribute to the Great Green Wall to stop the encroaching desert and create sustainable incomes for people living in poverty. The Great Green Wall movement will re-green and restore land across Africa, bringing degraded landscapes back to life.

More photos of the area and about the Tree Aid project:
https://www.treeaid.org/projects/ethiop ... t-project/
https://www.treeaid.org/blogs-updates/h ... k-to-life/
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk- ... se-forest/

Landscape in the surrounding areas of Metema. November 2017.


More nice photos of the Metema area in some travel blogs:
http://rock-road-rhino.com/cycling-in-ethiopia
https://www.polarsteps.com/lucaluca/121 ... 720-metema (source of the photo above)
https://www.pedalsandpuffins.com/cairo- ... -to-gonder

[Madli]

it seems Timmu's river is named Wudi Gemzu River (some authors are Ethiopians) - big pic (you can zoom it): https://bit.ly/32Lk4k8

on the maps using the mapbox there is the settlement where Timmu is described as Wadi/Wedi Gemzo, but it seems that settlement/village with this name is in a different place (GPS localisation)

Yes! I found it!

The river is called Wudi Gemzu, but also the village has the same name.
In fact, there are medical research and "river blindness" elimination going on in this village and river area.

"River blindness is a parasitic disease that can cause intense itching, skin discoloration, rashes, and eye disease that often leads to permanent blindness. The parasite is spread by the bites of infected black flies that breed in rapidly flowing rivers."


Volunteers trap black flies for research along a river near Wudi Gemzu village in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. Wudi Gemzu is a hot spot for river blindness.

Read about the Carter Center article about the Wudi Gemzu case: https://www.cartercenter.org/news/featu ... le-rb.html
There is also a video showing the Wudi Gemzu river and area closer. Now we have a pretty good idea, where Timmu spends the winter

Thank you Google