International migrants in Val di Susa

In recent days, the Rangers of the Protected Areas of the Cozie Alps have recognized in the meadows between Avigliana and Borgone first 2 and then 3 more specimens of Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita). This is an extraordinary sighting because these migratory birds, threatened with extinction, have been followed since their birth by an international reintroduction project called "LIFE Northern Bald Ibis" which teaches young birds the essential migration routes with the help of human adoptive parents flying on motorized hang gliders. The passion and difficulties of the biologists are told in the first person by one of them in the RaiPlaySound podcast  "La lista rossa - 2. Il manumea e l'ibis eremita migratore, due uccelli iconici"" The rings on the legs allow to identify each individual and reconstruct their life and travel stories. Our visitors are four females: Avanti (no. 549) born in 2020 at the Rosegg zoo in Austria, Felsa (no. 501) and Grazia (no. 504) hatched in 2022 in Überlingen, Germany, along with the male Fridigern (no. 508), and finally Knorle (no. 674) of the class of 2023, the youngest. Felsa, Fridigern, and Grazia flew to Switzerland in 2022 with their group led by researchers in a hang glider. Felsa, along with 3 other young birds (Calzino, Paula, and Yosi), wintered on Lake Como until March 2023 when she flew further north, to the Somaggia area, before returning to Switzerland in August. In the fall, she returned to Italy via Domodossola-Biella and since November she has been in the Turin area. Fridigern wintered in Ivrea until May of last year, then roamed around Venaria where he remained until today except for a trip between Domodossola and Bellinzona in September. Grazia reached Orbetello and moved to Aprilia with 3 other young birds (Denizo, Herberto, Steia) where she stayed until June 2023, when she headed north. Since then, she has been living in Piedmont between Cuneo, Novara, and Ivrea. Knorle was transferred to Bellinzona in 2023 with other young birds from whom she separated to arrive in Turin via Lauden-Asti-Pinerolo. According to the project's predictions, Avanti was supposed to settle in the Orbetello lagoon in Tuscany, but she did not want to depart with the more experienced adults and was transferred by land with some other young birds. This means she never followed the migration route and never learned it. She stayed in Orbetello until April 5 of this year when she left with another young ibis, Karo, and landed in Ferrara, where she left her friend and took off west towards Turin where on April 22, Earth Day, she met Felsa, Grazia, Fridigern, and Knorle. Their travels are recounted to us by the free Animal Tracker application that allows to follow the movements of these birds and many other radio-collared or GPS-equipped species around the world. Today, Felsa and Avanti are in Busca, near Cuneo. Their three friends are still in the valley but sometimes stay near La Mandria Park, in Venaria. Tomorrow, who knows!