When winter has settled in with us, night herons cannot complain about cold or snow. Those who spend the summer in the Upper Vistula Valley are now in Africa, which we know thanks to special transmitters.

In December, night heroes are already in wintering grounds in the Sahel zone south of the Sahara. However, it turns out that not all of them. One of our night herons with a transmitter has been spending the third winter in Africa in northern Algeria.

It is about an individual that we named Juliusz from Jankowice for observation purposes. We have been following his hiking routes since May 2019. The bird returns every year and nests in the vicinity of Zator in two neighboring colonies. It is the longest working transmitter. Tracking bird migration routes is now possible thanks to a special application. They could be viewed on a special website, where we can find the movement routes of 10 individuals equipped with GPS / GSM transmitters.

Thanks to the data from the transmitters, we have confirmation that night herons winter much closer to their breeding grounds - instead of in sub-Saharan Africa, they spend the winter more often in North Africa or even in southern Europe. Perhaps it is related to global warming.