Greater Spotted Eagles are returning to their nests in Polesia from the Balkan Peninsula, Israel, South Sudan, Zambia, and even South Africa. Every year, they fly thousands of kilometers to reach their breeding and wintering sites. Their journey is full of the expected difficulties and threats. However, they face another trial: the war is now right on their migration route. Polesia’s Greater Spotted Eagles faced this for the first time last spring. Ornithologist Valery Dombrovski, who has been researching Greater Spotted Eagles for decades and keeps a close eye on the GPS-tagged birds, shared some of his observations with us…   

“Spring migration in 2022 was quite typical in terms of dates and average duration. But our close attention was riveted to Greater Spotted Eagles nesting in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone – they had to cross the Kyiv region where active hostilities were going on. One of them, a male by the name of Borovets, was the first to start on his way. He followed his traditional route through Odessa and Cherkasy regions. Borovets approached Kyiv on the 29^th of March, at the very moment when the Russian troops withdrew under attack by the Ukrainian forces. Borovets stopped on the left bank of the Dnieper River to wait out bad weather: the sky was cloudy, and cold rain had started. The eagle spent the following day at the same place. Sounds of explosions were heard from far away – Kyiv was still being shelled. Could the bird tell these sounds from spring thunder? It is not really possible. On the 31^st of March, when the sun shone again, Borovets rushed further north.   

He flew above the eastern outskirts of Kyiv and then along the Kyiv Water Reservoir. With his sharp vision, it is likely he could observe long columns of military vehicles retreating from Kyiv, probably an uninteresting sight for the bird. Foul weather forced Borovets to stop again, now further up the reservoir, and about 20 kilometers from the Belarusian border. This time, he stayed in one place longer – from the 31^st of March until the 3^rd of April. It was quiet: explosions were no longer audible. The Russian troops had retreated from the Kyiv Region and the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Borovets fed happily on birds and mammals hiding in riverside reeds, and  visited the farmlands around the neighboring villages.  

On the 4^th of April, a fair wind blew from the south and drew the clouds away. Just 4 hours later, the eagle reached his nest in the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve. Fortunately, the helicopters that were flying back and forth above the reserve every day during the past month had already followed the rest of Russian military units. Thankfully, Borovets could occupy himself with his “family” concerns. During the remainder of the 2022 season, he successfully bred a chick. 

A female eagle, named Elleni, arrived in Ukraine much later. On the 4^th of April, she stopped shortly in the Odessa Region. By the end of the next day, thanks to favorable weather, Elleni reached the western outskirts of Kyiv. There, she stayed overnight alongside the Irpin river. The fighting had stopped there several days earlier.  The bird showed no unusual behavior. On the morning of April 6, she flew further north. Her flight path crossed now infamous places: Irpin, Gostomel, and Bucha where terrible massacres took place. Luckily, birds cannot understand such horrors. The next day, Elleni reached her nest, nearby to the nest of Borovets. Elleni’s breeding season ended with its own sadness, as her chick died in the middle of summer from an unknown cause. 

In spring 2022, other Greater Spotted Eagles from Polesia flew across the Western part of Ukraine where there were no active battles. All the birds reached their nests successfully. The fastest one was Blond, on the 17^th of March, he was already in his nest in Almany Mires. Most birds arrived later, in the first week of April. Vialuta was the last to return, arriving home on the 20^th of April.  By the way, this is the latest date of the end of spring migration for five years of observations.” 

The war in Ukraine gave ornithologists not only food for thought, but also material for scientific research. We expect a research paper to be published analyzing the war’s impact upon the migration patterns of the Greater Spotted Eagles. In the meanwhile, though we can’t stop the war immediately, we hope for a safe migration back home for the birds – wild Polesia is waiting for them.