Bird Migration

I believe that it is possible that dowsers may have unique insights into how birds navigate over long distances.

There seem to be three principle discussions on how navigation is done:

• firstly using magnetic orientation especially in homing pigeons,
• secondly on the use of olfactory clues,
• thirdly on the anomaly that Robins (Passerines) have their navigation impaired by filtering out red light.
• Lastly, it is clear that homing pigeons use navigation clues like railways and motorways to help them get home.

It seems to me, that at the end of their journeys, birds such as Swallows find the same house by memory, smell and visual clues just like we do.

Prof Alerstam talked about the astonishing migration patterns of birds summering in the Artic. The problem with the usual navigational thesis of compass (magnetic) orientation is that the magnetic flux lines are nearly vertical near the poles and the sky is overcast most of the time. Some of the birds he has studied such as the Wheatear make astonishing journeys over the open sea. They also seem to take the shortest great circle routes which require simultaneous integration between latitude and longitude a trick only learnt recently by man.

The hard part for me is the long journey between their summer and winter homes.I believe that the birds migratory birds such as swallows and other the Passerines follow imprinted aerial highways that have been created by many generations of birds imprinting the route. I use the word imprinting for the dowsing response that you can get from any animal track such as sheep runs or the faithful in churches

The questions I am struggling with are:

• Is this imprinting story true?
• The outward track is different from the inbound track (winds?) Are they imprinted separately?
• What happens if the bird is blown off track, how does it find it’s way back?
• Do they use the dowser’s directional (North) compass?
• Are the tracks species dependent? Or are the byways species dependent and the main highway used by many?
• A lot of these birds migrate at night why? Is it easier to follow the track?

The question of Robins being put off by the absence of red light: I think that this is something to do with the fact that the birds see the imprinted lines as a colour caste to their eyes. So if you make it impossible to see the colour caste you find it difficult to navigate.

The scientists do not know the answers. I believe we, dowsers, do or can do.

I am looking for any of you to help me create a working party to come up with a properly researched and plausible story that we can publish. We have the opportunity to answer a question to something that no-one knows the answer.

Adrian Incledon-Webber has helped me with the particular problems faced by Albatrosses that we are attempting to get published.

We will need help to get the tracks of birds that have been tagged to help us.  I am finding are difficult to get.

I do hope that some of you will rise to this challenge and come and help me please!