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A sense of direction
I hold the view that animals, the ancient peoples and the aborigines navigate perfectly well without compasses. This we often call a sense of direction. People with a sense of direction very seldom get lost even on dark nights even in unfamiliar territory. Not everyone has a sense of direction but those who do rely…
Viking Sunstones by Tristan Gooley
The Economist have just published a letter I wrote to them regarding a recent academic article on Viking sunstones. In the following letter I put forward what I believe to be an original argument on this popular subject. I have no way of proving this theory, which puts me in good company with the scientists…
Some thoughts on The Migration of the Arctic Terns by George Nissen
See www.arctictern.info see the google tour You can see the tern’s tracks from their breeding grounds in Greenland in the Arctic (in yellow) to their wintering grounds in Antarctica. The white track is the averaged return flight. The terns dawdle down to their Antarctic wintering grounds looking for food etc. The Earth’s Prevailing winds. Note:…
Atlantic herring use a time-compensated sun compass for orientation
Lisa Spiecker1,*,‡, Malien Laurien1,*, Wiebke Dammann1, Andrea Franke2,3, Catriona Clemmesen4 and Gabriele Gerlach1,2 ABSTRACT Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), an ecologically and economically important species in the northern hemisphere, shows pronounced seasonal migratory behaviour. To follow distinctive migration patterns over hundreds of kilometers between feeding, overwintering and spawning grounds, they are probably guided by orientation mechanisms. We…
Animals finding their way home
One of our board members, Antonio Nafarrate, has brought this intriguing piece of news to our attention – snakes in the Everglades can find their way home. As we have always said, there is something going on with animals who find their way home and this is another example. I have a friend, Jill Moss who…
Cuckoo tracking
The Cuckoo is one of the migrants we know least about once it leaves the UK, however the BTO track, on their amazing site, the movements of five Cuckoos from breeding grounds in East Anglia to their winter quarters in Africa. http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking Cuckoo tracking what we’ve learnt so far: http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/what-have-we-learnt Latest Cuckoo tracking news: http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/european-cuckoo-study…