It was worth the travel on the long and winding road that leads to Raptor Hill in Barangay Rio del Pilar when on September 29 some 54,000 raptors were recorded in the routine day-long watch of a team from the Environmental Conservation and Protection Center, Sarangani Information Office and village volunteers doing this year’s migratory raptor study.
“It appears that the peak season is here. Today, our team at the Raptor Hill counted around 54,000 Chinese Sparrowhawks,” said Atty. Emma Nebran, former executive director of ECPC. “Like clock, the raptors are back.”
Just two weeks into the watch, the Sarangani Team has recorded 86,000 raptors, a record-breaking count compared to last year’s 78,817 over five weeks of a “confirmatory raptor migration study.”
“The autumn raptor migration study in Sarangani Province was first conducted in 2014 by Alex Tiongco and Maria Teresa Cervero who reported that Sarangani is very likely a major migration route in autumn for raptors crossing from the Philippines to Indonesia,” said Atty. Nebran, who was appointed to the judiciary recently.
Nebran said “to validate the report, the Provincial Government of Sarangani thru the ECPC and Raptorwatch Network Philippines conducted the autumn raptor migration study from 15 September to 23 October 2016 in Glan. The study aimed to establish database of species, numbers and routes of migrating raptors and locate roosting sites.”
“A total of 78,817 migratory raptors composing of 7 species were counted. The study proved that Sarangani Province is indeed a major autumn migration route for raptors crossing from the Philippines to Indonesia,” Nebran said.
For 2017, the autumn raptor migration study is ongoing from September 18 to October 31 in and around Raptor Hill.
“Researchers from the Japanese Society for the Conservation of Birds are expected to join the Sarangani Team,” Nebran added. (Jun Ramos/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
