Thanks to everyone who has reported the Godwit yesterday.  I recieved an email earlier from Nathan that explained the NN tag on HUGO.  Here is what he said about it and the purpose of his research:

"As you correctly gleaned from my brief message to Brad, NN was an adult
male that we banded in Churchill, Manitoba this summer.  He successfully
sired three chicks that were promptly eaten by an unknown predator,
although it was likely one of the Herring Gulls that nested on a nearby
lake.  We last saw him on July 11 of this year.  Hopefully when we return
to Churchill next summer, we will be able to recapture NN and download the
data from the device that you saw on the backside of the flag, which is a
"data-logger" created by the British Antarctic Survey.  That logger weighs
just 1.4g and uses sunrise, sunset, and peak daylight to triangulate the
location of the individual carrying the logger.  It is especially
important for us that we now know the exact location where NN stopped in
Ohio, because it will allow us to better calibrate the data when we
retrieve it next year.

All of this is part of a study of the effects of climate change on the
annual cycle of Hudsonian Godwits and, by extension, long-distance
migratory birds.  It is our hope that by tracking individual birds we will
be able to discern whether or not migrants are able to speed up their
migration (or leave earlier) in order to meet the demands of earlier
springs in the northern hemisphere."

I'm going by there today...after I wake up...to see if he is still there.

Later

Steve Jones
(a.k.a. sjlarue)

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