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A story of life and death of one Short-toed Eagle ringed by Francesco Petretti in Western Central Italy /map/ in 1989 is represented below:

The eagle was born on the 18^th of May 1989 in Tolfa Hills, 40 km north of Rome. The parental pair built the nest on a very large deciduous oak tree covered with ivy on the north facing slope of the hill, at 400 metres of altitude.

On the 27^th of June 1989 P0845 reached the maximum weight of 1,800 grams, then the weight decreased, as it is usual among fledging eagles in the study area, and on the 17^th of July, when the eagle left the nest, she weighed 1,680 grams. She was fitted with a backpack radio for ground telemetry and moved within the home range for a couple of months. Contact with her was lost on the 20^th of September 1989, when the eagle probably left the area to reach the wintering ground in Africa.

On the 16^th of September 2012 the body of P0845 was found dead at a distance of only 9 km from the ringing site. The body was brought to the Raptor Center in Vico Lake Nature Reserve, but death causes are unknown. P0845 was at least 23 years and 4 months old and I suppose this is a longevity record for the species.

This is the next annual report on results of a long-term study of Short-toed Eagle in Cévennes National Park /map/:

• Jean-Pierre et Isabelle MALAFOSSE, 2012 – Le Circaète Jean-le-Blanc, résultats pour 2012. Suivi des Rapaces forestiers en Lozère et dans le Parc National des Cévennes [Short-toed Eagle, results for 2012. Monitoring of Raptors in Lozère and in the Cévennes National Park], rapport interne C.R.B.P.O./ P.N.C.: 12 p. – (Fr) {rough translation}.

This video made by Guilad Friedemann illustrates well fieldwork of Israeli researchers. Guilad studies interspecific relationships between Short-toed Eagles and Long-legged Buzzards in the Judean Foothills /map/. For this purpose several buzzards and eagles were tagged with special GPS loggers which provide an unique methodology of the tracking.

A new paper on autumn migration of Short-toed Eagle in Italy /map/ is placed on Guido Premuda‘s Sunbird.it under the Bibliography section:

• BAGHINO L., PREMUDA G. & GIRAUDO L., 2012 – Nuove analisi sulla migrazione post-riproduttiva del biancone Circaetus gallicus nell’Italia nord-occidentale [New analysis on post-breeding migration of Short-toed Eagle in north-western Italy] // Avocetta 36: 107-111. – (It) {rough translation}.

This year Short-toed Eagles’ breeding was observed in southwestern Switzerland /map/ for the first time. On the Oiseaux.ch website you can find the report on this written by Lionel Maumary:

• Lionel Maumary, 2012 – Le Circaète Jean-le-Blanc a niché en Suisse ! [Short-toed Eagle has bred in Switzerland] // Oiseaux.ch (Fr) {rough translation} – the text contains excellent pictures and video. Also photos of this pair of Short-toed Eagles taken by Thomas Nierle in April 2012 can be viewed here. The juvenile Eagle has left the nest succesfully!

This work is available on the De Gruyter website. It is published in the last issue of Acrocephalus, is dedicated to breeding of Short-toed Eagles in Southwestern Slovenia /map/ and is a result of two-year research:

• Peter Krečič, 2012 – Opis gnezditvenega ciklusa kačarja Circaetus gallicus na dveh lokacijah v JZ Sloveniji v letih 2010 in 2011 [Description of the Short-toed Eagle breeding cycle at two sites in SW Slovenia during the years 2010 and 2011] // Acrocephalus, Vol. 32, Is. 148-149: P. 53–66. – (Sl) {rough translation}.

Short review of the Short-toed Eagle specialists meeting which was held in Florac, centre of Cévennes National Park /map/ (Lozère, France), on October 13-14:

• 3e Rencontre Circaète : Florac, 13 et 14 Octobre 2012 (Fr). Heartfelt thanks to Renaud Nadal for sharing this! The meeting was successful. Let’s wish the organizers to maintain this good tradition in the future!