Welcome home, feathered friends!

In recent weeks three juvenile cinereous vultures—Asu, Karasha, and Zhetpys—and one intrepid imperial eagle, Tomiris, have returned to Kazakhstan from their winter sojourns.

First, news about the cinereous vultures. Asu’s journey home from India took him through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Asu lingered for two weeks in Kyrgyzstan visiting the Talas Mountains near the Toktogul Reservoir before heading to central Kazakhstan.

Karasha enjoyed a winter retreat in Tajikistan and made his way back through the Karatau Mountains. Like Asu, Zhetpys also wintered in India and chose a route through Uzbekistan to return home.

As for our star Tomiris, she completed her third spring migration in late March and is back in Kazakhstan.  Tomiris has been routinely transmitting data for three years, the lone surviving individual from the five imperial eagles tagged in 2022 by the BRCC.  Here's hoping that this spring, Tomiris finds a partner and starts a family.