Indiana Jones and the last Saker Falcon

This is the team name chosen by Cambridge-based archaeologists and amateur birdwatchers Anna Collar (myself) and Stu Eve, for our epic journey to Mongolia this summer. We’re driving a tiny 1 litre Suzuki Swift from Cambridge to Ulaanbaatar in an unusual bid to raise money for BirdLife International – and the Vulnerable Saker Falcon, with a range from Hungary to Mongolia, seemed like the perfect symbol.

Saker Falcon, Bulgan Gol, SW Mongolia, June 2006. Photo C. Bock

For us, the drive is about many things: archaeology and the inevitability of human ruin, the timeless beauty of the many different natural environments we’ll pass through, the troubled and tumultous political situations that threaten people and nature along the way… and also about breaking down miles from anywhere with no idea about fixing cars!

This beautiful falcon, covering thousands of miles on the wing, transcends borders, languages and problems with internal combustion engines. We’ll face all those issues, and more. BirdLife and its partners are working hard to ensure the Saker doesn’t go the way of the Alaotra Grebe – we think now more than ever, we need to support them in working for birds and people.

To help promote our trip we’ve even produced our own music video! It’s a take off of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind music video. What do you think?!



You can find out more about the trip at www.lastsakerfalcon.co.uk/. Please support us! It’s all for a VERY good cause….

By Anna Collar

(original post at the BirdLife International Community site)