We have created three photo galleries for the Southern Cross project.
You can use the links in the left margin to navigate to any of our other galleries from there.
20 March, 2007
17 March, 2007
Getting ready for the migration to start
Updated on 17 March 2007
All of our team members have arrived home safely from the expedition to Chile and have hopefully recovered from the cramped and uncomfortable all-night flights from Santiago. For me, aside from waking up in the middle of the night not having a clue about where I am, things are getting somewhat back to normal.
We are now examining the telemetry data for the seven peregrines that we tagged during the expedition. Everyone is impressed and pleased with the precise and detailed locations provided by the new GPS transmitters. In fact, none of us have seen anything like this before. The data are exceeding our expectations.
We are told that this is the first time GPS units have been used on peregrines in South America. In fact, we believe is the first time any research transmitter, satellite or otherwise, has been put on a peregrine in South America.
The excellent pioneering work done last decade by both Skip Ambrose (in Alaska) and Mark Fuller and Bill Seegar (Padre Island, Greenland and Assateague) involved peregrines tagged in North America which then migrated south. Our colleagues used the older and less accurate PTT backpacks that were available at the time.
With the new GPS transmitters (“global positioning system”, just like your handheld units), we can pinpoint the locations of each peregrine to a far greater degree of accuracy. When we coupled the latitude and longitude coordinates with Google Earth, we were amazed to find that we could see the actual trees and buildings where the falcons had perched. None of us had ever seen such astonishing results before so we are delighted to be able to share them.
Here is an example of how remarkable these new transmitters really are. Mark Prostor tells me that when he and Zach Smith first drove into Antofagasta, they both noticed two high-rise buildings and agreed that these structures had to be used by peregrine as perches. This week, as he was looking over the data, Mark found that one of the tagged birds had indeed perched on one of these buildings since we left, which confirmed their theory. Remarkable.
The data that you have been seeing so far on the maps are the first “test” signals from the units. The transmitters officially turned on yesterday (15 March) and will start to provide daily signals over the next 10 weeks, at the rate of three locations per day.
As you can see on this website, Mark, Don McCall and Pat Little have created separate pages for each of the seven falcons that we tagged. To see the Chilean range of an individual falcon, go to the table in the main tracking page and click on the bird you're interested in, then in that bird's page click on the link that says “maps”. This will bring up all of the locations for that specific bird. Each dot represents one location based on the latitude and longitude of the signal. What is new to peregrine biology is that the GPS signals should be accurate to within ± 18 meters. Altitude should be accurate to ± 22 meters and speed to ± 1 km/h at speeds less than 40 km/h.
Keep in mind that the two male peregrines (“Sparrow King” and “Seven”) are carrying the smaller (22 grams) standard PTT units. These transmitters are not GPS equipped and therefore will not have the same accuracy as the female larger (30 gram) GPS units.
All of our team members have arrived home safely from the expedition to Chile and have hopefully recovered from the cramped and uncomfortable all-night flights from Santiago. For me, aside from waking up in the middle of the night not having a clue about where I am, things are getting somewhat back to normal.
We are now examining the telemetry data for the seven peregrines that we tagged during the expedition. Everyone is impressed and pleased with the precise and detailed locations provided by the new GPS transmitters. In fact, none of us have seen anything like this before. The data are exceeding our expectations.
We are told that this is the first time GPS units have been used on peregrines in South America. In fact, we believe is the first time any research transmitter, satellite or otherwise, has been put on a peregrine in South America.
The excellent pioneering work done last decade by both Skip Ambrose (in Alaska) and Mark Fuller and Bill Seegar (Padre Island, Greenland and Assateague) involved peregrines tagged in North America which then migrated south. Our colleagues used the older and less accurate PTT backpacks that were available at the time.
With the new GPS transmitters (“global positioning system”, just like your handheld units), we can pinpoint the locations of each peregrine to a far greater degree of accuracy. When we coupled the latitude and longitude coordinates with Google Earth, we were amazed to find that we could see the actual trees and buildings where the falcons had perched. None of us had ever seen such astonishing results before so we are delighted to be able to share them.
Here is an example of how remarkable these new transmitters really are. Mark Prostor tells me that when he and Zach Smith first drove into Antofagasta, they both noticed two high-rise buildings and agreed that these structures had to be used by peregrine as perches. This week, as he was looking over the data, Mark found that one of the tagged birds had indeed perched on one of these buildings since we left, which confirmed their theory. Remarkable.
The data that you have been seeing so far on the maps are the first “test” signals from the units. The transmitters officially turned on yesterday (15 March) and will start to provide daily signals over the next 10 weeks, at the rate of three locations per day.
As you can see on this website, Mark, Don McCall and Pat Little have created separate pages for each of the seven falcons that we tagged. To see the Chilean range of an individual falcon, go to the table in the main tracking page and click on the bird you're interested in, then in that bird's page click on the link that says “maps”. This will bring up all of the locations for that specific bird. Each dot represents one location based on the latitude and longitude of the signal. What is new to peregrine biology is that the GPS signals should be accurate to within ± 18 meters. Altitude should be accurate to ± 22 meters and speed to ± 1 km/h at speeds less than 40 km/h.
Keep in mind that the two male peregrines (“Sparrow King” and “Seven”) are carrying the smaller (22 grams) standard PTT units. These transmitters are not GPS equipped and therefore will not have the same accuracy as the female larger (30 gram) GPS units.
08 March, 2007
The last Peregrine, and returning home
Hi Everyone,
I am writing this from Christian's house in Santiago. Zach left for home about an hour ago and Mark, Kathy and I are leaving for the airport in a half hour.
It has been an incredible trip and we have learned a tremendous amount about peregrines in Chile.
Two days ago, we drove for 8 hours to an extensive dune area at the mouth of one of Chile's many rivers. It was essentially an offshore barrier island and reminded us of Padre Island in Texas. There were Sanderlings, Black Skimmers, Two-banded Plovers, Gray Gulls and Franklin's Gulls all along the beaches.
Over the next 24 hours we saw at least 5 and possibly 7 peregrines hunting in this habitat. We threw for all of them but consistent with our previous experience, they did not respond. We think that these falcons are probably fatter now than at any other time of the year. They are fattening up for their impending journey to the north and this makes them play with our pigeons rather than attack with a strong intent to capture them. It is a bit like trying to trap in August in the northern hemisphere, possible but difficult.
So we were unsuccessful there despite seeing many falcons. Today was different. We returned back to the first place we saw a bird here in Chile and trapped our last falcon, the 7th one tagged, an adult male on the Pacific coast south of San Antonio.
So we are finished with the project for this winter.
We are now planning our next journey, a trip to the deeper southern reaches of Chile. We are now even more impressed with those remarkable peregrines that are able to cross all of North America, Central America and continue down the west coast of South America to their "wintering grounds" in Chile. We wonder what could drive a bird to navigate across that most formidable of geographic barriers, the Atacama Desert, and further, down to the cool, forested slopes so similar to the northern Taiga. These are birds that do not know winter. When they are here, they are, to an undetermined extent, eating the local breeding birds, as well as their fellow migrants, the abundant shorebirds that share the same coastal habitats in Chile.
So we have learned a lot about falcons and about ourselves on this trip. I want to thank all of my fellow team members who worked long hours under difficult conditions. Mark, Kathy, Zach, Tom, Jesus and especially Christian and his family did a wonderful job. Thanks you guys.
Time for the flight north. It takes us 9 hours at 550 mph to Dallas, Texas and another three hours to Seattle. It takes a peregrine about six weeks to make the same trip, no compass, no GPS, no jet engines. They constantly amaze us….
I am writing this from Christian's house in Santiago. Zach left for home about an hour ago and Mark, Kathy and I are leaving for the airport in a half hour.
It has been an incredible trip and we have learned a tremendous amount about peregrines in Chile.
Two days ago, we drove for 8 hours to an extensive dune area at the mouth of one of Chile's many rivers. It was essentially an offshore barrier island and reminded us of Padre Island in Texas. There were Sanderlings, Black Skimmers, Two-banded Plovers, Gray Gulls and Franklin's Gulls all along the beaches.
Over the next 24 hours we saw at least 5 and possibly 7 peregrines hunting in this habitat. We threw for all of them but consistent with our previous experience, they did not respond. We think that these falcons are probably fatter now than at any other time of the year. They are fattening up for their impending journey to the north and this makes them play with our pigeons rather than attack with a strong intent to capture them. It is a bit like trying to trap in August in the northern hemisphere, possible but difficult.
So we were unsuccessful there despite seeing many falcons. Today was different. We returned back to the first place we saw a bird here in Chile and trapped our last falcon, the 7th one tagged, an adult male on the Pacific coast south of San Antonio.So we are finished with the project for this winter.
We are now planning our next journey, a trip to the deeper southern reaches of Chile. We are now even more impressed with those remarkable peregrines that are able to cross all of North America, Central America and continue down the west coast of South America to their "wintering grounds" in Chile. We wonder what could drive a bird to navigate across that most formidable of geographic barriers, the Atacama Desert, and further, down to the cool, forested slopes so similar to the northern Taiga. These are birds that do not know winter. When they are here, they are, to an undetermined extent, eating the local breeding birds, as well as their fellow migrants, the abundant shorebirds that share the same coastal habitats in Chile.
So we have learned a lot about falcons and about ourselves on this trip. I want to thank all of my fellow team members who worked long hours under difficult conditions. Mark, Kathy, Zach, Tom, Jesus and especially Christian and his family did a wonderful job. Thanks you guys.
Time for the flight north. It takes us 9 hours at 550 mph to Dallas, Texas and another three hours to Seattle. It takes a peregrine about six weeks to make the same trip, no compass, no GPS, no jet engines. They constantly amaze us….
05 March, 2007
Headed South
Monday 5 March 2007
Last night, after writing my report, we drove south until midnight and then Mark, Zach and I grabbed motel rooms in Los Vilos en route south from the desert (14 bucks a night). Up and going at 0600, our goal was to check out two known peregrines south of the coastal town of San Antonio. We saw these two falcons earlier on the trip.
En route south, we stopped an a coastal estuary and saw Black Skimmers, a single Greater Yellowlegs, Brown Pelicans, Franklin’s Gulls, Kelp Gulls, and a couple of nice Chilean species, the Spot-flanked Gallinule and White-backed Stilts.
Christian, Tom and Kathy drove all the way into Santiago last night so they could drop off Tom for his flight home. They say that he told jokes the whole way to stay awake.
So tonight all of us have reunited and are camped in some dunes along the ocean once again. Very beautiful site with the waves rolling in nearby. Lots of Sanderlings here along with White-tailed
Kites (above), American Kestrels, Red-backed Hawks (called Variable Hawks here), a Mountain Caracara (right), and lots and lots of Chimango Caracaras, a relative of the falcons. They are common, tame and fit into a crow-like niche, foraging along the beaches and showing up everywhere. We had a group of about 30 following a road grader today as it plowed the road, searching for insects in the disturbed soil.
We drove the area all afternoon looking for the adult female tundra falcon that perches on a Kelp Gull colony cliff just down the coast. We also surveyed a beach to the north, Padre Island Texas style, but no luck.
Just before dark, Mark and Christian found the female sitting on her usual perch and threw for her. She put in five stoops but did not get caught, unfortunately. We’ll try again in the morning.
We have just three days left and we are planning to head south to an enormous coastal dune field with a long, broad beach that Christian recommends. He has seen a peregrine here in the past. This would be the southernmost point on the trip and so we are all excited to see it and learn if we can capture any more falcons.
We are now in a much more vegetated area, very different from the desert. There are lots of Eucalyptus trees, Pine plantations and a sort of thorn scrub habitat. We are even seeing Palm trees again.
It is late as usual, the wind is blowing in off the ocean, I am cold and my sleeping bag is calling out my name. Goodnight all….
Last night, after writing my report, we drove south until midnight and then Mark, Zach and I grabbed motel rooms in Los Vilos en route south from the desert (14 bucks a night). Up and going at 0600, our goal was to check out two known peregrines south of the coastal town of San Antonio. We saw these two falcons earlier on the trip.
En route south, we stopped an a coastal estuary and saw Black Skimmers, a single Greater Yellowlegs, Brown Pelicans, Franklin’s Gulls, Kelp Gulls, and a couple of nice Chilean species, the Spot-flanked Gallinule and White-backed Stilts.
Christian, Tom and Kathy drove all the way into Santiago last night so they could drop off Tom for his flight home. They say that he told jokes the whole way to stay awake.
So tonight all of us have reunited and are camped in some dunes along the ocean once again. Very beautiful site with the waves rolling in nearby. Lots of Sanderlings here along with White-tailed
Kites (above), American Kestrels, Red-backed Hawks (called Variable Hawks here), a Mountain Caracara (right), and lots and lots of Chimango Caracaras, a relative of the falcons. They are common, tame and fit into a crow-like niche, foraging along the beaches and showing up everywhere. We had a group of about 30 following a road grader today as it plowed the road, searching for insects in the disturbed soil.We drove the area all afternoon looking for the adult female tundra falcon that perches on a Kelp Gull colony cliff just down the coast. We also surveyed a beach to the north, Padre Island Texas style, but no luck.
Just before dark, Mark and Christian found the female sitting on her usual perch and threw for her. She put in five stoops but did not get caught, unfortunately. We’ll try again in the morning.
We have just three days left and we are planning to head south to an enormous coastal dune field with a long, broad beach that Christian recommends. He has seen a peregrine here in the past. This would be the southernmost point on the trip and so we are all excited to see it and learn if we can capture any more falcons.
We are now in a much more vegetated area, very different from the desert. There are lots of Eucalyptus trees, Pine plantations and a sort of thorn scrub habitat. We are even seeing Palm trees again.
It is late as usual, the wind is blowing in off the ocean, I am cold and my sleeping bag is calling out my name. Goodnight all….
6 and 7 in central Chile
Hi Everyone,
This is Bud writing at 7:30 PM from a WIFI gas station along the Pan American Highway south of La Serena on the Chilean coast.
We have had some busy days since we last sent in a report. I hope that you all understand that we are usually in the field going hard from pre-dawn to post dark on most days. So here is a quick summary of the last three days.
After camping in the desert, our three teams drove south literally all day until we reached the beautiful cities of La Serena and Coquimbo. Long haul out of Antofagasta through the southern Atacama. We passed several observatories that day, perched well up into the dry mountains to take advantage of the incredible clear skies out there. That night, we pulled into a beach campsite and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean and Southern Lapwing calls.
The following day (2 March), we split up and one team went to the Cathedral, Iglesia Catedral de La Serena, to try to tag either of the adults present. They are a wintering "pair" of tundrius peregrines. The locals have named the pair and are quite fond of them. While Christian amazingly obtained permission for us to enter the bell tower to trap, Mark from the other team caught falcon number five out in the agricultural fields north of town. We drove over to see it and watch the tagging process.
Falcon number 6 "La Serena"
Adult female
Wing 342
Tail 161
Weight 864 grams
Band number 1687-02749
Location:
South 29° 52' 48.6"
West 71° 15' 49.2"
The peregrines here use the most remarkable native tree, the Araucaria, for perching. The birds use them to hunt from and also to shade themselves. You can see them tucked up under the densest clusters of branches to avoid the intense sunlight from about 1100 until 1700. Christian has keyed into this behavior and it is extremely useful to us in finding birds. So are his many friends and peregrine fans. Without them, we would clearly be very hard pressed to have caught any falcons at all.
Speaking of that, we have all been deeply impressed with how very difficult it is to catch these birds. Our thinking is that we are trying to catch them during the hottest time of the year when their food requirements are quite low. To avoid the heat of the day, they will hunt well before dawn ad we have seen birds with crops by 8 AM several times on this trip. So we have to position ourselves in time and in the right location to take advantage of this behavior. Yesterday for example, Zach and I were at the cathedral before 0700 and the falcon already had a kill on her perch. We knew she would take time to become hungry again, i.e. put over her crop. It took about 11 hours. Then you have about an hour to try to catch her. Challenging.
In addition, we feel that we are at the tail end of their "wintering" period and they seem to be really locked in to a hunting routine. They seem to avoid anything out of the ordinary.
We have also speculated about them being pretty fat around here. It is not hard to see why an arctic falcon would fly thousands of miles to spend their "winter" here. First of all, it is not winter, it is the southern summer and life seems to be pretty easy. Prey is abundant in every city and town that we have visited. Pigeons, doves and passerines are everywhere and the peregrines don't appear to have much trouble catching them. They hunt early and they hunt late and spend most of their days sitting on their day perches. The city birds are territorial and don't have far to go to hunt. It is warm and they don't really have to fly much.
So we are learning many new things about these northern birds.
Yesterday, Zach and I spent the entire day trying unsuccessfully to capture the Cathedral birds. No luck but we keyed into a lot of good behavior. Zach was cloistered in a cement room at the top of the bell tower for 12 hours or more, a truly monastic effort. Osile Carvajal made our stay possible which we appreciated greatly. He obtained permission from the local Archbishop to trap atop the cathedral, a first no doubt, and again most deeply appreciated.
Our good friend from the Canary Islands, Jesus, had to return home yesterday as well but we know that he will be happy to learn that Mark, Zach and I caught an immature female peregrine (#6) today northwest of the town of Coquimbo. We had a long and complicated session with her but finally succeeded. Thanks again Jesus.
Falcon number 7 "Coquimba"
Immature female tundra falcon
Wing 340
Tail 170
Weight 810 grams
Band # 1687-02750
Location:
South 29° 57' 35"
West 71° 21' 32.3"
We owe our success to two Chilean friends of Christian who share our love of the peregrine and live here in La Serena, Manuel Rojas Martinez and Francisco Alfaro. They took us to a site where we saw three peregrines just outside Coquimbo. As a result, they got to see us capture the falcon and tag her. They not only got to hold their first peregrine but Manual let her go free back into the wild. A wonderful thrill for all of us.
Tonight, it was time for Tom Maechtle to head back home to Wyoming. He was absolutely indispensable with his help, advice, wonderful insights and great humor. Thanks Tom. We miss you.
Well, I am writing this outside and it is getting cold and dark and we have to set up camp before heading back to the central coast west of Santiago, so I am signing off until later.
This is Bud writing at 7:30 PM from a WIFI gas station along the Pan American Highway south of La Serena on the Chilean coast.
We have had some busy days since we last sent in a report. I hope that you all understand that we are usually in the field going hard from pre-dawn to post dark on most days. So here is a quick summary of the last three days.
After camping in the desert, our three teams drove south literally all day until we reached the beautiful cities of La Serena and Coquimbo. Long haul out of Antofagasta through the southern Atacama. We passed several observatories that day, perched well up into the dry mountains to take advantage of the incredible clear skies out there. That night, we pulled into a beach campsite and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean and Southern Lapwing calls.
The following day (2 March), we split up and one team went to the Cathedral, Iglesia Catedral de La Serena, to try to tag either of the adults present. They are a wintering "pair" of tundrius peregrines. The locals have named the pair and are quite fond of them. While Christian amazingly obtained permission for us to enter the bell tower to trap, Mark from the other team caught falcon number five out in the agricultural fields north of town. We drove over to see it and watch the tagging process.
Falcon number 6 "La Serena"
Adult female
Wing 342
Tail 161
Weight 864 grams
Band number 1687-02749
Location:
South 29° 52' 48.6"
West 71° 15' 49.2"
The peregrines here use the most remarkable native tree, the Araucaria, for perching. The birds use them to hunt from and also to shade themselves. You can see them tucked up under the densest clusters of branches to avoid the intense sunlight from about 1100 until 1700. Christian has keyed into this behavior and it is extremely useful to us in finding birds. So are his many friends and peregrine fans. Without them, we would clearly be very hard pressed to have caught any falcons at all.
Speaking of that, we have all been deeply impressed with how very difficult it is to catch these birds. Our thinking is that we are trying to catch them during the hottest time of the year when their food requirements are quite low. To avoid the heat of the day, they will hunt well before dawn ad we have seen birds with crops by 8 AM several times on this trip. So we have to position ourselves in time and in the right location to take advantage of this behavior. Yesterday for example, Zach and I were at the cathedral before 0700 and the falcon already had a kill on her perch. We knew she would take time to become hungry again, i.e. put over her crop. It took about 11 hours. Then you have about an hour to try to catch her. Challenging.
In addition, we feel that we are at the tail end of their "wintering" period and they seem to be really locked in to a hunting routine. They seem to avoid anything out of the ordinary.
We have also speculated about them being pretty fat around here. It is not hard to see why an arctic falcon would fly thousands of miles to spend their "winter" here. First of all, it is not winter, it is the southern summer and life seems to be pretty easy. Prey is abundant in every city and town that we have visited. Pigeons, doves and passerines are everywhere and the peregrines don't appear to have much trouble catching them. They hunt early and they hunt late and spend most of their days sitting on their day perches. The city birds are territorial and don't have far to go to hunt. It is warm and they don't really have to fly much.
So we are learning many new things about these northern birds.
Yesterday, Zach and I spent the entire day trying unsuccessfully to capture the Cathedral birds. No luck but we keyed into a lot of good behavior. Zach was cloistered in a cement room at the top of the bell tower for 12 hours or more, a truly monastic effort. Osile Carvajal made our stay possible which we appreciated greatly. He obtained permission from the local Archbishop to trap atop the cathedral, a first no doubt, and again most deeply appreciated.
Our good friend from the Canary Islands, Jesus, had to return home yesterday as well but we know that he will be happy to learn that Mark, Zach and I caught an immature female peregrine (#6) today northwest of the town of Coquimbo. We had a long and complicated session with her but finally succeeded. Thanks again Jesus.
Falcon number 7 "Coquimba"
Immature female tundra falcon
Wing 340
Tail 170
Weight 810 grams
Band # 1687-02750
Location:
South 29° 57' 35"
West 71° 21' 32.3"
We owe our success to two Chilean friends of Christian who share our love of the peregrine and live here in La Serena, Manuel Rojas Martinez and Francisco Alfaro. They took us to a site where we saw three peregrines just outside Coquimbo. As a result, they got to see us capture the falcon and tag her. They not only got to hold their first peregrine but Manual let her go free back into the wild. A wonderful thrill for all of us.
Tonight, it was time for Tom Maechtle to head back home to Wyoming. He was absolutely indispensable with his help, advice, wonderful insights and great humor. Thanks Tom. We miss you.
Well, I am writing this outside and it is getting cold and dark and we have to set up camp before heading back to the central coast west of Santiago, so I am signing off until later.
01 March, 2007
Three more Peregrines caught in the desert
28 February 2007.
Bud Anderson report:
I am writing this from our campsite deep in the Atacama Desert at nine at night. To me, we are in one of the most beautiful places on earth but then I really love deserts. I was just looking over at the moonlight glowing through my tent. The Southern Cross, a favorite constellation (and the namesake of this project), is low to the south.
We left Antofagasta this afternoon and drove east up to the Pan-American Highway that arrows south through the desert. We are heading back down to La Serena, about 8 hours away, to continue our trapping efforts.
I just cannot describe the immensity of this place, the colors and the clear sunlight that makes every turn in the road a new adventure. There is so much to see. We can drive literally for hours and not see a plant anywhere it is so extremely dry.
Today, we all decided that instead of just driving through it, we wanted to camp out here all night to experience it more completely. So from where I am there are three trucks, Kathy’s kitchen table set-up and two computers and a satellite antenna sitting on the hood of Mark’s truck. The screens illuminate everyones faces in the dark as we all check to see the latest data on the movements of our satellite birds.
Since I last wrote, the teams have moved north from Taltal. Before we left there, we saw an apparent pair of Aplomado Flacons hunting in town. We see them in each town we pass through it seems. Tom tells me they are larger than the ones we have in North America.
We also saw our first Osprey a bit further north with a fish in its talons. They don’t go much further south than this. Christian says Valparaiso is about it. They also do not nest here in Chile.
So yesterday, we all arrived in Antofagasta. It was a good place to be because we finally “cracked the code” on wintering tundra falcons. We caught and tagged three different birds there in a single day and so we are all really amped about that.
I’ll let the rest of the team describe it to you all.
Tom Maechtle, here:
It has been 20 years since I’ve trapped falcons along the South American Coast and much has changed. The best place to find falcons now seems to be the cities, where flocks of pigeons congregate and tall buildings replace familiar cliffs for perch sites.
Yesterday we watched an adult male stoop and hit an English sparrow that dropped dead onto the roof of a building housing chickens. The peregrine came by and plucked it off the roof and carried it to a rock outcrop on a hill where he plucked and ate it. Christian and I went into action and tried every scheme possible to attract it to our bait. Nothing worked. We watched him catch three more sparrows in the same fashion, each time he went to the same perch. We talked about nooses placed on the rock and tried several traps through the afternoon. We saw two other peregrines come into the chicken farm to hunt the pigeons, only to be chased off by the territorial male, before we could attempt to capture them. Late in the afternoon he stooped lazily at a Coturnix quail we had placed, but there was no chance of capture. Meanwhile an Aplomado Falcon hovered in, avoided our trap and consumed the quail! The day was over and we packed up with the setting sun.
The next morning we returned to the chicken farm, watching for the male from the previous day. Bud and Mark joined us today and Bud had the idea of placing one noose around the rock and trailing the line far enough away (approximately 200’) so that he could pull up in the truck and pull the noose closed by hand. It would be a matter of extreme finesse. Mark and I thought it was one of the “fat chance” ideas and placated him. We all helped Bud set the noose on the perch, tested it several times and backed off to watch the area. Soon we saw a new falcon arrive, an adult female landing on the grain towers. Mark and I placed our trap and she came in without concern—stooping several times and then returning to her tower. We knew she had not eaten this morning (no crop and actively hunting). There was much activity with people tending to the chicken facility, so we took our trap and backed off to a sand dune where we threw the trap again. She came in immediately and was caught by one toe. It held long enough for Mark to catch her and we prepared to tag her with a transmitter. Just as we finished with her, a second falcon came in, an immature female and Mark and I went to work. She also came immediately to our harness and took the pigeon. Much to our dismay, she had rolled it over and was not contacting the nooses on top. Mark and I worked her to see if we get her to change her position to come in contact with the nooses. After several close drive bys, we got her to move, but she had pulled the pigeon from the trap—but just as she had done this she became noosed and I was able to jump out and get her in hand.
By now we had a work station in the shade of a water works. Just as we finished placing a transmitter on this latest falcon, Christian saw that the male had caught another sparrow and was eating it on the same rock where the noose was placed. Bud and Christian sprang into action and got to the end of the noose line. Bud slowly pulled the noose, closed it and we all watched in amazement as this ploy actually worked! (Bud here….we are calling this new method the
“Antofagasta long noose”) Christian ran through the soft sand and caught the noosed falcon and after a long and difficult week, we tagged our 4th falcon for the trip.
From Zach:
After a long drive from Taltal to Antofagasta, everyone was ready for some falcons. The thrill of Monday’s bird had worn off and the push to get more transmitters was on. Mark and I spent a long afternoon searching for falcons along the bay north of Antofagasta. A beautiful escarpment that smoothed into an expansive beach yielded nothing for us during daylight hours and we had to wait until 8:15 pm to get our first falcon (a tiercel) sighting of the day. A quick attempt to trap him proved fruitless. We heard of the other teams’ exploits that afternoon and were encouraged that days ahead held productive trapping.
After an early morning deployment from the “Motel” in northern Antofagasta, we split up to cover the northern edge of town, where falcon activity (and ease of trapping) was at its best. Kathy, Jesus and I headed for a cell phone tower east of the chicken farm to search for and perhaps trap a tiercel spotted using the tower yesterday. The area was by no means a garden spot. Mounds of dirt, trash and broken concrete littered two empty lots at the foot of the tower. Morning bus and truck traffic along with the constant odor of a city slum made for a sensory experience unique to Latin America. A gypsy camp of colorful tents rounded out the scene and made us wary for the security of our belongings.
So, the bird was spotted lounging on the tower railing with a vulture soon dropping in for company. Since he appeared to lack a crop, we decided to throw a pigeon for him but got little more than a “Hmm, that’s nice.” A moment of discussion and we went for a hoop trap with a sparrow (tiercels like sparrows). We picked a nearby dirt mound for the trap, but soon after placing it, a gang of stray dogs made a beeline for it and we were forced to abandon that spot. After a few chunks of concrete and some choice Spanish swear words aimed at the mongrels, we moved the trap to the other lot and crossed our fingers. Our target showed little interest for several minutes, then all of a sudden dropped and appeared to be heading for the sparrow. Alas, he veered to the side and made an unsuccessful pass on a House sparrow flock that was feeding about 30 meters from the trap. Encouraging, at least. The tiercel lit on the tower again, but was soon off to the south out of view to terrorize sparrows elsewhere. We left to join in the fun at the chicken farm.
From Kathy:
Fun on the beach:
Driving thru central Antofogasta last evening, tired, discouraged and heading for ice cream, Jesus (driving) yells out “Mira! Mira! Mira!” pointing forward in the street, (swerving a bit in traffic) as a female Tundra chases pigeons thru the traffic ahead. We immediately pull over to
the perfect parking spot next to the beach and jump out to go to work. Bud runs down the steps onto the beach, gets chased by a huge barking dog, dodges some beach walkers and tosses for the falcon. Incredibly, she heads our way and proceeds to stoop on the lure aggressively, amidst the traffic, beach crowd, stray dogs and onlookers amazed by what they were seeing. Alas, we did not get this bird, but the incredible sight of her flight in this unlikely location was worth all the effort and challenges of the last week.
Northern Chile is new to many of us on this expedition. We are thoroughly enjoying the adventure of it all, from the spectacular beaches and unfathomable desert environment to the generous hospitality of our Chilean friends and supporters. Our team has meshed well, bringing all our strengths together to succeed as we did today. We are all very happy as we retire to our tents under the clear skies, bright moon and flock of Gaviota garuma passing over the Atacama.
Estamos gozando como chanchos!!!!!!
Jesus says:
A las 12 de la noche del 28-2-07 arropados por el manto estrellado del inmenso Atacamacada cada uno de los miembros de la expedicion “Deep tundrius trip” realize sus ultimas tareas del dia.
Mark, el experto en computadores, posiciona la antenna de su ordenador con el satellite que nos mantiene unidos con otros miembros del grupo. Tom, escríbelas experiencias de trampeo del dia. Kathy nos atiende con mimoen todo lo que necesitamos, mientras ella ordenalos menesteres de la intendencia trata de ensenarme algunas palabras en ingles. Zack explica gesticulantes algunos companeros como encontramos y atrapamos tal o cual halcon. Bud el manageman del grupo escribe y mantiene viva nuestra web a la vez que mantiene unido al grupo atendiendo en todo momento cualquier inconveniente que surja.
Y yo que de aqui para allava intercambiando palabras en ingles con todos los miembros del grupo. Ase me olvidaba, quizas al miembro mas importante de la expedicion el chileno C.G.B experto cetrero, camara, biologoy escritor que sin sus conocimientos del terreno y la biologia de los tunras en su paisno hubiera sido posibletan bella experiencia. Ademas nos mantiene en la legalidad consiguiendo cuantos permisos necesitamos, si necesitamos atrapar un halcon en una cathedral, el habla con el arzobispo……… Ademas el captura y procesalas mejores imagines fotograficas de cdada miembro del grupo y que nuestros amigos pueden disfrutar en sus casas. Para mi es especialmente importante pues hace un trabajo impagable de traductor, por ello gracias a todos los miembros de esta bella pero dura expedicion.
Bud again,
For the falcon people, we have trapped 5 Peregrines so far; four of these have been tagged with satellite transmitters. The transmitters should begin to provide regular daily locations on 15 March so you can all follow their movements at that time. Our first readings are working out fine and we have been able to track these birds just a bit so far but what we have seen with the GPS units is amazingly accurate.
Falcons caught so far include 2 adult females, one adult male and 2 immature females. Here are their measurements.
1. Immature female (not tagged)
Wing 335
Tail 173
Weight 719 grams (a dink)
2. Adult female "Arena"
Wing 359
Tail 167
Weight 770
3. Adult female "Linda"
Wing primaries 9 and 10 growing in.
Tail 170
Weight 910
4. Immature female "Houdini"
Wing 339
Tail 173
Weight 809
5. Adult male "Sparrow King"
Wing Primaries 9 and 10 growing in.
Tail 141
Weight 660
One of the interesting things we are looking at is how to differentiate the migrant tundra falcons from the locally breeding race here in Chile. Christian has a lot of experience in separating the two subspecies in and around Santiago and to the south but here in the far north of the country, few peregrines have been trapped and so we know almost nothing about them. It is fascinating to be among the first to examine this region for peregrines and to gather hard data on them. We feel honored to be here and trust that our work will contribute positively to Chilean ornithology. Our thanks go to Charif Tala of the Servicio Agricola y Ganadero for allowing us to work in this extraordinary country.
Mike and Keith, if you are following this blog, we trapped your first male yesterday in Antofagasta.
It is now dawn in the desert, 1 March, and we are packing up before our long drive south to La Serena.
Bud Anderson report:
I am writing this from our campsite deep in the Atacama Desert at nine at night. To me, we are in one of the most beautiful places on earth but then I really love deserts. I was just looking over at the moonlight glowing through my tent. The Southern Cross, a favorite constellation (and the namesake of this project), is low to the south.We left Antofagasta this afternoon and drove east up to the Pan-American Highway that arrows south through the desert. We are heading back down to La Serena, about 8 hours away, to continue our trapping efforts.
I just cannot describe the immensity of this place, the colors and the clear sunlight that makes every turn in the road a new adventure. There is so much to see. We can drive literally for hours and not see a plant anywhere it is so extremely dry.
Today, we all decided that instead of just driving through it, we wanted to camp out here all night to experience it more completely. So from where I am there are three trucks, Kathy’s kitchen table set-up and two computers and a satellite antenna sitting on the hood of Mark’s truck. The screens illuminate everyones faces in the dark as we all check to see the latest data on the movements of our satellite birds.Since I last wrote, the teams have moved north from Taltal. Before we left there, we saw an apparent pair of Aplomado Flacons hunting in town. We see them in each town we pass through it seems. Tom tells me they are larger than the ones we have in North America.
We also saw our first Osprey a bit further north with a fish in its talons. They don’t go much further south than this. Christian says Valparaiso is about it. They also do not nest here in Chile.
So yesterday, we all arrived in Antofagasta. It was a good place to be because we finally “cracked the code” on wintering tundra falcons. We caught and tagged three different birds there in a single day and so we are all really amped about that.
I’ll let the rest of the team describe it to you all.
Tom Maechtle, here:
It has been 20 years since I’ve trapped falcons along the South American Coast and much has changed. The best place to find falcons now seems to be the cities, where flocks of pigeons congregate and tall buildings replace familiar cliffs for perch sites.
Yesterday we watched an adult male stoop and hit an English sparrow that dropped dead onto the roof of a building housing chickens. The peregrine came by and plucked it off the roof and carried it to a rock outcrop on a hill where he plucked and ate it. Christian and I went into action and tried every scheme possible to attract it to our bait. Nothing worked. We watched him catch three more sparrows in the same fashion, each time he went to the same perch. We talked about nooses placed on the rock and tried several traps through the afternoon. We saw two other peregrines come into the chicken farm to hunt the pigeons, only to be chased off by the territorial male, before we could attempt to capture them. Late in the afternoon he stooped lazily at a Coturnix quail we had placed, but there was no chance of capture. Meanwhile an Aplomado Falcon hovered in, avoided our trap and consumed the quail! The day was over and we packed up with the setting sun.
The next morning we returned to the chicken farm, watching for the male from the previous day. Bud and Mark joined us today and Bud had the idea of placing one noose around the rock and trailing the line far enough away (approximately 200’) so that he could pull up in the truck and pull the noose closed by hand. It would be a matter of extreme finesse. Mark and I thought it was one of the “fat chance” ideas and placated him. We all helped Bud set the noose on the perch, tested it several times and backed off to watch the area. Soon we saw a new falcon arrive, an adult female landing on the grain towers. Mark and I placed our trap and she came in without concern—stooping several times and then returning to her tower. We knew she had not eaten this morning (no crop and actively hunting). There was much activity with people tending to the chicken facility, so we took our trap and backed off to a sand dune where we threw the trap again. She came in immediately and was caught by one toe. It held long enough for Mark to catch her and we prepared to tag her with a transmitter. Just as we finished with her, a second falcon came in, an immature female and Mark and I went to work. She also came immediately to our harness and took the pigeon. Much to our dismay, she had rolled it over and was not contacting the nooses on top. Mark and I worked her to see if we get her to change her position to come in contact with the nooses. After several close drive bys, we got her to move, but she had pulled the pigeon from the trap—but just as she had done this she became noosed and I was able to jump out and get her in hand.
By now we had a work station in the shade of a water works. Just as we finished placing a transmitter on this latest falcon, Christian saw that the male had caught another sparrow and was eating it on the same rock where the noose was placed. Bud and Christian sprang into action and got to the end of the noose line. Bud slowly pulled the noose, closed it and we all watched in amazement as this ploy actually worked! (Bud here….we are calling this new method the
“Antofagasta long noose”) Christian ran through the soft sand and caught the noosed falcon and after a long and difficult week, we tagged our 4th falcon for the trip.From Zach:
After a long drive from Taltal to Antofagasta, everyone was ready for some falcons. The thrill of Monday’s bird had worn off and the push to get more transmitters was on. Mark and I spent a long afternoon searching for falcons along the bay north of Antofagasta. A beautiful escarpment that smoothed into an expansive beach yielded nothing for us during daylight hours and we had to wait until 8:15 pm to get our first falcon (a tiercel) sighting of the day. A quick attempt to trap him proved fruitless. We heard of the other teams’ exploits that afternoon and were encouraged that days ahead held productive trapping.
After an early morning deployment from the “Motel” in northern Antofagasta, we split up to cover the northern edge of town, where falcon activity (and ease of trapping) was at its best. Kathy, Jesus and I headed for a cell phone tower east of the chicken farm to search for and perhaps trap a tiercel spotted using the tower yesterday. The area was by no means a garden spot. Mounds of dirt, trash and broken concrete littered two empty lots at the foot of the tower. Morning bus and truck traffic along with the constant odor of a city slum made for a sensory experience unique to Latin America. A gypsy camp of colorful tents rounded out the scene and made us wary for the security of our belongings.
So, the bird was spotted lounging on the tower railing with a vulture soon dropping in for company. Since he appeared to lack a crop, we decided to throw a pigeon for him but got little more than a “Hmm, that’s nice.” A moment of discussion and we went for a hoop trap with a sparrow (tiercels like sparrows). We picked a nearby dirt mound for the trap, but soon after placing it, a gang of stray dogs made a beeline for it and we were forced to abandon that spot. After a few chunks of concrete and some choice Spanish swear words aimed at the mongrels, we moved the trap to the other lot and crossed our fingers. Our target showed little interest for several minutes, then all of a sudden dropped and appeared to be heading for the sparrow. Alas, he veered to the side and made an unsuccessful pass on a House sparrow flock that was feeding about 30 meters from the trap. Encouraging, at least. The tiercel lit on the tower again, but was soon off to the south out of view to terrorize sparrows elsewhere. We left to join in the fun at the chicken farm.
From Kathy:
Fun on the beach:
Driving thru central Antofogasta last evening, tired, discouraged and heading for ice cream, Jesus (driving) yells out “Mira! Mira! Mira!” pointing forward in the street, (swerving a bit in traffic) as a female Tundra chases pigeons thru the traffic ahead. We immediately pull over to
the perfect parking spot next to the beach and jump out to go to work. Bud runs down the steps onto the beach, gets chased by a huge barking dog, dodges some beach walkers and tosses for the falcon. Incredibly, she heads our way and proceeds to stoop on the lure aggressively, amidst the traffic, beach crowd, stray dogs and onlookers amazed by what they were seeing. Alas, we did not get this bird, but the incredible sight of her flight in this unlikely location was worth all the effort and challenges of the last week.Northern Chile is new to many of us on this expedition. We are thoroughly enjoying the adventure of it all, from the spectacular beaches and unfathomable desert environment to the generous hospitality of our Chilean friends and supporters. Our team has meshed well, bringing all our strengths together to succeed as we did today. We are all very happy as we retire to our tents under the clear skies, bright moon and flock of Gaviota garuma passing over the Atacama.
Estamos gozando como chanchos!!!!!!
Jesus says:
A las 12 de la noche del 28-2-07 arropados por el manto estrellado del inmenso Atacamacada cada uno de los miembros de la expedicion “Deep tundrius trip” realize sus ultimas tareas del dia.
Mark, el experto en computadores, posiciona la antenna de su ordenador con el satellite que nos mantiene unidos con otros miembros del grupo. Tom, escríbelas experiencias de trampeo del dia. Kathy nos atiende con mimoen todo lo que necesitamos, mientras ella ordenalos menesteres de la intendencia trata de ensenarme algunas palabras en ingles. Zack explica gesticulantes algunos companeros como encontramos y atrapamos tal o cual halcon. Bud el manageman del grupo escribe y mantiene viva nuestra web a la vez que mantiene unido al grupo atendiendo en todo momento cualquier inconveniente que surja.
Y yo que de aqui para allava intercambiando palabras en ingles con todos los miembros del grupo. Ase me olvidaba, quizas al miembro mas importante de la expedicion el chileno C.G.B experto cetrero, camara, biologoy escritor que sin sus conocimientos del terreno y la biologia de los tunras en su paisno hubiera sido posibletan bella experiencia. Ademas nos mantiene en la legalidad consiguiendo cuantos permisos necesitamos, si necesitamos atrapar un halcon en una cathedral, el habla con el arzobispo……… Ademas el captura y procesalas mejores imagines fotograficas de cdada miembro del grupo y que nuestros amigos pueden disfrutar en sus casas. Para mi es especialmente importante pues hace un trabajo impagable de traductor, por ello gracias a todos los miembros de esta bella pero dura expedicion.Bud again,
For the falcon people, we have trapped 5 Peregrines so far; four of these have been tagged with satellite transmitters. The transmitters should begin to provide regular daily locations on 15 March so you can all follow their movements at that time. Our first readings are working out fine and we have been able to track these birds just a bit so far but what we have seen with the GPS units is amazingly accurate.
Falcons caught so far include 2 adult females, one adult male and 2 immature females. Here are their measurements.
1. Immature female (not tagged)
Wing 335
Tail 173
Weight 719 grams (a dink)
2. Adult female "Arena"
Wing 359
Tail 167
Weight 770
3. Adult female "Linda"
Wing primaries 9 and 10 growing in.
Tail 170
Weight 910
4. Immature female "Houdini"
Wing 339
Tail 173
Weight 809
5. Adult male "Sparrow King"
Wing Primaries 9 and 10 growing in.
Tail 141
Weight 660
One of the interesting things we are looking at is how to differentiate the migrant tundra falcons from the locally breeding race here in Chile. Christian has a lot of experience in separating the two subspecies in and around Santiago and to the south but here in the far north of the country, few peregrines have been trapped and so we know almost nothing about them. It is fascinating to be among the first to examine this region for peregrines and to gather hard data on them. We feel honored to be here and trust that our work will contribute positively to Chilean ornithology. Our thanks go to Charif Tala of the Servicio Agricola y Ganadero for allowing us to work in this extraordinary country.
Mike and Keith, if you are following this blog, we trapped your first male yesterday in Antofagasta.
It is now dawn in the desert, 1 March, and we are packing up before our long drive south to La Serena.
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