Now that the peregrine migration has ended for the 2007 season, we are entering the next phase of the Southern Cross Peregrine Project.
Kathryn Gunther and her friend, Mark Hopey, are currently surveying the coastal estuaries of Chile south of San Antonio for wintering tundra falcons. They are using Lula Belle, the project vehicle, for the survey. Lula Belle also carries a Honda four-wheeler ATV in back for working beaches during the project.
On 16 December, Zach Smith and his wife, Elizabeth, will join Kathryn for two weeks to continue this survey all the way south to Puerto Montt. We are hoping that Chilean team member, Christian Gonzalez, will be able to join them despite his heavy work load.
On 8 January, Mark Prostor and I will again arrive in Chile to tag seven more peregrines with GPS enabled satellite transmitters. We will team with Kathryn and re-visit her survey area. If possible, both Tom Maechtle and Christian Gonzalez will also be participating in this part of the study.
Our goal is to continue to study of the movements and distribution of "deep" peregrines in Chile and to document their movements north again in April 2008.
We are planning to provide field reports from Chile during the tagging phase in January so stay tuned.
10 December, 2007
The End of Linda's Migration and Life
We are sorry to have to report the death of Linda yesterday. She died in captivity under the expert care of an experienced falcon handler in Panama City.
Although we can never be certain exactly what happened to her, we do know that she was found incapacitated a few feet off a road five hours west of Panama City. She was unable to stand and during her last days and she never regained the use of her legs. Examination of her transmitter showed two major impact "chips" on the top surface of the unit indicating a possible collision. We are having her x-rayed to see if there were any fractures involved.
She was a remarkable peregrine and taught all of us many things since last February. She showed us that migrants can roost near 16,000 in the Andes and cover 580 miles in a single day. We never knew any of that before. She amazed us all with her strength, her innate sense of navigation and her beauty.
We also learned that satellite telemetry is a two-edged sword. We can stand amazed and delighted at what it teaches us but it is also a reminder that what we love will pass. Peregrines have a finite life span and so do we. So maybe Linda's last "lesson" is to enjoy it all while you can.
Although we can never be certain exactly what happened to her, we do know that she was found incapacitated a few feet off a road five hours west of Panama City. She was unable to stand and during her last days and she never regained the use of her legs. Examination of her transmitter showed two major impact "chips" on the top surface of the unit indicating a possible collision. We are having her x-rayed to see if there were any fractures involved.
She was a remarkable peregrine and taught all of us many things since last February. She showed us that migrants can roost near 16,000 in the Andes and cover 580 miles in a single day. We never knew any of that before. She amazed us all with her strength, her innate sense of navigation and her beauty.
We also learned that satellite telemetry is a two-edged sword. We can stand amazed and delighted at what it teaches us but it is also a reminder that what we love will pass. Peregrines have a finite life span and so do we. So maybe Linda's last "lesson" is to enjoy it all while you can.
08 December, 2007
Linda Grounds Out in Panama
I received a telephone call from Panama on Wednesday night informing me that Linda had been seen "falling out of the sky" and onto a road in front of a tavern in the town of Pedasi on the Aguero Peninsula of Panama.
She was alive and had been taken to a large animal veterinarian who was keeping her quiet and feeding her. The reports on the cause(s) of her coming to ground were inconclusive.
I contacted Guido Berguido, one of our new friends in Panama (he is the owner of Advantage Tours Panama, a famous bird tour company, www.advantagepanama.com), and let him know about the falcon. She is currently located about 5 hours north of Panama City and Guido will get her as soon as possible. We hope to place her into the hands of a falcon specialist, and assess what has happened to her.
Obviously, this ends her migration for the season but her future remains to be seen. We are all hoping that she will make it through the next few days.
And a special thanks to Guido and the other people who took her in. There are alot of people out there that very much appreciate what you are doing for Linda.
She was alive and had been taken to a large animal veterinarian who was keeping her quiet and feeding her. The reports on the cause(s) of her coming to ground were inconclusive.
I contacted Guido Berguido, one of our new friends in Panama (he is the owner of Advantage Tours Panama, a famous bird tour company, www.advantagepanama.com), and let him know about the falcon. She is currently located about 5 hours north of Panama City and Guido will get her as soon as possible. We hope to place her into the hands of a falcon specialist, and assess what has happened to her.
Obviously, this ends her migration for the season but her future remains to be seen. We are all hoping that she will make it through the next few days.
And a special thanks to Guido and the other people who took her in. There are alot of people out there that very much appreciate what you are doing for Linda.
Sparrow King Completes His Migration
Sparky covered the last 621 km (386 miles) from Peru down into Antofagasta, Chile, in three days, obviously streaking for "home".
He arrived there on 30 November, having covered 10,992 km (6,830 miles) over a 56 day period.
Although he left the sub-arctic far later than Seven, he arrived on his winter range at about the same time, but having traveled far fewer days.
This completes his migration south for the season.
We would again like to thank and acknowledge the assistance of both Dr. Mike McGrady and Dr. Keith Bildstein. They provided both of the male transmitters for Sparrow King and Seven, allowing us all to learn so much about the migration of adult male "deep" peregrines this year.
Many thanks you guys!
He arrived there on 30 November, having covered 10,992 km (6,830 miles) over a 56 day period.
Although he left the sub-arctic far later than Seven, he arrived on his winter range at about the same time, but having traveled far fewer days.
This completes his migration south for the season.
We would again like to thank and acknowledge the assistance of both Dr. Mike McGrady and Dr. Keith Bildstein. They provided both of the male transmitters for Sparrow King and Seven, allowing us all to learn so much about the migration of adult male "deep" peregrines this year.
Many thanks you guys!
Seven in Chile
Seven arrived back at his cliff site in Chile around 25-28 November, 2007, completing his fall migration in about 75 days and covering approximately 13,351 km (8,297 miles).
On 29 November, team member Kathy Gunther and I flew down to Santiago from Lima to meet up with Lula Belle, our truck. We were assisted there at the shipping company, APL, by the charming Sophia Chergui. We then jumped on a bus and drove for two hours to the coastal port of San Antonio.
The following day, Kathy and I put in 12 hours (0900 t0 2100) getting the truck out of the port. Incredible amount of work for such a seemingly simple process! You really want to think twice about shipping a vehicle to South America.
We were finally reunited with Lula Belle and, at 2300, we drove an hour south to some hayfields above Seven's cliff and camped out under a moonless sky absolutely filled with stars. You could see the Greater and Lesser Magellanic Clouds, Orion upside-down (always a sure sign of being in the southern hemisphere) and, of course, my favorite constellation and the namesake of the project, the Southern Cross, well to the south. The ocean waves were rolling onto the beaches below, having blown in from somewhere deep in the southern oceans. Meteors arced overhead, leaving long trails of gold and yellow. We had come a long way.
Next morning, we drove the short distance down to the seacoast and arrived at Seven's cliff. At precisely 0938, Kathy called out that a peregrine was flying by the bluff. He landed on a nearby dirt ridge above us and we could clearly see the antenna above his back. It was Seven!
We spent the entire day watching him on his cliff. He looked great, feather perfect with bright gold cere and orbital ring. Oddly enough, he always perched in the shade, never in the sun, and spent a good amount of time just sleeping and preening. (see images below)
He allowed us to observe him without exhibiting any nervousness, unlike last March when he was pretty shy. Over the course of the day, he flew to several perches that we were previously unaware of, disappeared for a bit now and then but always returned fairly quickly. In the evening, we finally lost him, and assumed that he had gone hunting.
It was deeply satisfying to look at this remarkable and beautiful little falcon and realize just how far he had traveled. I thought about the man who had seen him on his breeding cliff in the NWT of Canada last summer, I imagined the stunning differences in habitat that Seven had experienced. He had ranged over Arctic sea ice, high tundra, vast boreal forests, the Great Plains, flown through the tropics and across the dry deserts of South America. I envisioned all of the cities and towns and people that he must have seen from the air, all of them blissfully unaware of his journey. I imagined all of the different prey species that he must have caught and eaten, likely shorebirds, parrots, doves and who knows what else?
While we were there, marvelling over him, a group of four Chilean birders drove up to us. We were quite surprised as they were the first people to come by this remote stretch of beach all day. It turns out that they had been following the website and had driven all the way down from Santiago just to try and see Seven! We were delighted to be able to point him out. There was something appropriate about him being "greeted" on his return by Chileans. We really appreciated that. And hello to Ernesto!
After a second night camping nearby (and recovering from 8 days and nights in Lima), we drove into Santiago and met our friends and team-mates, Christian and Gaininna. As always, they kindly extended their hospitality to us. Many thanks to them and their wonderful family.
From there, I took a long flight home. Two and a half month long trip. Many new friends. Unforgettable journey.
On 29 November, team member Kathy Gunther and I flew down to Santiago from Lima to meet up with Lula Belle, our truck. We were assisted there at the shipping company, APL, by the charming Sophia Chergui. We then jumped on a bus and drove for two hours to the coastal port of San Antonio.
The following day, Kathy and I put in 12 hours (0900 t0 2100) getting the truck out of the port. Incredible amount of work for such a seemingly simple process! You really want to think twice about shipping a vehicle to South America.
We were finally reunited with Lula Belle and, at 2300, we drove an hour south to some hayfields above Seven's cliff and camped out under a moonless sky absolutely filled with stars. You could see the Greater and Lesser Magellanic Clouds, Orion upside-down (always a sure sign of being in the southern hemisphere) and, of course, my favorite constellation and the namesake of the project, the Southern Cross, well to the south. The ocean waves were rolling onto the beaches below, having blown in from somewhere deep in the southern oceans. Meteors arced overhead, leaving long trails of gold and yellow. We had come a long way.
Next morning, we drove the short distance down to the seacoast and arrived at Seven's cliff. At precisely 0938, Kathy called out that a peregrine was flying by the bluff. He landed on a nearby dirt ridge above us and we could clearly see the antenna above his back. It was Seven!
We spent the entire day watching him on his cliff. He looked great, feather perfect with bright gold cere and orbital ring. Oddly enough, he always perched in the shade, never in the sun, and spent a good amount of time just sleeping and preening. (see images below)
He allowed us to observe him without exhibiting any nervousness, unlike last March when he was pretty shy. Over the course of the day, he flew to several perches that we were previously unaware of, disappeared for a bit now and then but always returned fairly quickly. In the evening, we finally lost him, and assumed that he had gone hunting.
It was deeply satisfying to look at this remarkable and beautiful little falcon and realize just how far he had traveled. I thought about the man who had seen him on his breeding cliff in the NWT of Canada last summer, I imagined the stunning differences in habitat that Seven had experienced. He had ranged over Arctic sea ice, high tundra, vast boreal forests, the Great Plains, flown through the tropics and across the dry deserts of South America. I envisioned all of the cities and towns and people that he must have seen from the air, all of them blissfully unaware of his journey. I imagined all of the different prey species that he must have caught and eaten, likely shorebirds, parrots, doves and who knows what else?
While we were there, marvelling over him, a group of four Chilean birders drove up to us. We were quite surprised as they were the first people to come by this remote stretch of beach all day. It turns out that they had been following the website and had driven all the way down from Santiago just to try and see Seven! We were delighted to be able to point him out. There was something appropriate about him being "greeted" on his return by Chileans. We really appreciated that. And hello to Ernesto!
After a second night camping nearby (and recovering from 8 days and nights in Lima), we drove into Santiago and met our friends and team-mates, Christian and Gaininna. As always, they kindly extended their hospitality to us. Many thanks to them and their wonderful family.
From there, I took a long flight home. Two and a half month long trip. Many new friends. Unforgettable journey.
Close-up of "Seven" at one of his usual cliff perches in Chile just after finishing his southern migration.
(photo by: Bud Anderson)
"Seven" - photo taken just after his southern migration.
** Note GPS transmitter and antenna.
(photo by: Bud Anderson)
"Seven's" coastal cliff at his austral home range near Estero Maitenlahue, Chile.
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