Penco, Chile
As the weather grew wetter and windier, we were forced to leave the Maullin area and drive north to the coastal town of Concepcion. Zach, Kathy and Elizabeth had located an adult male tundra falcon near here on their earlier survey and we had hopes of capturing and tagging him. This male was hunting from a cell phone tower near a public beach so the trapping potential seemed good.
It is ironic that peregrines that used churches and cathedrals for perches in South America in the past are now entering the age of technology along with us, moving from “bell towers to cell towers”.
The tiercel (male) arrived on the tower that evening as we watched from near the beach. Unfortunately for us however, this is a very popular area for people. We had swimmers, joggers, soccer players, soldiers exercising, dogs running, families picnicking and people camping there in profusion. Our chances did not look good for a beach effort.
Next morning, we watched his behavior for clues and found him flying up to 1,000’ before stooping some bird a mile away in the residential areas of Penco. He did this several times, always going up. We tested him with some irresistible “attractants” and found him totally uninterested in the beach. As his territory encompassed a heavily populated town, we decided to pass on him as the challenge in catching him seemed too much. We might have succeeded but it would likely have taken many days of effort. And extra time is something we do not have on this trip.
So we continued north heading for the sand dunes of Putu, still working along the Chilean coast. One of the many things we are learning is that finding peregrines here is extremely challenging. The hills are heavily forested with pine and eucalyptus trees, the roads don’t always go where you want them to and the amount of terrain to cover is enormous and in some ways, overwhelming.
Without our Chilean colleagues, Christian Gonzalez and Gainnina Vesco, we would be hard pressed to find any. Based on their experience and advice, we have been able to find areas that support the birds we are after.
17 January 2008
Putu Dune fields
We arrived here yesterday and Mark went out for the first beach run to the south from 0900-1500. He had a brief sighting of one adult peregrine that blew off as he came around a dune. At 1600, I did another 4 hour run north but saw no falcons. The beach is tough to run as it is composed of large cobblestones. There are enormous sand dunes to the east that roll up into the hills creating a stunningly beautiful backdrop to the ocean waves. Kelp Gulls are breeding by the hundreds and have young nearly full grown so they are very defensive. There are dozens of American Oystercatchers and a fair number of Sanderlings confined to the limited amount of sandy shorelines here. Southern Lapwings pop up everywhere too, alerting us with their ubiquitous calls.
I pulled onto the beach at 0700 and worked my way along the duneline for a few miles. The Chimango Caracaras (our ecological equivalent to crows) were sitting up on the fore-edges of the higher dunes, catching the first rays of the sun and warming up in the golden light of dawn. I expected peregrines to do the same and started looking well inland into the high dunes, especially on the lee sides where the sand dropped almost vertically away for a hundred feet in some places. I reminded myself again that these drops were extremely dangerous and could badly injure or kill any driver that had a lapse in consciousness.
At 0820, I spotted an adult peregrine exactly where I expected. I worked my way into him and threw two pigeons, several hundred yards apart. No response. I thought he might be a male, hesitant to go for a large bird. So I set up a hoop trap and backed off. In a few minutes there were two adult peregrines stooping the set, a male and a female. The female managed to snag the prey and off she flew! I set again and this time, the male came in and was caught by a toe. You live, you learn….this time about the proper way to set a hoop trap.
We brought him in and Mark attached a satellite transmitter. Thanks for showing us how Mr Maechtle. Afterwards, he circled over us, grabbed a thermal and rose up to about a thousand feet before dotting out in the clear blue sky. He looked great.
We decided to name this bird "Paco" in honor of a friend of the FRG.
