Constitucion, Chile
Today a strong north wind started up in the early morning. It created a heavy fog over the coast with sharply decreased visibility. I could only see about 100 yards which made it really tough to trap. It was also surprisingly cold for the Chilean summer. I quit about 1000 and tag-teamed Kathy, who took off on the hunt for more falcons to tag. We are using a single Honda Recon four wheeled bike for gaining access to the beach area. So only one person works at a time and we go through shifts, early morning, mid-day, and afternoon/evening. This last shift is termed the "witching hour' and is famous among peregrine banders. The capture rate is high as birds try to feed before going in to roost. And last night was no exception.
We are all trying to trap hard as tomorrow is our last day in the field on this segment of the project. Thursday, we head back to Santiago and then home. So, naturally, we all wanted to catch at least "one more bird". After I missed a sure thing on a female flying over in the late afternoon, (I could not get to an open spot quickly enough), Mark headed out to survey the north beach. Kathy and I drove up the coast and once again found "Island Girl' on her usual log perch on an island in the river. I could even see her band. Interesting that some birds, like Island Girl and the Penco adult male have consistent perches that they seem to use on a regular basis while others, such as the birds we are observ ing here, seem to use a variety of different perches. We find these latter birds to be quite unpredictable in terms of where we see them. I'd like to know more about this facet of peregrine behavior, use of consistent perches versus use of general perching "areas".
Anyway, as Kathy and I were looking at Island Girl, Mark called in to report that he had trapped another adult female tundra falcon! He had found her perched near the beach and fortunately, she was hungry. He caught her along the steep slope of a high dune.
"Head Study of Elizabetha"
We are calling her Elizabetha, in honor of a good friend of the Southern Cross Peregrine Project.
"Adult Female Peregrine"
(note salmon-colored breast)
(note salmon-colored breast)
Adult Female Peregrine
Wing.......352mm
Tail.........176mm
Weight....859 grams (30 ounzes)
Band #....1687-02756
Like all of the adult peregrines we catch in South America at this time of year, she was molting hard.
One more day to see if we get even more lucky.........
"Mark releasing Elizabetha ....."
