2009 SCPP - Reports from the field. 24 Feb. thru 28 Feb.

24 February 2009 (Tuesday, Day 1)

Southern Cross members Kathy Gunther and Bud Anderson flew from Seattle to South America via Dallas. Took the usual all night killer flight to Santiago wondering why on earth the airlines insist on flying us all night long. A day flight would be so much better. Depending on his work commitments, Mark Prostor will hopefully be joining the team a bit later.

25 February 2009 (Wednesday, Day 2)

Arrived in Santiago around 10 AM to a beautiful, sunny, warm late summer day. Quite a contrast from winter in Washington.
We were met by SCPP team member and friend, Christian Gonzalez and his two wonderful kids, Seba and Fran. We went to their house in Colina north of Santiago and after throwing our bags down, joined them for some biological control work in the local vineyards. Christian and his wife, Giannina, operate a business called Rapaces Chile. They fly their trained hawks (Harris's Hawks and Aplomado Falcons) at birds in the orchards and vineyards of Chile. We were also joined by a local film crew doing a story on their work.
After a long day, we had a barbecue at the new house that they are building and then hit the sack.

26 February 2009 (Thursday, Day 3)

We spent this day preparing for the expedition. Christian and Giannina helped out with packing gear as we got Lula Belle, our truck, ready for the trip. Changed dollars, bought food and extra gear and headed out around 5PM. We will be driving north to La Serena to look for our tagged bird there and hopefully catch her so that we are able to "recycle" her transmitter. We also want to tag another bird at the cathedral in town. Finally, we are going to try to find Paco's transmitter on a high coastal ridge and perhaps gain some insights into his demise last May.
Arrived at the coast at dusk near La Ligua. By chance, we encountered two young Chilean biologists at the beach. Christian Silva Barrera and Carolin Schachermayer are working on seabirds and fisheries on the Chilean coast at Coquimbo and we had alot to talk about. Christian had recognized the SCPP logo on the side of Lula Belle. He was aware of our project and had even visited the FRG website so it was great to know that we are having an impact here.
They invited us to stay with them at his parents house in nearby La Ballena, an offer we could not refuse. We met his parents, Rosendo Silva and his wife, and enjoyed a late dinner and conversation about birds. Chilean hospitality is legendary and we were once again a recipient of this wonderful element of Chilean culture.
Muchas gracias!

27 February 2009 (Friday, Day 4)

We headed north early, after saying goodbye to our new friends. We will be driving along the Pan-American Highway for the next several days. We revisited some cell towers at Tongoy where we had seen a pair of tundra falcons two years earlier but with no luck.
Continued up to La Serena and drove directly to the row of trees where I saw La Serena last December on her usual branch. This bird appears to be remarkably regular at this site. We found another adult male instead and observed him vocalizing at other adults flying overhead which made us wonder if he is La Serena's mate.
Again by chance, we met up with another new friend, Bob Lang, a fascinating retired American, who is refurbishing a house he bought here a few years ago. He lives right down the road from the perch trees.
From there, we went into the town of La Serena and met our friend and colleague, Manuel Enrique Rojas, an architect in town, who has been watching the two tundra peregrines on the cathedral for several years. He is the local expert on these birds. We went to the cathedral and obtained official permission to go up onto the roof and look at the birds (thanks to Manuel!). We had sighted both adults as we walked to the cathedral, one on the church and the other in a nearby tree. Both had kills and both were eating! Nice to see them again.
In the afternoon, we went back to look for the La Serena bird with no luck. But the male was there.
Met up with our friend, Bob, and he joined us for dinner. Afterwards, he kindly invited us to stay over at his place, which we did. Again, hospitality wherever we go here.

28 February 2009 (Saturday, Day 5)

Up and going after morning tea and coffee with Bob, a fellow traveler and a definite bon vivant who gave me my first taste of good cognac.
We headed over first thing to see if the La Serena bird was at her perch. But no, we only watched as the adult male came into the trees. However, as we waited for her to arrive, Kathy spotted an adult peregrine coming in towards us from the south. Kathy was tipped off by hearing the adult male ee-chupping at another falcon.
It was the La Serena bird in a full, hard driving angled stoop at a flock of pigeons! She flew right by us at top speed, a remarkable thing to see at close range. We could clearly see her transmitter and antenna as she passed by. She missed the pigeons by put into a single tall tree just down the road. We jumped out and served her a free pigeon which she took in the air, landing on the ground soon after. We drove up slowly and managed to get some good looks at her being harassed by Chilean Lapwings and surrounded by 8 Chimango Caracaras waiting for a meal. I managed a few mediocre digi-scope shots from a window mount just to document her transmitter. Too cool. We were delighted with our luck.

From there, we headed north on the highway. Drove all day through Vallenar, Copiapo and finally to the coastal town of Bahia Inglesa near dark. I spotted an adult male peregrine perched on a cell phone tower, a favorite perch for Chilean tundra falcons it would seem. Kathy went out and threw for him and he came in immediatly as soon as he saw the trap. We had to work him for an hour or more as he had an extremely full crop already but we eventually succeeded using Lula Belle to get close to him. We weighed, measured, and banded him before release. Also took a small blood sample for DNA analysis (Hi Isabel!).
Camped on the sandy beach under a moonless, star-filled night with the Southern Cross to the south.