Lizzie Nearing Canadian Border

Don writes....

"Elizabetha flew farther north (and somewhat west) through N. Dakota yesterday, covering 112 km (70 mi). She roosted about 70 km (43 mi) from the Canadian border, and about 100 miles northwest of Grand Forks".

Looks like she roosted on a power pole right next to a farm road.

This area contains a series of relatively large lakes that look ideal for waterfowl. Is she hunting ducks in this area?

Island Girl Pausing Near Hudson Bay

Island Girl is hanging out in the same general area as yesterday, a bit SW of Hudson Bay. She seems to be pausing, presumably at the edge of the snow and ice. I suspect that alot of other bird species are doing the same.

It would be really great to see what kind of migrants are in that area right now in terms of variety and numbers.

The area is flat, filled with small lakes and ponds and is a definite tundra/treeline transition zone.

Elizabetha Covers Some Ground; Enters North Dakota

Don writes....

"Elizabetha flew 274 km (170 mi) into the eastern part of North Dakota, and roosted overnight approximately 130 km (81 mi) west-southwest of Grand Forks; the signal wasn't received soon enough for David Lambert in Grand Forks to try to locate her, but maybe she'll remain within range tomorrow morning."

So she is moving seriously to the north once again. One can't help but wonder what makes her fly a good distance one day and hold up another. What are the factors influencing her decision to cover alot of ground? Photoperiod? Hormones? Senses we can't yet conceive of?

For us, this one of the classic recurring questions.

She seems to have slept in an open field, once again near a small lake. Perhaps even on the ground.

Elizabetha Has a Rest Day

Elizabetha took a rest day yesterday; her two GPS locations were only a few hundred meters from the previous night's roost in northeastern South Dakota.

She roosted out in an agricultural field NE of the town of Faulkton.

Several of the tagged falcons have passed through this central corridor en route north. Again, with each day of data, they are defining the migratory routes of the Chilean birds.

Island Girl Nearing the Coast of Hudson Bay

Yesterday, Island Girl continued to fly to the NE getting ever closer to the coastline of Hudson Bay. Her total distance for the day was 295 km (183 mi).

She spent the night near several small lakes in what looks like the edge of the boreal forest. She was near the outlet of the Nelson River and only 56 km (38 miles) inland from the bay.

Island Girl En Route to Hudson Bay

Island Girl is continuing her course to the northeast through Canada; yesterday she flew 439 km (273 mi), crossing Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. She is heading towards the ice of Hudson Bay. Hopefully, things will have melted enough to support some of her prey species as well.

Don Reports....

"Hi Everyone,

The females have definitely slowed down over the past few days. Island Girl flew 129 km (80 mi) yesterday to a section of Lake Manitoba called "The Narrows". She roosted a few hundred meters from what appears (on the website maps) to be a reservoir adjacent to the lake.

Elizabetha remained in S. Dakota but jogged to the northeast, and is currently headed in the direction of Fargo, N. Dakota (where Sparrow King spent the night recently). She covered 134 km (83 mi) yesterday."

All Three Birds Sort Of On Hold.....

A day of slowdowns. Two of our three of our migrants moved very little yesterday. Sparrow King crossed James Bay and was still heading east.

Don writes....

" We now have all the data for 24 May. Island Girl took the day off yesterday, remaining in the same vicinity southwest of Lake Manitoba. Her 3 daily GPS fixes were separated by about 15 km (9 mi).

Elizabetha flew halfway across S. Dakota, covering 136 km (85 mi). She roosted overnight about 25 km southeast of Pierre.

Sparrow King resumed his modified route around Hudson Bay over the past 2 days. He continued east for 276 km (172 mi), crossed James Bay, and is now in western Quebec."

Important News From Mark Prostor

Mark Prostor is the vice president and long-time friend of the Falcon Research Group. He is also our resident tech guy, having put together our Website, satellite tracking pages, transmitter programming, Seattle Peregrine Project web-cam and all other things technical.

He may not get much mention here but, believe me, he is the one who deserves most of the credit for our on-line programs.

He is also a great field guy, having worked with me on peregrines in Chile, the Falkland Islands, the Cape Verde Islands and down at Padre Island, Texas.

Mark specializes in keeping us at the bleeding edge of the next great thing with falcons.

Well, he has done it again. He writes......

"Hi Everyone,

I have added some new functionality to Elizabetha's, Island Girl's and Sparrow King's map pages.

Below the Google Earth Icon (on each bird's main tracking page) you will notice six additional hyperlinks. These hyperlinks will load daily images of snow and ice conditions near and around Hudson bay as well as Ungava, and Baffin Is.

These images have been taken in the last 24 hours by NASA's MODIS Rapid Response satellite network. The images will be automatically updated on a daily basis (approx 03:00 PST).

The images are filtered using a 7-2-1 color composite (7=red, 2=green, 1=blue.). The colors help represent different attributes of the earth's surface by using surface reflectance. In the imagery, green will generally represent vegetation, black or very dark blue will be open water, Aqua and "cool" blue colors generally represent ice and snow, while white/very light grey generally indicates cloud cover."

Leave it to Mark to come up with something like this....

So the point is to use these images to determine what our tagged falcons are facing as they proceed north into the Arctic. It should give us a pretty good idea of what the snow conditions are in each area.

Looking at the Thompson subset shows that there is still alot of snow and ice present just north of Island Girl.

And if those of you following the FRG site would like to directly express your appreciation for what he does for all of us, Mark's e-mail is mark@peregrine.org.

Elizabetha Pauses at the South Dakota Border

Elizabetha paused in her migration yesterday. According to the signals, she moved only 28 km (17 mi) north during the day. She may be resting up or perhaps she has found a good prey source and is fattening up after her record spring flight.

She roosted on a small hill overlooking a little lake and, as Don points out, she was only about 300 meters (1,000 feet) south of the border with South Dakota.

Island Girl Enters Into Canada;Slows Down

Island Girl moved across the US border yesterday into Canada, the 13th country she has migrated across over her 42 days of migration. She crossed from North Dakota into Manitoba and followed one of the usual routes, skirting west of Winnipeg.

She flew only 144 km (89 miles), a relatively short distance and perhaps in response to the climatic conditions she is encountering in Canada.

Peregrines appear have some sort of cognitive means for evaluating the climate and speeding up or slowing down their migration in relation to the situation as they approach their northern breeding sites. This behavior could be related to several things such as simply seeing heavy snow covering the ground, not finding prey in these areas or who knows what else.

Of course, if peregrines fly north into the Arctic too early and over-run their prey, they will starve to death. If they arrive during extremely cold weather, they could die from exposure. Peregrines that made these mistakes in the past would have been selected out from the breeding population.

So, right now, we are seeing both Sparrow King and Island Girl reducing their flight distances as they fly north. Best bet is that they are simply waiting for spring to arrive in Canada.

Island Girl roosted in a forest grove approximately 62 km (38 miles) SW of Lake Winnipeg.

Correction for Sparrow King Data

The comparative data for Sparky listed yesterday should have read 257 km (160 miles). Sorry for the error.

A Pilot's View of the Peregrine Migration Across the Great Plains

We are all very lucky to have both Don McCall and Mark Prostor working on this project. They are both responsible for processing and relaying the satellite data so we can share it directly with all of you. The time and effort they have both contributed is nothing short of amazing and if you are learning from and enjoying this project, it is in large measure due to their efforts.

And among his many other qualities, Don is also an experienced pilot. I wanted to share some of his insights that he described to me recently in an e-mail regarding the Great Plains migration.

"I haven't plotted E's data yet but, just glancing at the numbers, she went a good distance north yesterday. These long fast sprints across the Plains States are becoming fairly predictable. I've been thinking about why that is (other than their sense of urgency at this point in their migration), and in a sense it's easily understandable. Now this is pure supposition, with no evidence of any kind to back it up, but here's something to ponder.

These birds' lives revolve around energy management. Acquiring it (eating), conserving it, using it as wisely as possible. Well, any pilot can tell you that the Plains States are notorious for thermal activity during the spring and summer. You don't want to be anywhere between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains in a small plane on a sunny day between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (give or take). Every dark patch of farm land gives birth to a convective column of air rising for thousands of feet. When you see the sky dotted with white puffy cumulous clouds -- each cloud represents the uppermost extremity of a rising column of air. Flying above those clouds, the air is smooth as silk. Underneath -- you'd better have a good supply of airsick bags for all your passengers. I made the mistake once of flying from central Illinois to southwest Kansas on a sunny day in June, and it was like being on a roller coaster, except much worse. Catch a sudden thermal and immediately gain a thousand feet of altitude, then a patch of calm air, then another thermal, on and on. One elevator ride after another.

In other words, migrating peregrines crossing this region have a nearly unlimited supply of free energy at their disposal, and I wouldn't be surprised if these master aviators know how to take advantage of that. I don't envision them acting like a kettle of hawks, soaring in circles and riding a thermal to the very top, but even flying in a straight line, these endless thermals must give them a real boost. I imagine one of them flying through a thermal and gaining a few thousand feet of altitude in a minute or two with no extra work whatsover; then a downhill sprint/glide to the next thermal, and repeat, all day long. It seems like this would let them keep up a high rate of speed for hours at a time with minimal expenditure of energy. Every thermal that they encounter translates into an energy gain which ultimately translates into more distance on a given day.

Anyway, these are just random ramblings on my part. But I'd dearly love to see an altitude profile of one of these birds over an entire day, showing how their altitude varies from minute to minute. Might be very enlightening!"

Thanks again Don.

Sparrow King Still Staging in James Bay

Since I was out on our research boat all day in the San Juan Islands surveying peregrine nests and it is late and I am tired, here are Don's comments...

"Sparrow King has stayed on the western edge of James Bay for the past 2 days. His signals show only that he crossed the channel to Akimiski Island, ending up roughly 25 km (15 miles) away.

Here's a bit of a surprise. Both female migrants are now averaging a greater distance covered per day than Sparrow King (and the gap between Island Girl and Elizabetha has closed considerably).

From the Quick Summary Table on the website:

Island Girl 281 km/day (175 mi)
Elizabetha 291 km/day (181 mi)
Sparrow King (CORRECTION) 257 km/day (160 mi)"

Elizabetha Nearing South Dakota

Elizabetha continued to fly almost due north across the Great Plains yesterday, covering 535 km (332 mi). She traveled across the remainder of Kansas and much of Nebraska, putting in about 27 km (16 mi) south of the South Dakota border.

She roosted in a very unusual area. GE shows a pattern of beautiful and unique dendritic drainages full of forests and draining into the Niobara River, the same river that Island Girl visited earlier in her migration. What a gorgeous location.

She seems to have chosen to sleep in a coniferous tree on a steep slope back up in the valley.

What a variety of roosting sites. Antennas, tropical forests, dry pine forests, Atacama desert hillsides. Simply amazing.

Island Girl Just South of the Canadian Border in North Dakota

Don writes....

"Island Girl continued on course toward Winnipeg yesterday, except that she didn't go very far. She travelled 123 km (76 mi) and spent the night in the northeastern corner of N. Dakota, about 10 km from the Canadian border. "

It is interesting at this point to compare some of the differences between tundra and anatum/Peale's peregrines. In Seattle and in the San Juan Islands here in Washington at 47 degrees north latitude, we currently have 1-2 week old eyasses on the nesting ledges or eyries. The adults have gone through courtship, egg-laying, incubation, hatching and brooding already.

Sparrow King, Island Girl and Elizabetha, in contrast, haven't even arrived on their breeding sites yet. So their breeding season is much more compressed than the southern birds.

Island Girl slept only about 10 km (6 miles) south of the border.

Elizabetha Hits the Fast Lane; 600 Mile Day

Elizabetha strapped on the jet pack yesterday and rocketed over most of Texas, all of Oklahoma and a good part of Kansas. She covered 960 km (599 miles) in a single day, the longest distance that she has flown so far on this 2009 spring migration. This is a pretty impressive distance for a bird for one day and one of the best flights we've seen on this project thus far.

Just for comparison, it would take a normal human, driving a car at 60 mph, ten hours to cover the same distance while driving in a straight line. With no stops.

We have been told that Elizabetha apparently holds the world record for distance covered in a single day by a bird (954 miles). She did that flying down the east coast last fall.

But I have to say that 600 miles is still very impressive, especially since she wasn't riding the tail of a hurricane vortex.

She roosted in open farm country about 189 km (117 miles) west of Wichita in some pretty flat agricultural lands. The town of Kinsley was about 3.3 kn (2 miles) to her south.

She slept near an area of farm buildings, possibly on the ground, but I suspect it to be more likely that she selected a pole of some sort.

Elizabetha Tracking North Along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas

Don writes....

"It was Elizabetha's turn for a big day - she travelled 614 km (382 mi) and apparently followed the Texas Gulf Coast (perhaps passing Padre Island) almost to Corpus Christi, Texas and then turned inland; she roosted on the outskirts of San Antonio about 500 meters from Calaveras Lake."

It looks like she did at least pass by, if not over, Padre Island on her way north. We were hoping that she would put down in an area that many of us know so well but it was not to be. She was just too interested in getting north fast. This is where they generally start turning on the afterburners.

She left the coast heading almost due north, a pattern we know well at this stage. We also know that to reach her eyrie on Baffin Island, she will have to eventually bend to the east just as Island Girl is doing now.

Her roost site was totally unique this time. She stopped migrating near the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas. Moreover, she seems to have slept on some sort of structure, perhaps an antenna, at radio station KLRN, a PBS affiliate in the area.

So I called them and left a message with their education person. Seems like they might want to know that a migrant adult female peregrine from Chile spent the night, apparently on their transmission tower, en route to her nest on Baffin Island.

Island Girl Nearing Canada

Island Girl left South Dakota behind and continued NNE through North Dakota yesterday. She covered about 320 km (199 mi) during the day.

She appears to be heading for Winnipeg, just like Sparrow King earlier. She should be crossing into Canada today.

Last night, she roosted in an area filled with lakes and ponds and not far from some sort of structure, perhaps a cabin or house. Hard to tell for certain.

She was about 75 miles west of Grand Forks, North Dakota, on the Red River of the North.

Island Girl Veers East Across South Dakota

Sorry for the late posts. Peregrine breeding season.

Don writes....

"Island Girl continued her big sweeping northeasterly curve across the northern Plains States yesterday; she flew a total of 317 km (197 mi) and spent the night in north-central South Dakota."

Her roost site was really interesting. She slept in an isolated tree directly on a backroad out in the farm fields. If you zoom in on Google Earth, you can clearly see both the roost tree and its shadow. This is one of the better examples showing the resolution of our Microwave satellite transmitters.

As Don reports above, she has now definitely chosen to head NE. So much for her being from Alaska! Oh well, maybe she is a Greenlander.

She was only 36 km (22 miles) east of the Missouri River.

Sparrow King Hits James Bay

Mc Call writes....

"In the past two days, Sparrow King has flown 532 km (330 mi) almost due east and is now on the western shore of James Bay (southern extension of Hudson Bay), just across the channel from Akimiski Island. His backtracking followed by the abrupt right angle change in direction a few days ago look quite dramatic on Google maps."

And indeed they do. Sparky is moving towards Baffin Island but doing so at a far more southerly latitude than in the two years prior. He is getting closer to his eyrie but in a different way, most likely as a result of the harsh climatic conditions that he is encountering to the north.

However, he has homed in on a significant geographic feature that we encountered while chasing Linda in 2007, i.e. James Bay. As Don stated earlier, this is the southernmost extension of Hudson Bay and should have somewhat warmer conditions than further north. In fall, this area supports huge numbers of waterfowl and I would expect the same is true in spring.

Sparrow King is not traveling alone on his way north. There will be abundant birdlife at James Bay, all waiting to stream back into the Arctic along with him. He must be in the company of huge numbers ducks, shorebirds and passerines. We know he is eating well or he would not be where he is now. Pretty obvious, I suppose, but indicative that there is prey available to him.

This is also the location where we had our last signals from Fireball last September.

Seems like another very important area for migrant peregrines.

Finally, One of Our Birds Approaching Padre Island, Texas.

Elizabetha crossed the Tropic of Cancer yesterday, flying another 274 km (170 mi) up the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. She was the last of our three falcons to leave the tropics this season.

She has now entered the offshore barrier island system that exists all along the Gulf coast from La Pesca in Mexico north to Houston, Texas.

This is some of the most perfect habitat for migrant peregrines on earth. In fact, the Padre Island team, working under Tom Maechtle, once captured and banded nearly 700 peregrines there in one month during the fall migration. I believe that is a world record that still stands.

So these islands form a natural leading line for migrant peregrines every fall and every spring.

However, a bird like Elizabetha, passing by Padre Island on 21 May, is late in anyone's book.

Looks like she roosted right out on the sand, as peregrines often do on these islands, but back on the laguna side, protected behind the dunes.

She should have moved into the US and onto Padre Island sometime today. She may have even moved into an area where the Padre team works each fall. We'll see.....





and is now less than 200 km from Brownsville, Texas (and possibly Padre Island).e.

Island Girl Blasts Across the Plains......

Well, there must have been a smoke trail across New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska yesterday as Island Girl set herself a new record for this migration. She covered a smoking hot 843 km (524 miles) for the day, or as Don says...

"... what a day it was! She flew halfway across the U.S. yesterday...."

There is just something about the Great Plains that seems to motivate all of our tagged migrants in the spring. Most, if not all, of them have achieved their longest daily flight distances in this region.

Island Girl also started the traditonal "veering" to the east yesterday. To me, this generally indicates that she will head for Baffin Island or Ungava. We'll have to wait and see.

We were hoping for a westerly trend from her, but then we're not exactly in the cockpit of this rocket. She goes where she wants, as always.

She chose an absolutely beautiful place to sleep last night. Looks like it is a pine forest in some hills above the Niobara River of Nebraska. The areas to both the north are filled with lakes and ponds, a duck heaven.

Check this place on Google Earth. You can see the irrigation circles all around her location. It looks really gorgeous. Wish I was there with her.....

She slept about 141 km (88 miles) SE of the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Elizabetha Moving Slowly Up the Gulf Coast

Yesterday, Elizabetha continued to fly slowly north along the tropical Gulf Coast of Mexico. She covered 196 km (122 miles) for the day and arrived at a huge, salt-water bay very reminiscent of the Laguna Madre at Padre Island. This area will be loaded with birdlife of all sorts.

She roosted for the night in a wide, open, tropical field close to the bay. There were a series of some small ponds in her proximity.

She was about 88 km (55 miles) south of Tampico.

Island Girl Now in New Mexico

Island Girl flew into the United States yesterday as expected. She crossed the Rio Grande and made her way north into Texas.

She had one of her best days so far, migrating 656km (408 miles) across western Texas and on into eastern New Mexico. This is pretty consistent behavior for our migrant falcons. Once they hit the plains states, they really put on the speed.

If she remains on this heading, she could move closer to the front range near Denver, Colorado. This would be the westernmost route that we have seen so far at this point during the migration. Will she continue to follow the lee slope of the Rockies north?

She is currently 160 km from the Colorado border, roughly due west of Amarillo, Texas.

Last night, she roosted on a cliff on the shoulder of a mountain about about 2.5 miles SE of Highway 54 near Ute Lake and the town of Logan, NM.

Sparrow King Adjusting His Migration

Don writes....

"Sparrow King has, in previous years, flown north on a fairly direct course across N. America to some point in Manitoba, and then turned abruptly to the northeast on a heading that would take him directly to his breeding range on Baffin Island.

This year, as we know, he encountered something that compelled him to return south for a couple hundred kilometers, and we've been wondering what he would do next.

The answer - he has flown northeast on a direct heading that will take him to his breeding range on Baffin Island. In other words, he has done exactly what he's done before, except that this year, the northeast segment of his journey started at a lower latitude.

In the past 2 days he has flown 598 km (371 mi) toward his imminent crossing of Hudson Bay."

So it appears that Sparky has adjusted his route to travel below the line of snow and ice. He needs to complete an easterly migration to reach his nest site but was (and this is our best guess) dissuaded by the climatic conditions that exist further north.

So he is still traveling but presumably under more favorable conditions. He is still moving through the boreal forest and remains well below the treeline.

Elizabetha Tracking Slowly Up the Gulf Coast

Elizabetha is moving slowly up the tropical coastline of Mexico and taking it very easy. She migrated a mere 68 km (42 mi) yesterday and remianed close to the ocean.

She stopped off in an agricultural field near the town of Lechuguillas only 1.2 km (less than a mile) from the Gulf.

It is likely that she roosted in that small isolated tree at the edge of the field.

Remember that if you use Google Earth to check out her roosting sites that the transmitters are only accurate to +/-20 meters (60 feet in either direction) under the best conditions. We have seen them off even more in several cases.

Island Girl Approaching the Rio Grande near Big Bend

Island Girl was still in Mexico last night but is very close to the US border at the Rio Grande River. She was well east of the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park in Texas but only 29 km (18 miles) from the international border.

Of course, all of our artificial boundary lines mean nothing to her.

She covered 302 km (188 mi) over the course of her day and was still generally trending NW along the mountain edges. However, as we remain hypervigilant about bearings here, it looks as if she may be swinging a bit more to the north. We are looking for some sort of behavior that may indicate a wider swing to the east as most of our birds have done in the past.

Hard to tell much about where she roosted. The site was over 3,000' in elevation. Looks like high desert with sparse vegetation and some unusual ground tracks leading to what look like waterholes but I can't be certain.

She slept within 100' of a dirt road, apparently on the ground.

Elizabetha Roosts Just North of Cardel, Mexico

Elizabetha travelled 259 km (161 mi) up the coastal plain of Mexico yesterday. Her line indicates that she likely overflew both Alvarado and Veracruz on her way north.

She appears to have roosted in an open agricultural field SE of La Gloria and quite close, i.e. 370 meters (404 yards) from the main Highway 180 heading north. Anyone who has been on a Veracruz hawk migration tour and gone to Johnny Angel Beach or La Mancha has driven right past her roost site.

She was only about 5.3 km (3.3 miles) north of the Hotel Bienvenido in Cardel, the famous location for watching the migration.

Island Girl Approaches US on An Interesting Line

Island Girl is following a relatively unique path among our tagged falcons.

She is continuing to travel through the eastern foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains, 373km (231 miles) inland from the Gulf coast. She was at an equivalent latitude to Port Mansfield near South Padre.

This is a pretty intriguing line. Will she continue to follow the backside of the mountains all the way north into the Rockies? If so, she could wind up being a western bird after all.

However, she is approaching the US border and likely crossed into the US today. And we have had little success in predicting the movements of our migratory peregrines from this area. Most have curved to the east from here or gone almost due north. Only Seven veered to the west.
So, as usual, we are going to have to wait and see where she goes next.

So yesterday, she flew 415 km (258 mi) in a northwesterly direction and moved well north of the latitude for South Padre Island, while still remaining in Mexico. So this is yet another example of a spring migrant peregrine not moving through Padre Island.

Sparrow King Backtracks-A First!

Don writes the following...

"Now here's something that we haven't seen before. Sparrow King has evidently backtracked over 200 km in the past 2 days, and is now south of Winnipeg again. I triple-checked the data to make certain there's no error. Although only one or two of the best quality points are shown on the maps each day, there are a total of 9 location fixes of varying quality all in the same general northernmost location on the 13th (between Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg), and 7 total fixes clustered together farther south on the 15th. I'm convinced this has actually happened."

This is something that we were all wondering about. Mark Prostor has been working on an amazing page that allows us to see the extent of the ice in Canada in real time. Sparrow King was flying directly into it two days ago.

It appears that Sparky has assessed the situation and returned to warmer conditions, no doubt with a higher abundance of food available.

He was in an agricultural area on the outskirts of Winnipeg at last signal.

Do we have any readers from the Winnipeg area who would like to describe the current climatic conditions/birdlife at this time?

Elizabetha Arrives on the Gulf Coast of Mexico

Elizabetha flew a fairly short distance yesterday covering and easy 166 km (103 mi) WNW across the coastal plain.

She flew to an area of coastline near the city of Coatzacoalcos, a location she visited last year too. So this is an area that she knows well. It is pretty much located at the southernmost point of the Gulf of Mexico.

Last night, she roosted in a tree located on a tiny island within a small lagoon only about 230 meters (750') from the beach.

She now trails Island Girl by about 800 km (500 miles).

Island Girl Crosses the Tropic of Cancer

Island Girl flew 589 km (366 miles) yesterday, one of her longest days so far on this migration.

She left the vicinity of Cordoba and, flying inland, bypassed Veracruz entirely. She appears to have crossed the mountains north of Cardel by using a more inland route along the foothills.

Later, she passed close to Poza Rica before eventually nearing the coastline near La Pena.

We can't be certain about the details of her route north due to the small number of signals, but we do know that she flew past Tampico and crossed out of the tropics just north of there.

She finally came to roost at around 3,200' in the mountains within about 8 km (5 miles) of Ciudad Victoria.

This is a really beautiful subtropical area of Mexico as shown in all of the blue rectangle shots on Google Earth.

Elizabetha Nearing the Gulf of Mexico

This from Don...

"Elizabetha travelled 288 km (179 mi), taking a more typical route on her way to the Gulf Coast. She roosted about 80 km from the Gulf and is approaching Veracruz. Interestingly, her latitude last night was almost a full degree farther north than Island Girl's had been the previous night, so she's not too far behind despite having lost about 36 km yesterday on their race north.

The Quick Status table on the website shows that she has averaged 18 km more each day than Island Girl over the first 28 days of her migration, so is gradually making up for having started 5 days later."

She roosted near the town of Teapa about 440' high on a forested hillside overlooking a quarry, a large river and the extensively cultivated coastal plain of Mexico. She was about 98 km (61 miles) south of the Gulf.

Island Girl WSW of Veracruz

Island Girl decided to head towards the Gulf yesterday and took a new route to get there that we have not seen before. She hugged the foothills of the mountains, eventually roosting east of the Orizaba volcano and WSW of Veracruz.

Unlike our other migrants, she did not follow the Gulf coast.

She flew 324 km (201 mi), and slept about 77 km (48 miles) inland.

Elizabetha Traverses Guatemala

Elizabetha flew NW out of El Salvador and crossed over the majority of Guatemala in a day. She covered 262 km (163 mi) and is now approaching the Mexican border.

Ironically, she was not far from where I crossed into Guatemala two years ago with Lula Belle and she slept within about two miles of the road I traveled upon.

She roosted high on a mountainside at about 6,467 feet. The terrain here is quite rugged with twisting mountain roads, vertical cliffs, and rushing rivers.

The mountain people in this area are among the most beautiful indviduals that I have ever seen, slight in stature, bronze-skinned, healthy, with long, black braided hair and wearing the most extraordinary colorful embroidered garments reflecting their particular villages. Each town costume was different, unique and stunningly beautiful.

Very difficult to just drive through but among the places where I would most like to return. It seemed a sort of mountain paradise to my eye.

The two adult female falcons are now only 380 km (285 miles) apart and on the same general heading. Will they cross paths in the near future?

Island Girl Heads Towards The Gulf of Mexico

In keeping with all of our Chilean satellite-tagged peregrines so far, Island Girl has switched over to a heading that will take her up the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

She flew only 67 km (42 miles) into the mountains on a direct path towards Veracruz and roosted out in a dry field at about 800' in elevation. She is following a path that will take her right through the main mountain pass in this area.

So much for our aspirations for a Pacific coast migrant.....

Islsand Girl at A Major Decision Point, The Isthmus of Tehuantepec

Island Girl flew another 237 km (145 mi) along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, tempting us all to think she might become our first (and long-awaited) West Coast migrant peregrine.

However, she is now at one of the traditional crossing points to the Gulf of Mexico, the famous Isthmus of Tehuantepec. This region is well-known as a fall migration route for the millions of raptors migrating through Veracruz every year.

Looks like she also headed to the north a bit before roosting for the night in a brushy lowland area. If she continues to follow this heading, she will fly through a pass that will eventually put her right at Veracruz.

Elizabetha Exactly On Honduras/El Salvador Border

From Don...

"Elizabetha nearly matched I.G.'s distance yesterday, covering 228 km (142 mi), but she is now following a more typical inland route toward the Yucatan Peninsula and points north. Her overnight roost was about 75 km inland, almost exactly at the 3-corners location where the boundaries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala meet."

And, ironically, about 10 miles from where I crossed the border into Honduras a couple of years ago. Beautiful country, rugged terrain, winding roads, heavy tropical forest, rain, fruit, the works.

Sparrow King Hits Canada

Again from Don....

"Sparrow King must have passed near Winnipeg, Canada after leaving Fargo, N. Dakota 2 days ago; he has flown 521 km (324 mi) since then and roosted overnight between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba."

He is once again following the classic route north. He is beginning to arrive at the boreal forest now. Pretty soon the trees will start thinning out and it has got to be cold! Ice ahead.

David Lambeth and Sparrow King in Fargo

I am including this e-mail sent to Don McCall from David Lambeth describing his experiences trying to locate Sparrow King in Fargo, ND.

"Hi Don,
I was unable to locate Sparrow King this morning. I arrived while street lights made it difficult to see into trees. I repeatedly covered the area. It may of course have left already. But I'm wondering about the possibility that it was on the rooftop of a school at the corner of 8th Ave S and University. It's a 2 and 3 story building that covers much of the block.

Otherwise it ws pretty much residential area and I wonder if the density of trees would make it seem claustrophobic to tundra Peregrine.

In my initial scouting, I paid particular attention to any tall structures within 5-10 blocks of the central point and checked them out first thing. There are tall buildings to the north, cell towers, etc., but none panned out.

And the Fargo nesting pair is not much more than a half mile away from the center.

I really couldn't ask for more favorable information such as four points well defined in the middle of the night. So could be no doubt that it was his roost site.!!
Probably in two days he will be well beyond me but just in case let me know. I'll be watching our local water towers today and tomorrow as these are real peregrine magnets. By the way, I checked water towers all over Fargo.

It was fun to give it a try. Thanks for being so cooperative and I hope you didn't lose too much sleep in doing so!!

Dave Lambeth
Grand Forks, North Dakota "

These are the type of dedicated people that show up for this project. Thanks for giving it a good try David. We all appreciate it.

Elizabetha Crosses Nicaragua, Roosts in Honduras

Don is doing my work for me here. He writes...

"Elizabetha is continuing to close the gap on Island Girl, slowly but surely. She travelled 412 km (256 mi) yesterday and is pretty much following Island Girl's route.

Actually they are about 400 km (250 miles) apart now. The gap truly is closing.

She has left Nicaragua and roosted overnight on the edge of the Gulf of Fonseca, in what is probably a stand of mangrove trees, in the southwestern tip of Honduras that extends to the Pacific Ocean between El Salvador and Nicaragua."

I would add that she is roosting near an incredible tidal area featuring extensive shrimp farms. This location has to be loaded with birdlife.

Elizabetha just followed the classic route between Lago Nicaraugua and the Pacific as so many of our tagged peregrines have done in the past. This is being revealed as one of the major migration corridors for peregrines in Central America.

Island Girl Staying on the Pacific Side!

Island Girl continued to follow the Pacific coastal plain in Guatemala and did not proceed north towards the Yucatan. This is a bit more of a deviation than normal and something new.

She left Guatemala and crossed the border into Mexico, for some reason remaining in the foothills and not on the coastline.

Island Girl covered 293 km (182 mi) yesterday and her choice of routes is intriguing.

She roosted in an agricultural field on the outskirts of a village called Esquintla at about 100 m (300') elevation.

Sparky Visits Fargo, ND

Well, this is pretty cool. No other way to put it.

After covering major ground across the Great Plains, Sparrow King has slowed down and last night roosted in the center of Fargo, North Dakota.

He selected a residential neighborhood near 7th Avenue South and University Drive South (Hwy 81) for roosting, and slept about about a block from what looks like a high school. He was only about a half mile west of the Red River of the West, the border with Minnesota.

Although we have had birds sleep in and around small towns before, this is the first relatively large city (population approximately 200,000 people) for one of the tagged peregrines.

If you examine GE and see all of the available agricultural land around Fargo, it seems remarkable that he chose to sleep in a city.

In addition, he was only about 235 km (140 miles) from the Canadian border.

Here are some comments from Don regarding a valiant attempt by David Lambeth to actually catch sight of Sparrow King in Fargo before he moves on.

"Sparrow King, to our pleasant surprise, flew 453 km (281 mi) in the past 2 days and roosted overnight in a residential area near downtown Fargo, North Dakota. This is apparently the first definite roost site in a major city that we've had for any bird throughout the 2-1/2 years of this project.

It's also the first time, I believe, that we've had 3 distinct qual-3 Doppler fixes in a given batch of points (usually the signal qualities are more mixed), and it's also rare for the timing of the signals to let us pinpoint his overnight roost location.

All of this is especially fortuitous because David Lambeth, a new contact in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was hoping for a chance to intercept Sparrow King as he proceeded north. He was only 113 km (70 miles) distant via freeway, and planned to be at Sparrow King's location before first light, so we'll all be waiting to hear if he was able to actually spot the bird. This is a far better chance for success than we'd ever hoped."

We await the results.

Interesting Turn to the West By Island Girl

We had expected Island Girl to head north from El Salvador towards the Yucatan, but instead she did a hard left turn and headed west for the coast. This is a rather unique route for our birds so we are anxious to see where she goes from here.

She travelled 223 km (139 mi) yesterday from El Salvador all the way into Guatemala, generally following the coastal range.

She roosted at about 3,400' on a cliff situated on a sharp, forested ridgeline on the western slope of a stratovolcano called Tecuamburro. There is alot of relief in this area.

From there, she should be able to look downslope at the Pacific about 26 km (16 miles) west.

Elizabetha Slants Across Costa Rica

Don writes...

"Elizabetha avoided detection yesterday (sorry, Marco) as she flew from southeast Costa Rica to northwest Costa Rica, most likely following the typical route east of the mountains.

Most of that travel occurred between 0600Z and 2200Z (the times of our 2 daily GPS signals for this bird) so we have no intermediate points to know what her actual route was."

So she did pretty much as we expected. This is stronger support for the route behind the mountains and into Nicaragua. Our tagged falcons do seem to like this path during spring. You can see this natural route on the tracking map. It is less apparent on the GE image.

Incidentally, she flew 217 km (135 miles) for the day.

Although the GE resolution is poor in this area, it looks like she slept in a cleared area by a river and adjacent to some forest.

If Marco is reading this, perhaps he can share some Costa Rican insights for this area.

Elizabetha Now in Costa Rica Near Kekoldi

Once again, this in from Don...

"Elizabetha flew 250 km (155 mi) yesterday and reached Costa Rica, roosting in the mountains northwest of Kekoldi and about 20 km from the Caribbean coast.

Our friend Marco Saborio in San Jose has a contact at Kekoldi who would have watched for her if possible (and the area around Kekoldi has been a popular roost site for many of our migrants), but no luck this time.

If Elizabetha roosts near San Jose tomorrow, or in an area from which she can be observed or intercepted, Marco will give it another try."

Many of you remember the remarkable photograph of Linda that Marco took when she passed through his country two years ago. You could clearly see the antenna on her back as she was flying.

One of the great shots! Good luck Marco!

She appears to have slept on a forested mountainside at about 3,000' in the Bosque Lluvioso (rain forest) only about 39 km (24 miles) NW of Kekoldi.

She must have flown very nearby to the hawk counting station. In fact, based on the single red signal, it looks like about 8 miles.

Now lets's see if she follows the natural leading line that follows the back side of the mountains NW towards Lago Nicaragua ( like Island Girl and others have done on the past).

She is trailing Island Girl by about 641 km (430 miles) right now.

Island Girl Continues Through El Salvador

Don reports...

"Island Girl continued up the corridor in the western part of Central America, leaving Nicaragua and roosting in El Salvador, very near the border with Honduras. She travelled 305 km (190 mi) yesterday."

She slept at about 1,000 ' elevation in a dry open forest and near a large impoundment. I am wondering if she hunted out over the open water here.

She is about as remote from anywhere in El Salvador as she can be and about 12 km (8 miles) from the border with Honduras.

Looking at her trend towards an inland line, I am also wondering if she is heading for the Yucatan already.

Elizabetha Hanging out in Panama

Elizabetha had an easy day yesterday, flying a short distance west along the Caribbean shoreline and moving only about 96 km (60 miles) for the day.

She roosted near the Caribbean coastline about 1,000' inland in the forest.

On day 22 of her migration, she remains about 675 km (420 miles) behind Island Girl at this point.

Island Girl Between the Lake and the Sea

Island Girl flew completely through Costa Rica yesterday, covering 448 km (278 miles) and crossinge border into Nicaragua.

Her track follows the classic route, that is, obliquely crossing the central spine of mountains in Costa Rica. This is the same pathway that several of our other birds have taken in the past. She started her day flying to the NW and eventually arrived at or near the shores of Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean. And once again, similar to our other birds, she proceeded up the corridor between the lake and the sea.

She roosted about 31 km (19 miles) to the southwest of the capitol city, Managua.

She slept on the dry slope leading up to the mountain at about 900' and near a main road from Managua to the coast, the Panamericana San Raphael del Sur. She was downhill from the town of Crucero, located on the skyline above at 2,900'.

Sparrow King in Iowa

Don McCall reports...

"Sparrow King... continued his sprint across the U.S. In the past 2 days he crossed Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska (970 km / 603 mi) and is now in northwestern Iowa."

This is one of Sparkys top three jumps this season and right in keeping with his traditionally long flights across the Great Plains.

It looks like he put down on the ground, or perhaps a fencepost, in a cultivated field about 2 miles east of Neptune in the heart of American farmland. He was in a low swale less than 900' from someone's farmhouse. Once again, if only they had known that this little winged rocket from Antofagasta, Chile, was sleeping out in their back 40, while en route to Baffin Island.

Here is an e-mail from a new colleague in North Dakota, David Lambeth. He plans to look for our birds as they go through his area this spring. And we all wish him the very best of luck in his efforts.

He writes...

"I see that Sparrow King is already in Iowa. I'm e-mailing to remind you that I will go looking for him in either northern Minnesota or eastern North Dakota when I know his location. At the rate he has been going the last 4 days or so, that could be in just a couple of days. However we now have nw winds and it's rather cold for this time of year. Maybe he will take a break!"

This gives us an insight into what Sparky is flying towards at this point in time. Cold weather. And snow to the north.

Elizabetha's Mystery Route

Elizabetha traveled to the heart of Panama yesterday, bypassing Panama City and the Canal. However, we can't say for certain exactly how she got there because of the signal timing. She may have flown up the coastal route, moving past La Palma, Chiman and Tocumen Airport or, just as likely, she might have flown across the entire Gulf of Panama and the Pearl Islands.

Oddly enough, her route is almost identical to the one last year. It appeared that she jumped the Gulf then too but we can't be sure.

She roosted in the tropical forest about 16 km (10 miles) SW of the western end of Lake Gatun.

Island Girl Reaches Costa Rica;Flies By Kekoldi

Island Girl left Panama yesterday and flew 86 km (54 miles) into Costa Rica. She followed the classic Caribbean route passing near (and maybe right over) the famous fall hawkwatching site at Kekoldi. It is quite interesting that she is following a reverse migratory path at this point. Remember that Kekoldi has one of the highest fall migrant peregrine counts in the world.

Last night, she roosted about 1,000' up in the forested mountains only 5 km (3 miles) inland from the coastline.

Looks like she might have had a great view of the sunrise from there.

Both Elizabetha and Island Girl Are Now in Panama

Elizabetha selected the coastal route through the rest of Colombia yesterday, traveling a respectable 413 km (257 miles) for the day.

She passed over the rockier, more rugged northern half of that country before passing into the remote Darien Gap region of Panama.

She roosted inland from an amazing little coastal village called "Jaque". Check out the GE pictures. Looks like a pretty cool place. Appears that access is by boat or plane only, unless you happen to be a peregrine.


She slept in a tree right along an absolutely intruiging river that flows west out of the Darien coastal hills. This is definite Harpy Eagle habitat.

It will be interesting to see if she flies across the Gulf to the Pearl Islands today.


So the two tagged falcons were only about 500 km (310 miles) apart last night.


Migration days for Island Girl = 25, Elizabetha=20.

Island Girl Roosts on Isla Colon in the Caribbean

Island Girl followed the Caribbean coastline west across Panama yesterday covering 293 km (182 miles) during the day. We can't really be certain of her exact route as our information is based on only a few signals. So she may have flown straight over the open ocean or she might have followed the shoreline west.

At any rate, she arrived at the Bocas Del Toro region and slept on the northernmost of these islands, Isla Colon (obviously named after Christopher Columbus).

She roosted right above the shoreline in an area with several houses and a road.

She was approximately 32 km (20 miles) from the Costa Rican border.

Check out the picture of the sloth hanging on the palm tree on one of the Google Earth blue rectangles.

Sparrow King Rockets Into the US

I think that Don especially likes Sparrow King. Here is his note from yesterday....

"We've also received the first signal from Sparrow King for today, a solid "qual-3". He's decided to stop loafing around (or maybe he caught a huge tailwind from the severe storms that have just passed through the southern U.S.). In any case, it was "Hello Texas, Goodbye Texas." He blasted across the rest of northern Mexico and all of Texas in the past 2 days, travelling 1116 km (693 miles) in the process. His latest position was on the outskirts of Wichita Falls, Texas (just a few km from the Oklahoma border)."

Sparky did turn on the speed and, interestingly, he apparently once again flew inland into Texas, bypassing South Padre Island on the Gulf coast entirely.

His signals (once again we receive them every two days only) suggest that he flew between San Antonio and Austin on his flight north.

Looking at his map, this was his longest jump (693 miles) during the 2009 spring migration so far. Traditionally, our tagged peregrines have covered the most ground (had the longest flights) while crossing the Great Plains of the US (with the exception of Elizabetha last fall).

Elizabetha in Colombia

Elizabetha once again followed the coastline of Colombia as she did the day before. She flew312 km (194 miles) before heading inland a bit to roost in the lowland tropical forest.

She slept near the same location as Island Girl a few days ago.

She is now positioned at the southern end of that same long valley leading north to the Caribbean. This was the line that Island Girl followed before turning left into Panama.

Let's see if Elizabetha to selects this same lowland valley path or if she turns and decides to follow the coastline.

On this ninteenth day of her migration, she is about halfway through Colombia.

Island Girl Midway Through Panama

Don McCall writes...

"Island Girl flew 189 km (117 mi) yesterday (5 May), and is about halfway through Panama. She has gone just about as far north as it's possible to go in Panama, and is about 5 km from the Caribbean and 40 km northeast of Colon. This is the "hump" in the center of Panama, where (I could be mistaken) I don't recall seeing any of the migrants before this, at least this far north. Looking at the map, one almost gets the impression that she really wanted to keep going north, and hasn't yet figured out that she now needs to go south and west if she wants to progress any farther by land."

Don is right about that although some of our other birds have arrived on the north coast of Panama before.

This is the point during its migration where a peregrine needs to perform a major shift in its migratory bearing to continue along the correct path.

From following a strong NE heading through Colombia (and almost reaching the Caribbean), she had to shift 90 degrees to a NW track to avoid crossing the ocean. But then, upon arriving at the northernmost point in Panama, she needs to do a hard left once again and proceed to the SW, almost the exact opposite direction she had been traveling two days prior. So this must be a major adjustment for them, but, being adults, they have all likely taken this route before, perhaps mulitple times. It is just a matter of letting the instinct (or is it simply memory?), to kick in at this point as we have seen many times before.

Elizabetha Follows Coastline Into Colombia

Yesterday, Elizabetha continued to work her way NE up the coast of Ecuador. She eventually flew past the city of Esmeraldas before crossing the border into Colombia. She covered 221 km (137 miles) for the day, cruising through the intense tropical climate and habitat that exist there.

She put in for the night 27 km (17 miles) inland from the village of Tumaco, the southernmost coastal town in Colombia.

From a nearby GE blue rectangle photo of a trout farm (!), it looks like she roosted in a forested area of low hills. She was just inland from an extensive region of coastal mangroves (manglares)with an abundance of salt water bays and channels. As we have seen, this type of habitat is quite typical of coastal Colombia.

And, once again, we are seeing that this route is of major importance to northern peregrines migrating up from South America.

Island Girl Enters Panama

Island Girl took a major left turn yesterday and crossed the Darien Gap into Panama. Looks like she probably didn't quite reach the Caribbean but flew NW up the valley between the two low mountain ranges that exist on either coast. Her track suggests that she went by the small town of Yaviza, notable for being the end of the Pan-American Highway. The famous Darien Gap starts here and consists of a roadless area through the wilderness that exists between Colombia and Panama.

She flew 215 km (134 miles) for the day and roosted in a patch of forest in some low hills (elevation 3oo feet or so) west of the Pan-American Highway. She was about 141 km (88 miles) east of Panama City and should fly through there today.

Sparrow King Crosses Tropic of Cancer

Sparky continues to move north, flying up the coastal plain of Mexico. He has now left Veracruz far behind. He flew about 628 km (390 miles) over the last two days, and passed over Tampico on his way north. Once again, he seems to be taking an inland route north and, contrary to expectations, is not following the Gulf coast route through this area. This is pretty normal for him.

Last night, he roosted 86 km (53 miles) ENE of Ciudad Victoria. He put down just off Highway 180, the main road south to Veracruz.

There is alot of agricultural activity in this area and the habitat will start turning subtropical for him soon. He is only about 249 km (141 miles) south of the US border and should be in Texas when we get his next signals in two days.

So we now have a bird at the Tropic of Cancer, another at the equator and a third about to cross into Panama. That is about a 23 degree latitudinal spread.

Their respective number of migration days are 25 (Sparky), 22 (Island Girl) and 17 (Elizabetha).

Their average distances per day on this migration are 242 km (151 miles) per day (Island Girl), 259 km (161 miles) per day (Elizabetha) and 275 km (171 miles) per day (Sparrow King) so far, which seems remarkably close to me.

Elizabetha Crosses the Equator

Elizabetha is following what is now the usual route through northern Ecuador. Yesterday, she left Guayaquil and migrated due north towards the Pacific coast, passing over the equator as she went.

Hard to accept but, technically, she has entered the northern hemisphere now. No more minuses in front of her latitude coordinate.

She flew 271 km (168 miles) for the day and put in for the night SSW of the town of Esmeraldas.

She roosted on or near one of the ubiquitous shrimp farms in this area, clearly shown on Google Earth. There are often power poles to run pumps for the water in the ponds.

These areas also tend to be loaded with birdlife.

Apparently this location is called San Jose de Chamanga.

Island Girl in Northern Colombia

Yesterday Island Girl flew north through that low-lying valley I mentioned that leads to Turbo and the Caribbean Sea. She flew 238 km (148 miles) for the day and roosted just southeast of Chigorodo about 36 km (23 miles) south of the salt water. She put into an area adjacent to some foothills to the east.

This region consists of tropical lowland agricultural fields interspersed with rivers, streams and forest. There are lots of "fincas" or ranches in this area as shown in the GE blue rectangles.

Island Girl Traversing Colombian Coast

Day 21

Island Girl put in a long day yesterday, flying 409 km (254 miles) up the classic Pacific coastal route through Colombia. She is now approaching Panama and is not far from the Darien Gap region.

She moved up the backside of the narrow coast range here and roosted in tropical forest about 23 km (14 miles) inland from a town called Nuqui.

There is an inland valley here that heads straight north through the lowlands to Turbo (Colombia) on the Carribean.

Will she take that route or will she veer to the NW and stay on the Pacific coast?

Incidentally, Elizabetha (Day 16) is only about 600 miles south and may be slowly catching up to Island Girl.

Elizabetha On The Outskirts of Guayaquil

On her 16th day of migration, Elizabetha crossed the border into Ecuador and passed through the city of Guayaquil. She covered 263 km (163 miles) during the day as she moved up the coast and crossed the Gulf of Guayaquil at some point.

She roosted on a forested hillside right on the outskirts of Guayaquil. The town center is just to her east about 10 km (6 miles). Her signal came from a location approximately 1,000' above the main highway and near an industrial settlement called Lerida. There is a large rock quarry just below her to her south.

This highway (Hwy 70) heads west to the Santa Elena Peninsula and La Libertad, a famous wintering peregrine area on the coast. I have driven this road many times and know this ridgeline.

I have also spent time with Ecuadoran peregrine expert, Nancy Hilgert, in downtown Guayaquil observing peregrines taking bats along the Rio Guayas in the evening. It is a perfect place for wintering peregrines.

Sparrow King Nearing Veracruz

Don writes

"Sparrow King is still the King, and travelled 903 km (561 mi) over the past 2 days."

Sparky is following his normal route to the north, having gone from the Pacific coastline in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia to the Carribean coast in Panama and Costa Rica and then switching back to the Pacific in Guatemala and El Salvador.

During the last two days, he left El Salvador and winged it all the way across Guatemala and crossed southern Mexico. It looks like he did just what he was supposed to do, cross Central America via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

So now he is back on the Gulf of Mexico having shifted oceans/seas four times (Pacific, Carribean, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico) during his movement north.

Either way he went, last night he had pulled into a gorgeous salt water bay just 5 km (3 miles)SW of the town of Alvarado on the Gulf of Mexico and a short distance south of Veracruz.

Anyone who has visited the fantastic fall hawk migration at Veracruz is likely to be familiar with this area, as most of the birding tours head this way. He was not far from Tlacotalpan, a usual stop on the tours.

Based on his coordinates, it looks like he might have roosted on a piling or some type of structure out in the water of the bay.

Elizabetha Now in Northern Peru

Elizabetha is consistently following the coastal route and covered another 399 km (248 miles) yesterday.

She flew past Chiclayo, Cartagena, Piura and Talara and stopped off a short distance to the Ecuadoran border located about 55 km (34 miles) to the east.

She roosted in the desert SE of Mancora and about 18 km (11 miles) inland. She appears to have slept on a ridge located on the side of a mountain. It looks like there is some limited vegetation there consistent with being at the northern end of the Atacama. She is near the transition area where it changes rapidly from extremely dry desert to lush tropical forest.

Note the large river to her north coming down from the Andes. It terminates at Mancora and supports small patches of dry forest.

Island Girl Arrives in Colombia

Island Girl crossed the border into Colombia yesterday, traveling 241 km (150 miles) up the coastline. She slept inland in a tropical forest located on a peninsula edged with several channels and backwaters.

Like several of the other tagged peregrines before her, she is following the classic route along the Pacific shoreline of Colombia. This is just another example of the importance of this flyway for peregrines.

If so many of our tagged birds have flown this route, we wonder how many more South American wintering peregrines use this corridor as they leave the continent.

Thanks to the GPS satellite technology, our funders and these remarkable birds, we are clearly defining not only this previously unknown migratory pathway but we are also learning about the specific dates when these birds are passing through that country.

Any Colombian peregrine people out there? Please let us hear from you.

Elizabetha Still Migrating Through Coastal Peru

Don reports...

"Elizabetha flew 289 km (180 mi) yesterday, still paralleling the coast, and is now about 100 km from Cartagena, Peru. She could be in Ecuador in a day or two."

En route north, she flew past the towns of Chimbote and Trujillo before putting down to roost SE of Pacasmayo.

She is still following the Pan-American Highway and slept on another dry desert cliff in the Andean foothills about 21 km (13 miles) east of the Pacific coastline. She was only 7 km (4 miles) from the actual highway.

Looks like several great hunting areas just to her north in the cultivated river valleys.

Island Girl Crosses the Equator

Yesterday, Island Girl crossed the equator and then proceeded to fly out to sea. She flew offshore at least 33 km (26 miles) before changing her bearing towards the NE, eventually arriving back on the coast of Ecuador. We aren't certain why she did this, perhaps it was a false start on her migration or possibly it was related to hunting and food. After all, she does "winter" right on the coast of Chile adjacent to the ocean.

She roosted up in the coastal mountains once again, this time NE of the town of Muisne and southeast of Esmeraldas. We can't tell much from Google Earth as the area is covered with clouds, but it looks like a forested hillside about 500 feet high.