On Sunday, I drove the dunes at Putu and got a radio signal from Felipes VHF transmitter. Headed in his direction and got some strong variation in the intensity of the beep indicating that he was flying around somewhere. Most likely hunting.
Tracked him down and found he was sitting on a small log between the dunes about 100 yards from the beach. This is a typical perch for peregrines at Putu for some reason. Hard to get close to them without flushing the bird but he was pretty tame still.
I left him undisturbed after pitching him a free pigeon.
Really nice to know that the transmitter is working just fine so we will have a bird to follow soon.
Any day now actually.
Probably hard to relate to in the northern hemisphere right now but the fall has definitely come to Chile. Temperatures have plummeted (54 F. today), rain clouds are ever present (a rarity at Putu for us in summer), the sun is coming up much later and the wind carried a hard, cold bite this afternoon. More like trapping the Washington coast in fall.
And actually, if you reverse the seasons, we are now at about 10 October here. So this change is what helps triggers the movement in the peregrines.
We are ready to head for the Atacama Desert and hope that Felipe follows the coast line so we can stay near him. If he heads for the foothills, it will become more "challenging".
PS Thank you all for the kind notes of sympathy regarding my recent loss. They truly help so far from home.
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