Channel Islander

5/11 - Falcon's eye view

2007-05-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

Today Brian and I took a quick trip to Cruz by helicopter to check a few eyrie locations and band chicks. It was pretty strange setting foot on the island without the long boat trip or ATV rides I usually associate with getting to work on Cruz. It was a beautiful, clear day and the flight was remarkably steady. I love flying the islands, it really makes them seem small and access able, though they truly aren't. Its also awesome to get a true bird's eye view of the place. Below are a few pics and vids I shot from the hilo.

Dude.

Willows Anchorage

The back of Brian's head and Laguna Anchorage

Upper Sauces Canyon

Sierra Blanca

South Ridge. Under the big clump of eucs is the UC Reserve Field Station

Central Valley and the Main Ranch.

El Campo del Norte

Chinese Harbor and island fog.

Navy Site

5/8 - Ketchup

2007-05-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

I've been playing catch up with this blog today, and uploaded photos from as far back as 4/26. The end of my tour was extremely hectic and I just didn't have the itch to blog. My season on Santa Cruz is just about wrapped up now. I'll be headed back for just a few more days for nest climbs and fledge checks, but that's it for my time on Cruz this year. It was cool to meet those of you who connected through this blog, thanks for your interest and moral support. I will be working on some interesting raptor projects in the next year, and may continue to blog about them, we'll see. You can always check my Flickr page to see what I'm currently doing.

The next time you are flying over Santa Cruz Island in Google Earth, make sure you enable the "Geographic Web" layer called "Panoramio", and look for the little blue and white easter eggs on the map. Click on them and you'll see photos geotagged to that particular location. Many of the photos were taken by yours truly and other Bird Group dudes. To get your own geotagged photos into Google Earth, check out Panoramio.

5/2 - The greatest OP. Ever.

2007-05-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

I spent the better part of today watching the SCPBRG webcam on San Jose City Hall. Today my OP is my couch, perfect visibility and temps are mild. Already on 3rd lunch, this one with a cold beer. Perfect view of the eyrie and no chance of disturbing the birds. I couldn't ask for much more on a day off.

This pic is for Janet.

5/1 - Hasta la vista, islas

2007-05-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

FLASHBACK - The Legend of Ghostrider Canyon

2007-05-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

I found this series of photos on the shared drive at Navy. I post these not in the spirit of gloating over our mistake or the damage we did to the truck, but purely for the reason that it was one of the heaviest things that happened to any of us during the days of the Eagledudes and it is finally behind us. The Legend of Ghostrider Canyon will always live in our hearts, but will hopefully be forgotten one day on the island....

The launch ramp...

Stage 1...

Stage 2, she wiped out a fenceline and a rotten oak tree just below the crest there...

And she launched, flipped, and came to rest here in Ghostrider Canyon.

Vince secured the scene...

and radioed in for air support that never came.

4/30 - Loose ends

2007-04-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

NEWS - S.B.I. successful hatches!

2007-04-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

Santa Barbara Island has one pair of resident peregrine falcons. Brian Latta recently confirmed the hatching of two, and the piping of 1, eyasses on Santa Barbara Island. This is a huge, historic milestone for the breeding of peregrines on the Channel Islands. The original story is here, but reproduced in its entirety below.

Falcon Nest Yields Live Chicks, Not Dead Eggs
By Melinda Burns
Saturday, April 28 2007

For the first time in nearly 70 years, a pair of peregrine falcon chicks has been seen hatching on Santa Barbara Island, scientists said Friday.

The discovery was made April 19 by Brian Latta, a field biologist from the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Group, during a survey of peregrine falcons on all eight of the Channel Islands.

Two chicks and one hatching egg found in the nest. Courtesy photo by Brian Latta, Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group
Latta rappelled up 400 feet of steep cliff, trying to avoid the loose rock and prickly cactus, in order to reach the nest in a cave high above the sea. He expected to find the usual dead egg, a frequent occurrence ever since DDT entered the food chain decades ago.

“I climbed to the eyrie, hoping to recover an unhatched egg we could use for contaminant analysis,” Latta said. “Imagine my surprise to find two recently hatched young and another beginning to hatch! In all likelihood, there should be three chicks there now.”

Peregrine falcons, a species on the California endangered species list, disappeared from the Channel Islands in the 1940s and 50s because they were indirectly ingesting DDT, a pesticide that was used to fight mosquitoes and insect-borne diseases, beginning in World War II.

DDT has since been banned, but about 1,800 tons of it made its way into the sewers of Los Angeles. From there, it wound up in the mud of the ocean floor off the Palos Verdes peninsula, where the city’s wastewater pipeline emptied into the ocean. It is still awaiting cleanup.

Image
Biologists found the nest on this Santa Barbara Island cliff. Courtesy photo by Andrew Grant, Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group
Fish became contaminated with DDT; seabirds ate the fish and the falcons ate the seabirds. The falcons began to lay eggs that broke early or got dehydrated. By the mid-1950s, the birds were gone from the islands.

The successful hatching on Santa Barbara Island this year may be due to the dryness of the winter season, Latta said. Less DDT may have gotten into the environment because there was less runoff and ocean upwelling, he said.

Milena Viljoen, the outreach coordinator for the federal and state agencies that are managing the $250,000 falcon restoration program, said last week’s discovery on Santa Barbara Island was exciting news.

“It means the population is spreading and reestablishing itself in its historic home on the islands,” she said.

The peregrine falcon was one of the first species to be placed on the federal endangered species list in the 1970s. The bird recovered and was removed from the national list in 1999, but it is still rare in California — especially in the Channel Islands, where the falcons eat a higher proportion of seabirds than on the mainland.

“The Channel Islands birds continue to have difficulty with reproduction,” Latta said. “A number of pairs fail every year. The eggs are thin and break a couple of weeks into incubation.”

Biologists with the bird group began placing pairs of falcons on the islands in the late 1970s. In 1995, they placed a pair on Santa Barbara Island, the most remote of five islands in the Channel Islands National Park.

Last year, it was impossible to reach the nest on Santa Barbara Island because California brown pelicans had built their nests on the trail from the harbor, Latta said. But it's unlikely any falcon chicks hatched last year, he said, or they would have been reported by scientists studying seabirds there.

There are 30 pairs of peregrine falcons on the eight Channel Islands today, probably the offspring of the first birds that were released or of birds that hatched in the wild, Latta said. That’s out of a total 250 pairs of falcons statewide.

Funding for the peregrine falcon survey comes from a $140 million court settlement reached in 2001 between six federal and state agencies and the Montrose Chemical Plant and other companies that discharged DDT into the sewers of Los Angeles. Montrose also dumped DDT-contaminated sludge into the ocean near Santa Catalina Island. A total of $30 million has been set aside for restoration: the rest is for damage assessment and cleanup.

4/29 - Conjugal visit Day 2

2007-04-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

4/28 - Conjugal visit Day 1

2007-04-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

4/27 - Forgot my camera again in Laguna

2007-04-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Laguna has a mojo on me. Every time I go down there I forget my camera on the bike. Once again, I walked off without it and definately missed some good thru-the-scope shots. Sitll a very few whales meandering by on the south side today.

FLASHBACK - Island husbandry

2007-04-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

I finally retrieved the old photos from the network drive at Navy. More to come, enjoy...

4/26 - Scouting out east

2007-04-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

4/25 - Hello, I'm Marlin Perkins

2007-04-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

4/24 - Big picture

2007-04-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

4/23 - Keeping it tropical

2007-04-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Viva El Tigre. My first real O.P. on this island was at that oak tree right on top.

These 2 clips make up a 360 degree view from Coches Prietos Rd., panning from west to east.

This near adult bald eagle was cruising SE along the Los Torres mid morning. It perched for a fem minutes here, but I couldnt read his tag, of course, but it was blue. His bright white underwing patches are very condor-like and striking. The bird eventually took off to the east and I saw it a few minutes later ringing up mwith a red tailed hawk over Albert's Anchorage.

SCPBRG - Devil's Slide with Susan

2007-04-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know Susan Stirling. I had the pleasure of working with her at Devil's Slide last year. Below is a recent SFGate article that features Susan on the job monitoring the Devils' Slide birds. Way to go Susan, keep up the good work! Original article at SFGate.com here. More photos of Susan at the Slide here and here.

ON THE JOB: When Temping's for the Birds, By Chris Colin, Special to SF Gate

When I was a temp, I answered phones in an office. Susan Stirling is a temp, too, but she sits in a folding chair on a cliff over the ocean.

"Drama!" she announces as soon as I arrive. I put my eye to the spotting scope and try to nod intelligently.

"The female is chattering at the male," she explains. "They do this when they want to switch places."

I scan some more. Mostly I'm observing a giant eyelash. But then I see it: a massive and cushiony white breast, puffing out from between two rocks a quarter of a mile away. I'm being flashed by a peregrine falcon.

By training, Susan is not a voyeur. The 63-year-old Aptos resident operates a successful design agency with her husband. But since last spring, she's also had what might be the coolest temp work in town -- as a weekly nest monitor for the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group. (If you happened to notice anyone heroically snatching three perilously placed eggs from the Bay Bridge's central pylon last week, that was the SCPBRG.) Turns out that spot a quarter of a mile away from us is now part of a historic peregrine nesting area. Susan's job is to watch it, well, like a hawk.

Susan is but a cog in a huge and decidedly less bird-centric wheel: Caltrans' Devil's Slide tunnel project. Over the next four years, the agency will be digging a $330 million alternative to the notoriously unstable stretch of highway below Pacifica. It's the first major tunnel to be built in California in 43 years, and the contract stipulates that SCPBRG -- plus a squad of other wildlife monitors -- shall be on hand for the duration.

The action happens just across Route 1 from where Susan sits. A border of orange tape marks the spot where a tunnel entrance will be blasted into the face of the hill. Construction vehicles bleep and rumble incessantly, shoving dirt, backing up, shoving dirt. By comparison, Susan's side is pleasingly simple: just a run of grass, a lady in a chair and then a lip-biting drop to the ocean.

"I have a horrible fear of heights," she mentions, switching from spotting scope to binoculars.

Aside from not stepping 5 feet to her left, Susan's responsibilities are largely notational: Beginning at 7 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m. each day, she fills several pages of a field notebook with her small, tidy handwriting. She notes the birds' comings and goings. She notes their squawking. She notes their moves from aerie to perch, and from perch to different perch. She notes when a rogue peregrine swoops onto the scene to see if the nesting pair remains an item. (Such opportunists will pair off with a resident falcon if his or her mate has died.) She's careful to be detailed without interpreting, and she has a special vocabulary for describing locations on the distant rock: the Christmas tree, the two knobs, the bridge of the nose. She sends her reports to the SCPBRG office each week and then starts again.

"I was a little shocked to get picked, as an amateur bird watcher, for this position. I'd think it would be a dream job for a young biologist," Susan says. She looks around at the quiet. "Well, maybe the young biologists would rather be out wrestling rhinos or something. I guess it takes a certain type to want to do this. I can watch birds in my backyard for two hours on end."

For Susan, the love of birds began 30 years ago -- in her backyard -- when she was living in Hayward. She started paying attention to her bird feeders. As she puts it, she sort of fell in love.

"I've always been a rescuer of animals, since I was a kid," she says. "But birds, they're just -- they're dinosaurs. I mean, that's how our birds happened. I can't imagine not watching them."

In the '90s, biologist E.O. Wilson calculated that roughly 30,000 species were disappearing each year. Decades ago, the peregrine had made the short list. DDT had decimated their numbers -- when falconers came upon their nests, it was broken eggs they found, the shells weakened by pesticide in the mothers' systems. In 1970, only two pairs of peregrines were known to be nesting successfully in the entire state.

It takes a special kind of throat to describe the SCPBRG's work without developing at least a little lump. Formed in 1975, the small group went on to lead nationwide efforts to save the peregrine from extinction. And it did so through systematic monitoring, captive breeding and, ultimately, the release of nearly 800 birds into the wild. Some call it the most successful wildlife recovery in history. The bird was removed from the Federal Endangered Species List in 1999, and 250 pairs are known to nest in California.

One of those pairs, George and Gracie -- now of Bay Bridge pylon fame -- gets credit for bringing Susan to SCPBRG. She'd gotten hooked on the group's PG&E Nest Cam a couple years ago (back then, the two birds had settled onto a 33rd-floor ledge of the company's downtown headquarters), and this led her to a related Yahoo group. When a call went out to the group for a seasonal, temporary SCPBRG nest monitor, Susan talked it over with her husband and decided to apply. Soon she was waking at 5 and grabbing her folding chair and cheese-and-crackers lunch before making the 75-mile drive up the coast.

Susan now talks about the group the way others talk about rock stars.

"It was amazing to finally meet these people," she says. "All those years and all that magnificent work."

At one point, I ask if maybe the Caltrans workers across the road don't admire the group's efforts quite as much. On the contrary, Susan says.

"We're not policemen to them. Anyway, the guys are all really nice -- they come by and look through the scope. They're definitely interested," she says. A colleague of hers observed that the heavy-equipment guys have a particular fondness for birds of prey.

Like many temp jobs, Susan's pay isn't bad, nor is it enough to bring a person to abandon her career in design. Anyway, she wouldn't want to.

"I love my job. My husband and I have had our home office for 12 years, and we don't ever want to stop working," Susan says. "But we also decided we should take a day off each week, do something different. He plays golf, I come up here. It brings depth to my life. There's an element of stepping out of my comfort zone."

Aside from the occasional blasts of sun, or the occasional pelting with rain, or the occasional anxiety about stepping over the cliff's edge, it's hard to see the gig as much of a discomfort zone. (One recalls less panoramic temp jobs.) But the comfort zone Susan describes is a professional one, that of an established and competent designer. The scenery here may be stunning -- how many of us work at places that tourists feel compelled to photograph all day? -- but the stakes are high.

"These birds are amazing. And people have been recording their behavior since the 18th century. It was extremely important to me that I do a good ..."

She stops mid-sentence, having caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. Is the rogue back? She grabs the binoculars. No, just a local seabird dipping by. The rock face is calm, the cushiony white breast turned just a few degrees toward the water.

"And you don't ever get bored," I marvel.

"Sure I do. Sometimes the peregrines just sun themselves for two hours on end. That's when I read my book."

"It's about peregrines," she adds.

Chris Colin was a writer-editor at Salon, and before that a busboy, a bread deliverer and a bike messenger, among other things. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Mother Jones, the New York Observer, McSweeney's Quarterly and several anthologies. He lives in San Francisco.

4/22 - Getting wet out West

2007-04-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

The weather service was calling for a chance of rain today, and when I left the Central Valley it was barely misting and diddn't seem like it would amount to much. By the time I made it out west it was more of a steady sprinkle. I stopped at Christy to fill up on gas and took a few pics over at the main house which I haven't been over to since I've been on island.

The new patio.

From Christy, I continued west into the rain and set up to watch a pair that has been incubating for a few weeks now. The tiercel was policing the cliffs and even flew over to briefly kack at me when I stood up from behind my bush to relieve myself.

Not much action at the eyrie during the 4 hours I stuck around. Both the tiercel and I were getting pretty soggy.

4/21 - Blue skies, scope eyes

2007-04-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

"Scope eye" is a condition anyone who studies raptors is familiar with. After several hours of stairing through a spotting scope at a lazy, loafing raptor, one's eyes become locked out of focus for quite some time. A good case of scope eye usually lasts until late in the eveening for me. Reading becomes impossible and focusing on small things is tough. You see double of everything you look at with both eyes. Other that the eye strain, today was another remarkable island day.

Looking south from the South Ridge at the red rock formations.

Great shot of a subadult bald eagle. The bird flew right over my head, and as I fumbled with the camera, it continued down into Willows Canyon.

Headed out of Laguna Canyon, through the Christy Pines.

4/20 - Eyases!

2007-04-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

eyas n. unfledged bird, especially falcon. Sometimes spelled eyass. The word arose by mistaken division of Old French un niais, from Latin presumed *nidiscus, from Latin nidus = nest. [source]

Rain this morning, pretty hard from 0400 to about 0930. As is typical of island storms, the rain gave way to a picture-perfect day complete with blue skies and puffy white clouds that trudged lazily across the sky.

Santa Rosa Island from west of Christy

Looking East along the North Ridge from West of Christy

Went to check one of the first pair to begin incubation, and one of the few eyries I can see into. I knew something was up right when I got there because she was no longer in a prone position, she looked like she was mantling. but her back was to me and she made me wait for 3 hours before I got a look when the male came in with chow. She left the ledge temporarily and returned with the prey item and began to feed. Three perfectly white cotton balls eagerly stretched up their necks to be fed.

Horrible photos I know, but I was looking into the sun. In this pic you can see 2 eyases just to the right of mom.

4/19 - Storms a comin

2007-04-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

LAst night's gale force winds gave way to a peaceful, gorgeous island morning. By 9 am I was down to just a t-shirt and it was feeling like summer. This place has severely dried out since I was here last. I think the wind was fairly constant the whole time. Now it seems that the island has skipped spring entirely. All the hills are mostly brown, and I have yet to have a bad allergy day which is weird for this time of year. Anyway, I spent the day watching a pair that was very late to begin incubation. Only saw the female briefly early on in the day. The tiercel spent the better part of the day perching and preening and profiling on the cliff. He took her food once, early, and just played cliff cop the rest of the day, stooping half-heartedly on gulls, ravens, a red tail, and an occasional pelican that got too close.

The weather changed abruptly late afternoon and you can really feel the storm coming in. They're calling for 70% chance of rain tonight, and I'll bet on it. I just got off the phone with Amy and its raining in SLO. Hopefully Sam's Pad is water tight. Will be surprised if the internet connection is up tomorrow, so I may not post anything for a day or 2.

Quick question, why do spell checks always want to capitalize "internet"? Is it considered a proper noun?

4/18 - Honeymoon's over

2007-04-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

I had a great, no stupendous 9 days off. Lets see, a few days of kestrel trapping, Groundation played in SLO, and, oh, Amy and I got married (!!!!) Yes! We got hitched in Morro Bay on April 12 and here is a photo us floating in our sea of marital bliss. The Pacific ocean was a different story altogether, and the ride over was an endurance test. Wind 20-30, sewll 8-10 with a 6 second interval. Wow, it made for a really rough ride and would've been a puker for me if I had been on the Park boat and not Island Packers. So having left my awesome new wife behind and getting tossed about on the water for 2 1/2 hours, it was tougher that usual for me to get back in the island groove today.

SCPBRG - UCSC hack site update

2007-04-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

UCSC students monitor peregrine falcons after release at Long Marine Lab, by Brittany Grayson. Photo by Maggie MacDonald

Three peregrine falcons released by the UCSC Predatory Bird Research Group are testing their wings around Long Marine Laboratory under the watchful eyes of a group of UCSC students.

Adult peregrine falcons--the fastest creatures on the planet--make 200-mile-per-hour dives as they hunt small birds. Charged with monitoring the young falcons as they learn how to fly, feed themselves, and survive in the wild, the students peer through binoculars and spotting scopes and use radio-tracking equipment to keep track of the birds when they fly out of sight.

Supervising the operation is Glenn Stewart, a program manager for the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group (SCPBRG). The five-week-old falcons, two brothers and a sister, arrived at the SCPBRG facilities at Long Marine Lab on March 14 from an East Bay aviary where they were hatched. For the first few days, the birds lived in a "hack box," a simulated nest site mounted in a stairwell of the Center for Ocean Health Building at Long Marine Lab.

Stewart and his fellow researchers opened the door of the hack box on March 17 to release the falcons. The actual release date, however, was left up to the falcons--they fledge, or fly from the nest for the first time, on their own timetable. Since fledging, they have been returning to the hack box daily for meals of quail left by the researchers.

A similar procedure awaits the birds expected to hatch from three eggs SCPBRG researchers rescued last month from a peregrine falcon nest on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The rescue operation--carried out on March 30 amid a flurry of media attention--was necessary to ensure the survival of the fledglings. The bridge is an appealing nest site to adult peregrines, but it is a dangerous place for their young to fledge, Stewart said. Fledglings from bridge nests often end up drowning in the water below or being struck by cars on the bridge.

At Long Marine Lab, meanwhile, the released birds in their juvenile plumage are still gawky adolescents, clumsy on their first flights and unsure how to hunt. Once they learn how to fly, their 200-mile-per-hour dives as they hunt small birds will make them the fastest creatures on the planet. Reaching that level of skill is an instinctive process, but it takes time and practice.

During the first few weeks, Stewart's students mount a dusk-to-dawn watch to keep an eye on the falcons. The birds are all banded and tagged with temporary radio transmitters. Stewart shows the students how to operate the tracking equipment, but he maintains a learn-by-doing attitude toward the monitoring work.

"My approach is to let the students do it," Stewart said. "It's interesting and fun for them, and it gives them that extra point on their resume that is actual wildlife conservation experience."

Stewart said life for an adolescent falcon is full of dangers. Golden eagles, great horned owls, coyotes, and bobcats are all predators eager to take advantage of a falcon that hasn't quite figured out how to take off from the ground yet. Researchers watching hack boxes up in the mountains have to worry about those threats, while life in the more urban environment of Long Marine Lab has its own spectrum of dangers, including dogs, cars, and people.

Falcon watcher Stephanie Quihuiz, a UCSC junior majoring in environmental studies and biology, said houses and buildings are among the factors that make keeping track of the fledglings difficult.

"I think keeping an eye on them is more difficult in an urban area," Quihuiz said. "The other day, Glenn pulled one out of a trash can."

Stewart explains that the trash can incident happened on a rainy morning, when the falcon probably didn't know what to do with his wet feathers. When trying to land or perch on the trash can, he lost control and fell into it. Once there, his damp plumage and the slick side of the garbage bag trapped him. "When I pulled him out, his feathers were all wet, and he smelled like a cup of coffee," Stewart said.

According to Stewart, a large proportion of young falcons don't survive their first year in the wild. This was an enormous challenge for conservation biologists, including those at SCPBRG, who fought to bring falcons back from the edge of extinction in the 1970s. Now, however, falcon populations are booming. No longer on the federal Endangered Species List, they remain on the state list and are fully protected.

During the population recovery effort, the UCSC group released nearly 800 captive-raised peregrine falcons into the wild. The group continues to release falcons at two sites in California every year as mitigation for potential impacts of human activities on nesting peregrine falcons and to salvage young from urban nest sites where fledgling survival is poor, as in the case of the Bay Bridge nest. The releases also provide an important opportunity for people to learn about peregrines and gain a better appreciation for the conservation of nature, Stewart said.

Sandra Menzel, a conservation biologist who monitored last year's batch of falcon fledglings, said that releasing falcons at places like Long Marine Lab, where tour groups and other visitors to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center walk by all day long, is incredibly important.

"If it's one kid every year who gets stoked about falcons, or raptors in general, it's worth it," she said.

Apparently, it's working. One of the students who monitored the falcons this year is Sarah Carvill, a senior in environmental studies who remembers coming out to hear Stewart talk about falcons when she was only five years old. Like the other student researchers, Carvill said that getting to know the birds and being forced to spend hours quietly observing nature were the best things about the experience.
"It's about getting beyond the ‘magnificent birds of prey' idea and seeing them in the context of their world," Carvill said. "It's amazing to see how vulnerable and how clumsy they are, and to watch them trying to figure life out."

Original article here:
http://currents.ucsc.edu/06-07/04-09/falcons.asp

NEWS - Bald eagle hatches on Cruz

2007-04-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

According to the Santa Cruz Bald Eagle crew, adult female bald eagle A-26 hatched a chick yesterday morning at about 0715. This is her second successful hatch in 2 years of breeding. Congratulations to the new parents, and all the hard working folks (especially Dave and Jess!) who have dedicated so much of their lives to restoring these birds on the Channel Islands. Good work folks!

Here is a clip of the chick hatching yesterday, compliments of the Cruz Bald Eagle crew:

More updates from the Bald Eagle crew will follow on their blog here:
http://www.eaglefix.com/

And the cam's WMV stream is online at:
http://media1.vcoe.org/eaglecam1

SCPBRG - Two new falcon cams!

2007-04-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

This just in....The SCPBRG has just launched 2 new peregrine nest cams for your viewing pleasure.

The first cam is on the eyrie at San Jose City Hall, this pair is currently incubating and has been on eggs for several weeks now. The cam is located at:
http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/falconcameraSJ.htm

The second cam is on the PG&E building, where the famous George and Gracie appear to be staking out a scrape for a second clutch. So we may get some G&G on camera this season after all! The G&G cam is located:
http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/falconcamera.htm

According to our "I.T. Guy", the cams work best in Explorer (Win) and Safari (Mac).

VIDEO - Mississippi peregrine restoration

2007-04-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a cool, informative video about the efforts to reintroduce peregrines to the bluffs of the Mississippi River. Some good footage and general info. Worth watching (7 min.)

VIDEO - Peregrine interactions

2007-04-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

Not Channel Islands related, but well worth passing on to those interested in peregrines. This video was shot by peregrine researcher Guido Aijkens in the Netherlands. Not only is the video high quality, but it captures some very interseting peregrine interactions that may or may not be more common than we are aware of. Here is what Guido had to say about the video:

"Last week I was taping a live-stream of a couple of peregrines breeding at The Mortel (Brabant, The Netherlands). I just had my recorders running, when an intruding adult female dropped in at the box, and took a few look inside. At that moment the male was on the eggs. He's shouting at her, but he is wise enough to leave. Good luck the breeding female was not at the eggs, the story could have ended quite different for the birds and their 3 eggs.

For those who want to see the whole event (it's a very high resolution cam) go to the link below. The clip is around 6 minutes, and about 13Mb so downloading can take some time depending on your internet connection speed. - Guido Aijkens"

And now here's the link to the video:
http://www.zshare.net/video/nightmare-at-the-mortel-wmv.html

4/7 - Departure from Prisoners

2007-04-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Today I had an early departure scheduled with Island Packers from prisoners harbor. Colombus was headed to Scorpion to check on the pairs over there, so we loaded the bikes up with my gear and drove it down to the pier.

View of east end cliffs from the IPCO boat.

4/6 - Falcons in the fog

2007-04-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

The sun rose under heavy forg on the east side of the central valley today. Colombus and I split up for the morning and checked on two of the last-to-lay pairs. As if its not already hard enough to figure out what these birds are doing, since 2/3 of the eyries aren't visible, intermittant fog at the cliffs compound the problem. Is that the same bird that was perched there before the fog? Where did they go? I'm pretty sure I still have a bird, no, wait, that's a cactus.

I had some great observations of a tiercel defending his cliff against anything that dared fly past it.

The candle powered digital stereophonic low-fi system in Sam's Pad, cranks out the roots reggae and bluegrass when I'm at the Pad.

NEWS - Project Gutpile press

2007-04-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Not peregrine falcon related but definately related to birds of prey....Most of you know about Project Gutpile and what we're about. If not, you can read all about us here. We got some good press today in a story by Matt Kettmann that's raunning on Time magazine's website, time.com. The story is called "Taking aim at Hunter's Ammo". Thanks Matt for a solid article and for covering the issue! Read it at time.com here, or archived by Project Gutpile here.

And while I'm at it, in case you missed the KQED piece on condors and lead featuring Project Gutpile's Anthony Prieto, you can watch it bigger here, or smaller below.

4/5 - The North Slope is another Island

2007-04-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

Walking onto the north slope is always an adventure, it really is a different island over there. No matter how many times I hike down that slope, the hike back up remains as relentless as ever. Today was fairly foggy down slope, making the monitoring of an already hard-to-see pair even more difficult.

Island Lotus, for Mike Stiles

Colombus describing the intricacies of peregrine monitoring when you can't see the eyrie.

The view of the eyrie.

Preening tiercel.

Back at the Diablo saddle after a long hike up.

Fog on the North Ridge, from upper Portezuela.

The Tall Trees in the Central Valley. A handful of these Eucalyptus are over 70 meters tall, making them all candidates for the "tallest angiosperm in N/S America" prize.

4/4 - Mission accomplished

2007-04-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

Colombus came back on island to help out and we charged early today on a mission to find the pair I have lost this week. Question is, who had lost whom. Turns out they hadn't moved far, in fact just to the other side of the formation their usual eyrie is on. Getting out at the crack of dark paid off big today.

Gerlach at Centenella.

The evening commute.

Hunters' camp in the Central Valley.

4/3 - More incubating birds

2007-04-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

Right now, this very moment, on a magnificant seacliff on Santa Cruz Island.....

...there is a peregrine falcon quietly incubating 3 eggs....

...lucid but dreamy, the falcon lays as if in a trance.....

....focusing all its energy on on the lives it is warming.

The Park Boat headed in to Prisoners from Santa Rosa Island

View of Amphitheater Canyon, above Black Point, west end.

4/2 - Sam's Pad and incubating birds

2007-04-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

Today was a much better day than yesterday in the sense that I actually saw peregrines in two separate locations, and moved into a more permanent and much quieter living space. A group of 20 high school kids from East L.A. arrived today for a 5 day field study. I was offered a trailer away from the main buildings and I jumped at it. Its pretty cool, great view and relaxing vibe. i always called it "Sam's Pad" because my friend (and all-around Channel Islander extraordinaire) Sam Spaulding was the first to inhabit it. So I spent the morning bleaching the place out and moving my stuff in. If it isn't apparent by my constant obsession with where I'm living, housing can be an issue out here certain times of the year. Having to pack up your stuff and move every week is par. Luckily, I shouldn't have to move all my stuff again until I leave.

The view from the deck at Sam's Pad

Made a run out to the south side to check on an incubating pair. Got to watch a food delivery and some stunning falcon aerobatics. Unfortunately the camera got left on the bike and I didn't get to even try for a blurry washed out falcon silhouette. Next time for sure.

4/1 - CSI Peregrine, West End

2007-04-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

Another huge day of hiking and trying to relocate a pair that has given me the slip. Walked most of the bluffs from Christy West to Frazier Point and couldn't find any peregrines. Highlights of the walk were the merlin I flushed from the tree at Blue Gum cove, and an young bald eagle that perched on Black Point for an hour or so and drove the gulls and oystercatchers absolutely nuts. I was too into the search to take photos, but when I got to Frazier I dug out my camera, it was in full bloom and brilliant.

Looking north at West Point from Frazier Point.

Memorial cross on Frazier Point.

Classic peregrine kill. Headless, surgical, couple of nice V shaped notches in the keel bone. I found 8 of these on Frazier (I'll spare the pics), looks like somebody has been hunting here big time. There are hundreds of seabirds that roost (and some nest) out on Frazier. There were hoardes of western gulls, brandt's cormerants, pelagic cormerants, and brown pelicans. The smell was pungent but in a bizarre way, kind of energizing.

3/31 - 2 steps forward, 1 step back

2007-03-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Boy did I ever get royaly hosed today. Went to check on one of the most predictable pairs I am monitoring, only to find that they are gone, vanished into thin air. Hours of watching and pages of notes down the tubes. Spent the second half of the day in a manic hike....sit and stare....hike....sit and stare.....hike....drive......hike......sit and stare mode and never saw a falcon the entire day. Very frusterating and I wasn't in the mood for picture taking most of the day, so not too much interesting stuff to share today. Back to the same spot tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to locate the pair.

Stopped to get gas at Christy on the way back in and had a subadult bald fly right over the ranch house. Didn't get the camera out in time though, it must be just to the left of the frame.

RESEARCH - The Southern Cross Project

2007-03-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

Not Channel Islands related, but definitely peregrine related, here are a couple of amazing pages for you to check out. This is a fascinating project being done by the Falcon Research Group.They tagged a group of peregrines in Chile and are tracking their incredible migration across two continents. And its all viewable on the web. I'm honored to say I'm friends with a few of these guys, and I am both inspired and humbled by their work and talents. Its a fascinating project. From their website ...

"The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) is perhaps the most widely distributed bird on earth. It occurs on every continent (with the exception of Antarctica) and many isolated oceanic islands. Because of this broad distribution and subsequent isolation, 17-19 distinctive subspecies or “races” have evolved over time. Despite their name, which means “wanderer”, the majority of peregrine subspecies are sedentary, remaining at or near their breeding sites throughout the year. Only five subspecies are strongly migratory. All of them breed in the northern Arctic regions and migrate south in the winter. Two races nest in North America and three others breed across Europe and Asia. The most highly migratory race is the North American tundra peregrine (F.p. tundrius), which breeds across the North American Arctic from Alaska to Baffin Island."

"Every September, these falcons fly south into the US, Central America and the Caribbean to winter. Some continue to migrate into northern South America. A special few, the “deep peregrines”, fly all the way to central/southern Chile and Argentina, well south of the Tropic of Capricorn. In a sense, these are “super peregrines”, some flying perhaps 9,000 miles in both the fall and spring every year. They have traveled across two continents and more than a dozen countries (Canada, US, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile) on their journeys to the south. Band returns have demonstrated that Alaskan peregrines undertake the longest migration of any raptor in the western hemisphere and we suspect they also perform the longest migration of any peregrine in the world."

These guys are doing an incredible job displaying the tracking data with Google Earth and Google maps. You can check each of the 7 birds' daily movements online, or grab the .kmz file and fly along in Google Earth. Really, really cool.:
http://frg.org/SC_PEFA.htm

Check out their blog here:
http://frgroup.frg.org

And check out their image galleries from Chile here:
http://www.frg.org/gallery_s-cross1.htm

3/30 - Patience grasshopper

2007-03-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Another perfect day today, high 70's I'd guess, maybe 80, and a light SE/SW breeze that was just enough to make the visibility good and keep me from overheating. Today was an exercise in patience. Nick once said something to me about liking this work because it is truly "in the moment". I totally agree. How often do you get to sit in one spot long enough to see the subtle differences the shadows make on a cliff as the sun passes overhead from morning to evening. It allows you to tune in to the earth's daily rhythms that in our insulated lives we forget. The ebb and flow of different insects throughout a day. The warming and rousing of reptiles. The way the smells change and erupt as the warmth of the sun invigorates the blossoms. Not to wax poetic or anything, but I really enjoy the fact that my work requires a sort of zen-like patience and quiet attentiveness. Today was no exception.

This one is for Fabio. I always hear his voice when I pass this sign.

The Los Torres from Coches prietos Rd.

The office.

I watched this bird perched, motionless, for 3.5 hours today before she finally made a move ...

...and perched here for another hour. Meanwhile I was developing a bad case of scope-eye, and still seeing double as I type this.

Looking back up the Los Torres from the southwest end.

View from the southwestern end of Los Torres ridge.

3/29 - Back at it, again

2007-03-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

Woke up with a start and got into the field early. Last night was one of the coldest I can remember here and the Central Valley floor still had a serious chill to it this morning. By about 0700 I could tell it was going to be a remarkable day. Turned out to be perfectly summery, and downright hot at times. I went on a hell-bent cross country hike to assess a portion of cliff I keep seeing a pair go to but, have not been able to see from any of my OPs. It was crazy at times, wading through head high black sage and sugar bush. It never fails out here, what looks to be a simple straightforward hike turns into a huge undertaking when you finally confront all the choked canyons you must ford to get the view you need. I got pretty beat up but it was totally worth it. Took me all day and a bunch of driving and walking to find the pair, but when I finally found them they showed me exactly what I needed to know.

View from one of my offices today, looking down the south side toward Valley/Blue Banks.

Looking east toward Marmetta's and Yellow Banks.

View from another office, looking down the south side toward Albert's Anchorage.

Total hottie, an Island 10 for sure.

3/28 - Windy passage

2007-03-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

One of the unique aspects of this job is that sometimes, no matter how fired up you are to get to work, you just can't get onto the island. Yesterday was one of those days. I left SLO at 4;30 AM to catch the park boat. Found out when I arrived in Ventura that it was cancelled due to heavy winds in the channel. Turned around and drove home and did it all over again today. I had a spot on the 9am Island Packers boat, but they cancelled that too, so I bummed around in Santa Barbara waiting (and hoping) for the 11am. Packers came to the rescue once again, and we headed out into the 25knot wind and 8 foot swells. What a ride. The boats in the pic below (in Ventura Harbor) look pretty big, but we got tossed around quite a bit. Lets just say that the barf bag dispenser on board was empty by the time we got to Scorpion. I had Dramamine in me so I felt good, but drowsy, the whole way. Needless to say I was ecstatic to get to the pier and pretty beat up from the ride.

AUDIO - Peregrine sounds

2007-03-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

My cheap digicam doesn't capture audio, which is such a huge component of peregrine observing, so I thought I'd post some here just for fun. This is a sound file from the Nature Watch podcast. Some general info on peregrine ecology, but in the background you can hear a variety of typical peregrine vocalizations. (90 sec. mp3)

FLASHBACK - On the shoulders of giants

2007-03-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Lee Aulman collecting thin-shelled eggs, sometime back in the 1890's or early 1900's, I'm guessing.

Came across this photo and I couldn't resist posting it here. This image pretty much sums up why I'm doing what I'm doing, even though I'm usually broke and don't get to see that much of Amy during the field season. You know, I often wonder just exactly how I found myself in this line of work, and I can't tell you how many times people say "Man, you've got the coolest job". Its definitely cool sometimes, but there are all those times when you wonder how long you'll be able to keep it up and when, if ever, you'll graduate to a 'real" job with benefits and paid vacations and a normal 5 day a week schedule. For me, it all comes down to the example put forth by the people I and fortunate enough to work with. Lee Aulman (pictured below), Brian Latta, Brian Walton, Janet Linthicum, Daniel Driscoll, Greg Doney, Ron Jackman, and Mike Smith, these are the folks who have set and maintained the bar for me. They are what I measure my effort against each day I'm in the field. They are the jedis, the shamen, they understand and respect the eagles' and falcons' secret ways. The sacrifices they've made- personal, physical and financial- toward their goals of raptor conservation are THE reason I have a job monitoring peregrines in the wild today. Knowing all that they've done is all the incentive I need to hike that next ridge or spend a few more freezing hours at my OP to "get the goods". Yes, there are still people in this world who are willing to put nature before themselves. They may not be the richest people, but they have shared their wealth with me and for that I will always be indebted. I am honored to call these people my friends and mentors.

I received this sweet email the other day from someone I've never met. In a way, her words are directed to the folks I just mentioned above, since they are the giants who's shoulders I stand upon every day. I hope she doesn't mind me reprinting her kind words here:

"Hi there. I only know about you and your website through the scpbrgconnection- have been falcon addicted for several yrs. But just wanted to say that I'm very much enjoying your pix and stories. It's just another aspect of the whole picture. Each one draws me in more & I have so much appreciation for what you and the group are doing. I can't imagine, at my age, going to such extremes, but am thankful there are those like you who can and will. Please keep it up & know there are many of us out here who appreciate what you're doing and wish they could contribute in such ways."

Thank you. We all needed that. And the comment about the 'big picture' is so right on. I am constantly aware of my place in the big picture and and how lucky I am to be able to contribute, in some small way, to all the hard work and dedication that has come before me.

And while I'm still up here on the shoulders of giants, here's a must-see video for anyone interested in peregrine falcons. Its called "The View Over Time and Space: Three Decades of Endangered Peregrine Falcon Research" and it stars Brian Walton basically telling his life story and how he came to lead the effort to restore peregrines on the west coast. Check it out (43 min).

3/23 - Scorpion sunrise and homeward bound

2007-03-23T23:39:00.000-07:00

This and the last 4 posts are being submitted from my home in SLO. So nice to be here with my sweetheart. The internet connection at the field station was down for most of the week, so this is the first chance Ive had to post pics. Came home for 4 days to visit Amy and let a few of these Cruz pairs settle into incubation. colombus will remain out there till I return next tues. My last day at Scorpion was nothing short of wonderful. Very tropical that day and if it weren't for Amy I woulod've just walked back over Montanon and continued my stint. I got up at the crack of dark and made my way up the hill from Park housing. Got in a few hours of obs before the mid day Island Packers boat arrived, and 90 school kids got off. Good time to be leaving Scorpion.

Old caves used for storage at Scorpion Ranch

3/22 - Second hike to Scorpion

2007-03-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

The east end is quickly becoming my favorite spot on the island to observe falcons. I'm guessing it has something to do with all the hikers that walk the trails on the bluffs here. I get the impression that the birds are very accustomed to humans, and so far my trips here have been filled with amazing observations of peregrines ripping around the step cliffs in mind-blowing displays of aeronautic expertise.

Colombus near Coche Point. The North Slope is in the background.

Potato Harbor.

We hiked a ways downslope to get a view of a perched falcon. After a few hours we were both getting hungry so we scrambled up the hill, only to find these two raven were having their way with my lunch.

It was interesting what they chose to eat, basically all the good stuff. They took all the meat, cheese, and peanut butter pretzels. left the apple, granola bars, and Emergen-C.

I layed down in the grass and this female was hanging on the wind directly overhead for at least 5 min. Through my binos I could see her studying me, cocking her head from side to side, standing virtually motionless on an updraft. Perfection.

3/21 - Los Torres and Coches

2007-03-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Forgot the camera on the ATV again today. That really stinks because I was in some great new places and I hope to not have to walk all the way back there any time soon. I snapped a few from the parking spot and called it good. Colombus stayed on an OP while I hiked to get some new vantages on an area we are surveying with a pair of adults that were previously unknown to the PBRG. Still not sure where they are going to breed and they are covering an enormous chunk of territory. Just when I think I know what's going o with this pair, they throw me a huge curve ball.

El Tigre.

Looking down on the Main Ranch (TNC) from Coches Prietos Rd.

The main building at the UC Field Station. Inside is the kitchen, common area, and several bunk rooms.

3/20 - South Side soaker

2007-03-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days when your instinct tells you to stay in bed but you don't listen to it and find yourself fumbling around in the fog wishing you were still in bed. Fog turned to drizzle which turned to sprinkles and eventually light rain. We bailed out of the field early and were soaked by the time we got back to the field station. After a couple hours of doing paperwork and trying to revive the already crappy internet connection, we headed back out and got in a few good hours of peregrine watching.

Colombus on middle Los Torres ridge.

The view for most of the morning. Spectacular, eh?

After it cleared up we were treated to a few hours of watching a pair (we think a very new pair) hunt, preen, and perch in an area we are hoping they will set up shop. This pair is perplexing. We can almost always find them in the same places, and several times we've followed them to some places where there is definitely suitable ledges and potholes. Yet we have never seen them copulate, but boy do they pair hunt and vocalize to each other. It will be a huge victory for us if we can find this pair's eyrie.

The female on a favored evening perch.

Tiercel, hunting.

Tiercel getting ready to bolt out to sea.

This was fascinating. Here's the female again, perched in a most unusual spot. She landed here in front of this Coreopsis and started attacking the yellow flowers. I thought she was going to pick one. Its funny, the more you get to know a particular pair, you discover their little idiosyncrasies. She tends to take branch and stick perches in almost hidden spots.

3/19 - Waiting on the West End

2007-03-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

Another long day of waiting and wondering. Colombus and I spent the better part of the day trying to interpret the behavior of a pair that is usually very predictable, but has suddenly gone cryptic. The latter part of the day we spent scouring a huge section of cliff that used to harbor a pair of falcons but seems to be vacant now. The weather was intermittently foggy and cool, perfect hiking weather. Didn't have my camera with me most of the day, and when I did have it the lighting was so dreary I wasn't m oved to take too many pictures.

The office.

Quite possibly the flattest place on the island. At least the flattest place I've found. Near West Point.

Carins placed at the mouth of la Cascada canyon. First saw them the night before, and what a weird sight in the headlights. I thought there were twice as many in the darkness, but still an impressive effort. With the lack of rain this year they ma be standing for some time.

The grove of eucalyptus behind the cabins there has the tall tree in it. The cabins were our housing in 2005, they belong to ProHunt, the pig hunters, now.

3/18 - Things are changing

2007-03-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

There's a noticably different dynamic with the birds now, the females are really lethargic and hanging out close to their eyries. The tiercals are moving around a lot and generally showing off as they are so adept at doing. Spent most of the day trying to pinpoint an eyrie and hoping to find anothe rpair where there used to be one. Turned out to be a long and rather fruitless day of looking and waiting. At least we just had the fog above Christy Canyon to worry about on the way home, not like being stuck in traffic on the 405. Totally exhausted tonight and not much for typing.

Colombus is here now, so we can cover a lot more ground is less time. Good to have some company.

Old rock wall on the west end.

The hill in the distance has several ancient Chumash dewlling sites on it. The circular depressions were where homes were. Shells piled around the houses formed a midden which now preserves the shape of the houses. Its a really powerful spot.

3/17 - Westside

2007-03-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Spent the day out west today. Patch fog everywhere and in some unexpected places. Good day of falcon watching and got to visit some old haunts on the drive home.

Florence and katie are USGS botanists. They were kind enough to introduce me to some island emdemics I hadn't gotten to know that well. Here they are posing in front of an Santa Cruz Island Oak, Quercus parvula.

Summer holly, Comarostaphylis diversiflora ssp. planifolia

Barberry, Berberis pinnata ssp. insularis

unbanded common loon, transitional plumage. Thru my scope from near Frasier Point.

Mr. Tough Guy, a tiercel at home on his cliff.

inside the Christy barn.

Christy pines

Fog in Portezuela canyoon from the South Ridge.

3/16 - Hot and foggy, falcons everywhere

2007-03-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm totally beat tonight so I'm not in the mood to write much. Found every kind of weather out here today from freezing cold to scorching hot. Was really foggy agaain, but almost humid and hot at the same time. As breeding season moves along, the birds are becoming more patterned and predictable. I'n not having any trouble finding the birds on territories, but still a bit mystified by one or 2 pairs.

The peace sign Daniel made in '02 on peak 1498. Maybe someday we'll see it on Google Earth.

All that's left of the "dude" on 1498

Christy pines

Tiercel with prey item

VIDEO - Peregrine hunting

2007-03-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, this isn't Channel Islands related, but there's no way I'll ever be able to get video like this . if you haven't seen the PBS documentary "Raptor Force", track it down and watch it. Here's one of the better parts of the film, showing a pergrine hunting from the peregrines point of view. They mounted a tiny camera on the bird's back to get these sequences. Good stuff.

3/15 - More falcons (and whales) in the fog

2007-03-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

Another very foggy morning today but it cleared up a bit for me later in the day. Great day of peregrine watching again, pretty much had a bird in my scope all day long. Definitely a different feeling with the birds this week. They are all much more central to their cliffs and quite a bit more vocal. I anticipate confirming incubation at some point in the next few days, as I make my way from pair to pair along the perimeter of the island. The highlight of the day was watching pair copulate on a giant cliff as grey whales breached and played below, not 50 meters off the coast. Oh, I got the final word on the eucalyptus by the TNC cabins. According to these guys it is indeed the tallest living angiosperm in N or S America at 75.05 meters tall. They will be back to do tons of measurements and size estimates before it can get published. Didn't get over that way, but I'll get a pic sooner or later.

Early morning perched adult male. He was just a spectre in the fog, but I got glimpses like this when the fog parted briefly every now and then.

The eagle trapper's allies.

This female is getting really close to laying, I could really tell today. She perched here, almost motionless for 3.5 hours today. I was listening to Dr. Laura for most of that time on the transistor.

At one point I heard this loud whooshing sound, like air being shoved through a gigantic pipe. This grey whale was right below my clifftop OP, and no more than 50 meters offshore. I saw about 12 whales in all today on the south side. some spectacular breeches too, but this was the best pic I could get.

Meanwhile back on the cliff....this pair was copulating. After the brief interlude during the tiercel flew to the top of the cliff. She stayed put for another 30 min or so.

Post-coitus female.

In an obscure location along the south ridge.

Outside the main ranch, fog was pouring in over the north ridge into the central valley this evening.

3/14 - Falcons in the fog

2007-03-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

The fog continued today, but it had lifted significantly since yesterday, affording some decent, if intermittant, looks at the cliffs. Had a stellar day of peregrine observations, though I still haven't sorted out exactly what's going on with this particular pair. I hiked down a few new ridges and found some interesting stuff different vantage points open up whole worlds of possibilities out here. Totally challenging to be looking at cliffs from land. Invariably the birds are going to be just behind that fin of rock, or around the corner that you could only hope to see into from the water.

Adult female on a snag perch early this morning.

And the tiercel perched about 20m below his mate.

When he finally took flight from this perch I watched, stunned, as he headed due south out to sea. He specked out in my scope at 60X, still pumping hard. Amazing. I never did see him come back in but I found him again a few hours later a few miles down the coast, fat and sassy with a full crop.

There's a well known and coveted surf spot on the south side. I've never seen it break before, but it was today. There were about 10 small boats and I counted 22 surfers. Sheesh. Imagine driving all the way out here and its more crowded that Rincon. I couldn't believe it.

Ceanothus and bush poppy are in full bloom right now. Some of the canyons are filled with the white-pink-lilac-orange color. I got word today that the tree team that is out here confirmed some big news. There is a tree in a eucalyptus stand nearby that is the tallest living angiosperm in north and south america. I didn't get any more details than that but if I get a chance I'm going to swing by tomorrow. I hear the ropes are still going to be up so I'll know which one it is. More on that tomorrow.

The tiercel on an evening perch. He stayed here untill I finally split about 1930. I was looking at my watch and then I realized he wasn't on daylight savings time.

3/13 - Back at it

2007-03-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Travel day today, and arrived safely back on island about 2pm. Got to wave at Nick on the pier on Rosa. Really foggy in the channel today. The ride was long and slow, not much conversation, mucho ipod. Moved into a different room at the UC and got out for some evening obs, even though I'm still burned out I'm already liking this daylight savings time, even though it messes horrible with the time space continuum.

MAP - Clickable map of Santa Cruz Island

2007-03-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'm still learning how to embed custom Google Maps, and here's my first attempt. I'll be gradually adding points of interest and photos to this map as I get better with the code. Click a marker to learn something about that spot. Use the controls or your cursor to pan or zoom the map.

3/6 - East End wrapup & homeward bound

2007-03-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

Sunrise over Anacapa Island and NPS housing at Scorpion.

Watched this adult female perched out in the sun for almost 2 hours today. She was perched here as the Park boat rounded Scorpion for prisoners. I was trying to point her out to Nick and Latta who were standing on the port deck, not sure if they saw her.

The main ranch at Scorpion.

These old farm impliments on display got my attention right away.

Brent and Troy (NPS) walking to the pier. Those dudes were really cool to hang out with. They have an awesome place at Scorpion and were very friendly and accomodating while I was there.

One of several caves at Scorpion that were converted to cellar storage areas.

Parting shot from the Pier.

I'm not really a lister but I decided just to keep track of species I see each tour. Mostly because of the white-tailed kites. I guess I'm thinking it may be an interesting bird year out there. So off the top of my head, here are the birds i found without looking too hard. Oh, and I don't do birding from the boat unless I'm getting paid to do so.
Bird species list for the trip was as follows, in no particular order:

golden eagle, bald eagle, northern harrier, American kestrel, peregrine falcon, white-tailed kite, osprey, common raven, loggerhead shrike, red-tailed hawk, Cooper's hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, Northern saw-whet owl, white-throated swift, Anna's hummingbird, killdeer, oak titmouse, bushtit, western meadowlark, swift, red-winged blackbird, rufous-crowned sparrow, song sparrow, horned lark, island scrub jay, great blue heron, Selasaphorus hummingbirds, California quail, Pacific loon, black oystercatchers, brown pelicans, Clark's grebe, western grebe, Brandt's and pelagic cormerants, house finch, hermit thrush, canyon wren, rock wren, Bewick's wren, mourning dove, Say's Phoebe, black phoebe, belted kingfisher, northern flicker, common yellowthroat, orange-crowned warbler, Wilson's warbler, surf scoter, sooty shearwaters, common murre, pigeon guillemont, and various gulls (gimme a break but I did ID a Heerman's).

3/5 - El Montanon to Scorpion

2007-03-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

For the final leg of this tour I saddled a pack and made the 6 mile trek over El Montanon Ridge and down onto the Esat end of Cruz to Scorpion. The hike was amazingly fun and easy, being that its downhill most of the way. Got to watch peregrines all afternoon, ad the east end is so different its almost like a different island.

Saddle at El Montanon.

Looking back toward Prisoners and the North Slope

The great North Slope from El Montanon.

Peregrine falcon funfact from the web: " Their name comes from the latin word pereginus (meaning traveller). A peregrine eyrie is near the center of a home range of over 30 miles. They will defend their eyries from intruders and want no peregrine neighbors closer than 3 miles from their home."

Mike Smith sent me this awesome email and in it a short stanza of poetry that spoke to me. According to Mike... "There's a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a deceased Jesuit scholar called The Windhover that captures that sense of awe. Although it has a religious undercurrent, like all good poetry, it has layers of meaning and lends itself to numerous interpretations. I chose the most obvious and literal level. The opening stanza goes like this:

I CAUGHT this morning morning’s minion, king-

dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding

Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding

High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing

In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,

As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding

Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding

Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!

Yup, that pretty much says it. Thanks Mike.

3/4 - Isthmus and Navy Site

2007-03-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

I packed up some gear into my pack and headed east for the rest of my tour. The plan was to pack up and clean up at UC, then head east and scout the isthmus and area just east of Navy Site. Then continue east on foot over to Scorpion where I can catch the Park boat home on Tues. Never been to Scorpion so that has me a little pumped up.

Chinese Harbor from Navy Rd.

East Anacapa from near the south Hack Tower.

South Hack Tower, used for releasing juvenile bald eagles onto the island.

Looking East, I'm finally homeward bound, just have to do some walking in that direction first....

All that is left of the North Hak Tower. the box blew off in a storm last year.

Sunset at Navy.

3/3 - South Side stumper

2007-03-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Good demonstration of the different soil types out here. My left foot is Central Valley, my right is South Ridge.

Keepin it tropical. My expression directly relates to the quality of peregrine observations I had today. Majorly hosed.

File this one under historic island photographs. I was moving a bunch of gear into the computer room and what do you know, this was pinned up in the back corner. Score.

Own room, #6 on the end. It was getting ripe in there so I dealt with that.

The Magazine at Prisoners.

Evening in Canada del Puerto.

3/2 - The North Slope

2007-03-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

View from the office today. Took me about 1.5 hrs to hike down and at least 3.5 to get back out. The North Slope is out of control. So steep. My decent was more of a protracted wipeout through about a third of it. I ended up in a heavily vegetated gorge cussing and swearing for a while beating my way back upslope. Moving down can be pretty simple if you choose your ridge wisely. Otherwise if you end up a ridge or 2 east or west of where you want to be, you're hosed.

This bald eagle perched on a vegetated hillside for about 30 min after copulating with her mate. I got to watch both birds courting and hunting off Cueva Valdez for quite some time, what a great thing. My first trip out here they had just realeased the first batch of balds, the blue tagged ones. Now those birds are breeding age. I remember talking about how someday ther will be white heads flying all around. So far this tour Ive seen 5 balds, and all were adults.

These birds display a mastery of the wind that no other creature can match. How remarkably easy it is to pick a peregrine out of a huge distressed flock of sea birds. The steadiness and power, compact and perfect.

Hiking back up the North Ridge is something you can't appreciate until someone's made you do it. Thanks Latta.

Big moon over the North Ridge from the South Ridge

This is the perch on 1498 where Vince found the golden feather

Sunset over Sierra Blanca Ridge and Santa Rosa Island

3/1 - West End flats

2007-03-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

I walked the West End flats from Profile Point to the tip today. Its funny how flat the flats look from above, yet when yoU're walking them there's not much flat about the place. I got some great looks at a pair today, I first encountered the tiercel perched all fat-and-sassy in the sun preening away. I did like Latta says and "made myself small", in this case I was hiding behing a buckwheat plant. He didn't seem to notice me at all, or I should say mind my presence, a better pic would've been the one of me hiding behind a buckwheat.

Couple of short videos of the tiercel preening in the sun, shot with my digicam at 5X through my scope at 40X. He's a fine looking lad.

I got this awesome email from Grainger the other day and since most anyone reading this either knows him or knows of him, I wanted to share this quote because for anyone who works with peregrines, it will just take you right there:

"Ah...the Channel Islands. One of my best memories is standing on a promontory near the northeastern end of Santa Cruz Island when an adult male peregrine took off from the cliff under me and raced out to sea, accelerating low over the waves until he was flashing just a few feet above them, using them as cover. He struck a swimming Cassin's Auklet a hard blow in passing, then quickly curved around to pluck the wounded, rolling, thrashing auklet from the surface, and returned to the eyrie. What a hunter!"

The old head in armpit peek-a-beek.

After about 20 minutes of posing he eventually headed west. By far the best peregrine watching of this tour.

2/28 - The West end Walls, sound and fury

2007-02-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

I spent the day looking at all the walls of the West End. This is one of those places that make you feel insignificant and small. The photos can't convey the space below where I was and the sheer, raw and wind beaten energy. It was blowing a solid 15-20 all day which translates to damn hard. I was getting buffeted around with my pack on and ended up leaving it at the top while I surveyed the cliffs. The landscape is almost alien, just lichen covered rock and some dudleya here and there. There's a primal feeling to the palce, especially on a windy, high seas day like today.

I was watching this osprey hunt the around Frasier Point from up on the ridge all day. Pretty sure its the same one who kept buzzing me out by Black Point the other day. Today he got even closer, and when I knelt down in the grass, he cruised right over me- beating hard into the wind.

Pretty sure this is a rock pile from the ranching era, but I'm not positive. It creates this angular shape in the roundness of everything around it. All the rocks are lichen encrusted.

2/27 - The amazing, windy West End

2007-02-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

Spent the day prowling around the west end from Del MAr Cove, east to Profile Point. I was incredibly windy. @0-25 knots with gusts up to thirty. That translates to damn windy. I was freezing all day, so the meandering walk along the cliffs was nice to keep my blood flowing. Man I was thinking how many days I wa ssitting in an eagle blind with this wind blowing and just wishing I could be doing what I WAS doing....walking in the sun. Theres these cool bands of flat rock surface that break up the flats on the north side. This double dudleya caught my eye.

Didn't see any peregrines, but I did see an adult bald eagle getting harassed by a male red tail as I headed over the saddle this morning. A few red tails, kestrels, and harriers on the north side, that's it.

It looks deceptively flat down there. Its not. Most of the surface is covered with pebble to cabbage head sized boulders and every third or forth step is usually a slip or ankle roller. Its one of the few places on this island that has such a lack of topography. I followed the old ranch roadbed on and off most of the way to Del Mar Cove and walked the rest of the way along the bluffs.

Frasier Point, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel Islands

Looking toward Christy Beach from above Frasier Point.

The green is just barely starting out west.

Stopped at Christy to take a leak and caught my reflection in the mirror as I turned around. It made me laugh. What a look.

Its not the same without the Eagledudes.

2/26 - Black Point and the West End Flats

2007-02-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

Finally got to head out west today. From the Central Valley the West End looked cold and fogged in, but by the time I hit the south ridge it didn't seem too forbidding. Some nice clouds were hanging on Diablo Peak.

Some of the Ceanothus is really blooming right now. This one was along the Christy Canyon Rd.

I was kidding with Lee about some of the smaller cliffs out here, and how they were nothing like the giant faces of crumbling shale he loves to wax heroic about. At his request, here are his words of wisdom.....

"Don't, in your realm of loose-rock ignorance, get some feeling of overconfidence with regard to the smaller cliffs. A quarter or 50cent sized rock can severely mess you up or even kill you. Bozo, the coastal and island cliff-rock is mostly unconsolidated, heavily weathered dense rock that sometimes exfoliates on it's own while your at the top getting ready to rappel. Ask Latta about Hoffman Pt. on San Miguel. Great Blog- Put in my e-mails chewing you out-L"

quick video of the view from the office today. Santa Rosa off in the distance.

This osprey was cruising past my OP all day, and kept getting closer as he got more comfortable with me. Every time I went for the camera he banked or I fumbled. This was the best I got.

Old fox researchres' shack on the west end. Never checked it out before, in fact I don't think I ever noticed it before.

On the wall in the shack.

Huge midden out by Frasier Point.

Looking down the Central Valley from Portezuela.

2/25 - No gaso, no problemo

2007-02-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

It rained from about 0700 to 0930. I'm guessing the rain had something to do with it, but the power at the Main Ranch went down which killed the power up here and, more importantly for me, the gas pump. I had about 1/8 of a tank left in Gerlach, so I decided to let him rest and hoof it out to Valley. There was a big minus tide at 1230 so I figured I'd take advantage and walk below the cliffs as far east as I could get. This raven wasn't happy to see me. Feels like there are quite a few less now. I have really just been seeing pairs here and there, but not the big groups like before. Maybe they all went to Rosa.

2/24 - Beautiful day in Laguna

2007-02-24T20:25:00.000-08:00

On the way up Islay canyon, looking at the North Ridge. Compared to the last 2 days, today was about a perfect an island day as anybody could ask for. It was warm, but more importantly, the wind laid down to a gentle breeze from the west. Headed down into Laguna Canyon today to check a known territory.

Sierra Blanca from the South Ridge.

Some cool patterns in the rock on the back side of the Coral Point.

So not only is the OP at Laguna exposed, its also radically steep. I'm sitting don in this pic, and at elevation 324'. Best not to look down for too long, which was fine because there were whales going by all day long. Pods of them, maybe 3 or 4 at time were slowly cruising by and all I could see were these little puffs of spray and an occasional back. No tails or breeches, nothing fancy, just a steady stream of whales on their long commute.

Looking east from Coral Point, Alamos Anchorage and Peak 669

Looking south from Corral Point- Laguna Harbor, Malva Real Anchorage, Punta Arena and Gull Island. Santa Rosa is in the background and if you zoom in real close you can see Nick looking back this way.

2/23 - Windy day watching Bowen Point

2007-02-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

The office.

View from the office, Bowen Point is the furthest ridge out.

I love this view, its looking up the east flank of El Tigre, with the South Ridge and North Ridge looming off in the distance. Great lighting when clouds moved over throughout the day.

On the way back the shadows were getting long at the top of Los Torres. I must be pretty lonely because I was really happy to see this dude.

Looking at the mainland (in the background) from the South Ridge, some snow on the Santa Barbara back country today.

Sweet little falls at Blue Banks.

This is what I have to look forward to at the field station. Pretty well stocked and I'm pulling off 2 shelves without being bitched at by anyone.

Full blast. Ridiculous.

2/22 - Bowen Point, Los Torres Ridge and RAIN

2007-02-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

Hiked up over Los Torres to try and find a good OP for the Bowen Point site. Ended up hiking out onto the backside of Bowen first where I snapped this shot looking back at Yellowbanks and Anacapa way off in the distance. An impending storm was brewing all morning.

Walking back onto Los Torres, a different perspective on Sierra Blanca. Its that little pointy peak in the middle of the frame.

Some cool lichens I was sitting on when I stopped to eat.

Sweating bullets in the rain. Awesome. Smelly. The rain was just kinda steady sprinkles at this time and felt great. Diddn't see any peregrines today, but I didn't see much of anything else either. From Los Torres, the Bowen Point cliff looked great for the 5 min I could see it before the rain really blew in. It was a full on storm by the time I got back to the bike, and I was soaked all the way through by the time I got back to the UC. Gerlach was acting cranky all day, something is weird with his idle.

My icebox of a room at the Field Station. All the rooms have wall heaters that don't work, what a total tease, I doubt they have ever worked, but there may be plans in the works. Having such a cold room takes all the charm out of having my own room. Its so cold in here its a bit uncomfortable for hanging out. Burning candles seems to helps. I read somewhere that a single candle can add 10 degrees to a snow cave. The shower here is hilarious. Theres only 1 stall right now because the others are being fixed up. Anyway, I counted them today and there are exactly 5 little streams coming out, that converge to give you the equivalent of a wimpy water pistol full of very warm water. I'll have to take some pics of it in a week or so when I shower next.

2/21 - Bowen Point and Valley Anchorage

2007-02-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

No mas puercos en islas. I still can't believe they're all gone, but I think this is really all that's left, this guy was strewn out here on the fenceline at the east end of the south ridge road. There's this eerie uneasy calmness about the island now. Ok I admit it I miss the pigs. But its amazingly noticeable that they're gone. The trails are way easier to walk on, no ruts anywhere, no poop, no boar smell at the UC. There have been less than 50 pigs here for over a year now, call it a year without pigs. This spring will be amazing, the first totally undisturbed-by-pig spring in decades.

Drove down Coches Prietos and out to Willows scouting for good views of the cliffs between Willows Anchorage and Valley. Steep, amazing country and an area I havent really checked out. Never been up on Los Torres but it looks like I will soon. I was scanning all the cliffs I could see south of me when I found some whitewashed perches way off in the distance. Started scanning the the cliff in an area with some great looking ledges. Just up the cliff I found this adult PEFA . The bird is on the right of the two big boulders. Lucked out on this one. It stayed perched there for most of an hour before making a radical dive right down to te waterline. I was following her shadoww which was 5X her size, but eventually lost her against the face.

The view from my OP at Willows Anchorage, looking east along the south side. Not a bad view.

I drove back down to the Central Valley to check for the female on the cliff. Sure enough, she was on her evening roost. She showed up again right on schedule, except she was with the tiercel this time. Watched them graple and display over the cliffs for about 10 min, then he split around a corner and she perched here, just above her perch last night.

2/20 - Arrival and Valley Anchorage

2007-02-20T20:14:00.000-08:00

Prisoner's Harbor drop-off. Feels kinda weird to be comming onto the island solo, since all my memories here involve the Eagle Dudes. Also weird starting a field season out here with just 2 bikes and a mega-bag. Gone are the days of the truck and trailer Conastoga rigs headed out to Christy- pigs, buns, dudes and gear.

Craning the bikes onto the pier. That's Gerlach in the air, La Lina is still on deck. Awesome boat ride over. Latta just went along for the ride and held office hours, hooking Nick and I up with info and atta-boys. We went the south side route to Rosa first, and Latta pinted out eyries and places of interest along the way. Back along the north side, the boat stopped just outside of Prisoners. We got up to see what was going on, and we were just off Pelican. An adult bald was in the nest right upslope. Man that's a sweet sight, we used to talk about how someday we'd come back out here and see balds nesting, and now that someday is here.

Valley Anchorage from the OP on the bluffs above the beach, early evening.

I was sitting at Valley for about 2 hours and starting to think that the bird we'd seen here a few weeks back was just a winterer. Then at about 1730, I see this dark falcon pumping along from the east just above the water. She flew right to the main face, banked out to the ocean, then hauled up and perched here. The photos just dont do her justice, she is the most immaculate and strikingly beautiful peregrine I've ever seen. Janet's right, Anatums RULE!

I can think of a few worse places to spend a workday. Valley Anchorage is by far the easiest site on the island, you can practically drive right upto the OP. Just behind me there was a loggerhead shrike on a fenceline that wouldnt shut up. He just kept up that buzzing. I was thinking about what Juan told me one day, that falcon trappers in Mexico would use shrikes, he called them Verdugo, to alert them when a falcon was nearby but staking them up on top of their blinds.

Evening island sky from Valley Anchorage.

Cruz from Google earth

2007-02-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

Testing...is this thing on?

2007-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

Channel Islands Map
Originally uploaded by himountainpaul.

First post to this blog, actually just a test from my Flickr account. Going to be stationed on Santa Cruz Island for the 2007 field season, monitoring known peregrine falcon pairs and, hopefully, discovering a few unkown pairs as well.

I have previously worked on Santa Cruz Island for several field seasons trapping and translocating golden eagles with the SCPBRG, and I'm really excited to be headed back. this blog will be mostly about photos from the island, funny notes on island life, and, of course, peregrine falcons. Stay tuned!