The San Juan Peregrine Project

Final run of the season

2007-07-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Monday July 2nd. Becky Rosencrans joined Martin and Pat and for one last run round the outer islands to check on the few nests that still needed banding (or not, perhaps) and also to see how some of the chicks we had banded were doing.

At "Madrona" we checked on the chick we banded last week, and it was standing on a rock at the edge of the ledge, ready to fledge.

At "Tekoia" (we banded the young there two weeks ago) we saw a prey transfer from the adult male to the female, and also saw one eyass flying around and heard another.

We checked on "Salmon" and saw both adults perched in trees at either side of the cliff, but no sign of nesting behavior. After checking another eyrie (see below) we returned and Martin made the hard scramble up through the woods to get to the top of the cliff. The adults didn't put up much of a defense, which tended to confirm our suspicions they had failed. He roped down to the ledge we thought they had been using and he saw three old bleached eggs. Definitely failed. The female here is probably 18 years old, so she may be beyond the age for laying fertile eggs.

At "Sterna" Martin and Becky walked up to the top of the cliff and took a good look at the past nest sites, but no sign of any nesting activity at all.

At "Orca" the traditional ledge was empty and the adult female asleep in a tree nearby. We saw another possible ledge at the base of the tree - maybe they will use that next year?

One last check at "Mossy Cliff" revealed, to our surprise, a peregrine on the ledge in 'high brood' position. We had seen incubation behavior earlier in the season but then on later visits it seemed they had failed, so we were perplexed by today's observation. After a while the female flew over to a grassy area and flattened out, sunning herself; we noticed the male in a tree nearby. She did this for about 25 minutes and then flew off away from the nest. We had a good look into the ledge from the boat and couldn't see any chicks or eggs, so we came to the conclusion that she really wasn't brooding.

It was a beautiful day, calm waters and gentle breezes, really nice to be out in a boat. And we got to see some orca whales which we encountered off San Juan Island. For some reason all the whale watching boats had gone away and we had J pod pretty much to ourselves. Here are a couple of photos taken by Martin, one from today and one from the same place 3 years ago.

Becky is hooked on the project.

Unexpected Sunday evening banding

2007-07-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday Bud took the Shaheen out to check on one nest site that can only be reached at high tide (8 PM). Though we thought we might be too late to band here, he discovered a pile of white downy chicks on the ledge.

On Sunday evening Mark Gleason and Martin Muller drove up from Seattle, met the Shaeen with crew of Bud, son Beau, and dog Kona at the dock, and sailed on the high tide to the site known as "Black Swift."

While Bud, Beau and Kona "manned" the boat Mark lugged rope (much appreciated) while Martin carried climbing and banding gear. Martin descended the short (10 feet) drop to the 4 feet long ledge, where the young retreated into a small cave (see photo below).

Two chicks at "Black Swift" after banding, standing in the small nest cave. Photo by Martin Muller.

The two chicks were perfect banding age (three weeks plus a day or so) and are now identified by the following bands: (both band size 7A)
1807-26986 (right) with vertical 99 over vertical R (left), and
1807-26987 (right) with vertical 00 over vertical S (left).

This brings the number of chicks banded for this season to 14, for (I believe) 18 active nests. An average of .78 young per active nest. Not very good. Bud is convinced it's weather related (rain during incubation).

June 30th. trip report.

2007-07-01T14:20:00.001-07:00

SAN JUAN TRIP REPORT – Saturday June 30th, prepared by Ed Deal.

It was a grueling day of scientific inquiry in the sunny, calm San Juans for Pat, Martin and Ed. “Pass the sunscreen please.”

"Guillemot" – Martin dropped in and banded 3 youngsters, raising our season total to 12. This is still the all-time worst year for productivity, but with luck we can surpass the meager 13 young we had in both 1996 and 2005. We managed to avoid being entertainment for two whale watching tours and the Victoria Clipper…and also managed to avoid being spotted by the parents. The three young are now known as:
1807-26984 (7A) VID (All Left) Vert 25 over Vert Z
1807-26985 (7A) Vert 05 over Vert Z
1177-41025 (7B) Vert 44 over Vert Z

The three youngsters at "Guillemot" after banding. Photo by Martin Muller.

"Carolina" – Martin went ashore and didn’t muster any defense from the two adults, who were both perched nearby. He went to the base of the cliff where we suspected they were nesting and the adults could have cared less. The male moved away once Martin got to the base of the tree he was perched in. In a strange sight, 4 Turkey Vultures circled down and perched in the same tree as the adult female, without her objecting. Conclusion – failed.

"Fox" – The one chick has now fledged, with the adult female standing guard.

"Coyote" – We found all 4 youngsters have fledged and are doing well. This is the only eyrie to have 4 young this year.

End report.

Belated June 25th report

2007-07-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Ed Deal sent out ther following report about last week's trip, but somehow I didn't get it. He re-sent it yesterday, so here it is (with some minor modifications - Ed's too modest- )

SAN JUAN REPORT – MONDAY JUNE 25 2007

The Shaheen sailed with a crew of Pat, Martin and Ed.

"Raccoon" – First (and last) visit of the year to this island. No signs of Peregrines anywhere, active 1997-2004. Conclusion: No occupancy.

"Guillemot" – Martin immediately spotted a falcon flying out of sight at the south end of the long east wall cliff complex. A passing pigeon quickly brought out the falcon, a Peale’s type female. The male came in briefly to see if he could share the pigeon, then left far to the southwest on a hunting mission. The female eventually lost the pigeon to a pair of Bald Eagles (how many times have we seen that?) She changed perches multiple times on the far south end of the cliff complex. We decided to check out the cliff face and Ed almost immediately spotted the nest ledge with at least two downy young. No facial feathering and no primaries showing….look like 15-17 days old in comparison the Peregrine Fund guide (shows photographs of developing young). Banding party needed Saturday!

"Carolina" – Female standing on a fresh kill on a rock near the water line (see below).

Photo above and below by Martin Muller

Bald Eagle comes in to “share” and is pummeled and driven off by both adults (see below).

Female returns to pigeon preparation on the rocky beach, then carries it low into a tree. Eagle returns and male drives him to the ground. Eagle persists and eventually the female stupidly (to us) flies out over open water carrying the pigeon instead of continuing to hide in the trees. The eagle chases her and forces her to drop the pigeon into the water. The eagle retrieved the pigeon and flew north with a PEFA escort.

Pat Little shot these five images of the female peregrine making a tactical error and flying out over open water with prey, while being pursued by an adult Bald Eagle.

On the cliff there are two raven stick nests with ample mute streaks as well as lots of small streaks denoting favorite PEFA perches. No food begging heard during 2-3 hours and no visits to any ledges by either adult. These guys are going to fool us and present fledged young soon. They were banded last year on 30 MAY.

"Fox" – a long frustrating attempt at reading the adult female’s VID band that ultimately paid off. What seemed like a good strategy of putting two scopes ashore, one near her favorite tree on Young’s Island and one on Burrows, then toss her a pigeon, didn’t work out. Mom led us on a merry chase, perching just out of scope range or discretely covering her VID band. I got one great look at her right leg and read the last digit of her UPSIDE DOWN FWS band, “5” (No, I was NOT on that banding expedition). I finally got a decent look and saw the bottom letter was Vertical V and the top had a rounded sideways letter (P?, R? S? B?).
The single eyas on the ledge is almost fully feathered. The photo blind has been removed. After several hours of this we declared defeat and left.
A later review of our banding records showed only one bird with Vertical V and a FWS band ending in 5 – "Raven", banded 27 MAY 2000. We’ve had a double-banded female at Burrows since at least 2004 according to my notes.

"Coyote" – We were initially perplexed when the eyrie ledge was empty….since these young were a few days away from fledging. Eventually we located two youngsters and heard a third “branching” along the ledges and cliffs. They were scampering up the incline while vogorously flapping their wings. Both adults were vigilantly standing guard and one of the youngsters was given some food by Mom. Hopefully the fourth youngster was just snoozing, but we did have coyote scat at the bottom of the cliff at banding time.

End of report.

Monday June 18, 2007 report

2007-06-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

REPORT FOR MONDAY JUNE 18 AKA “THE GUNS AND WHALES TOUR”
by Ed Deal

The Shaheen sailed with a crew of Russ, Pat and Ed. Stops as follows:
"Coyote" – 3 healthy 4.5 week old chicks seen on ledge in brief stop (banded last week)

"Cormorant" – Ace spotter Russ found female perched high above Ed’s Cliff. Male came in from the North and perched on Wendy’s cliff. Female joined him in same tree and e-chupped and wailed. Female flew back South and perched near original location. Adult BAEA flew south along cliff face within 50 ft of male who failed to leave the tree or kak. Female made one lazy pass at the eagle as it passed her and returned to perch. Conclusion – most wimpy cliff defense I’ve ever seen. Failed

"Raven" – no birds seen in 5-6 visits this season. Failed

"TV" – Watched a pigeon circle up in lazy loops, passing in front of the cliff complex 5 times over several minutes. No self-respecting PEFA would have passed up that easy target. Conclusion – Either a bird asleep on eggs or failed.

"Fox" – failed in attempts to read band of adult female. Coyote seen foraging in intertidal zone on adjacent island (see image below). Single chick snoozing on ledge. Nobody in blind.

A coyote seen on an island near "Fox"

"Carolina" – Ran into an orca traffic jam and lost an hour waiting for the pod of whales to move away before approaching. In the interim we were boarded by Anacortes Police Marine Patrol for a “safety check” and we passed! . At "Carolina the female was again perched in the tall tree low on the South end of the cliff complex.

"Otter" – nest ledge empty. Seen incubating there on 4/21. Unhappy conclusion – failed.

"Madrona" – met by the friendly caretakers and given a ride on the tractor to the top of the cliff. Ed dropped in and passed the single youngster up to Pat and Russ for banding. One big feisty 3.5 week old female, now known as Vertical 24 over Vertical Z (left). Worked for another hour and finally got a good read on the adult female’s VID band (Vertical 80 over Vertical D). The exciting news is that this is not our band. We await Bud’s investigation into where this bird is from. She looked like a classic Peale’s Falcon with big vertical teardrops in the bib.

Pat Little holding the single chick from "Madrona" during banding.

PROJECT SUMMARY and AGENDA

No visits this year
"Black Swift"
"Raccoon"
"Witch"

Likely Failed/Abandoned
"Golden"
"Sea Lion"
"Stealth"
"Crow"
"Otter"
"Harrier"
"Raven"
"Mossy Rock"
"Ginger"
"Orca"
"Cormorant"
"TV"

Need more work
"Carolina" - 3 visits (6/1, 6/11, 6/18) Both adults present. May be using ledge low and right(south) on cliff. Need to put someone ashore and scramble up for a better vantage.

"Guillemot" – one visit by boat (6/11) no birds seen. Jim Shiflett spent 3 hours observing eyrie cliff in AM on 6/12 – no birds seen (Thanks Jim!) Either moved further South on this big cliff on moved elsewhere ("Raccoon"?)

"Under control"
"Tekoia" - banded 6/1
"Fox" - banded 6/11
"Coyote" - banded 6/11
"Madrona" - banded 6/18
"Sterna" - incubating, next visit in 1-2 weeks
"Salmon" - incubating, next visit in 1-2 weeks

San Juan Report for 10 and 11 June

2007-06-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

Ed Deal reports:
The intrepid San Juan volunteers spent the last two days in the islands.
Sunday 10 June
Bud Anderson, Ed Deal and rookie Matt Fogarty surveyed the following sites:
"Coyote" – at least two young peregrines ready to band.
"Mossy Cliff" – adult in tree on top of the cliff. No activity seen on traditional nest ledge or elsewhere on the cliff. With similar findings on 5/25 and 6/3 we are concluding they have failed. May want to do one last check in 2 - 3 weeks.
"Orca" – No birds present
"Salmon" – Adult incubating on ledge
"Golden" – No birds present.
"Ginger" – No birds present. Ed dropped into the ledge and found an empty scrape and nothing else. No sign of incubation. Turkey Vultures flying along cliff without protest from falcons, so our conclusion is that they failed.
"Sea Lion" – Brief stop, no birds present.
"Cormorant" – brief stop, no birds present.

Monday 11 June
Martin Muller, Ed Deal, Russ Beardsley and rookie Nic Dupree banded two sites.
"Coyote" – Russ and Ed banded 4 feisty 24 day old youngsters.

Top image: Nic adjusts the ropes as Russ and Ed start their descent to the nest on "Coyote."

Lower image: Russ holding the first chick he's ever banded.

All VID bands placed on the left leg and correct side up.

1. Vertical 18 over Vertical Z - 1387-39629 (band size 7B)
2. Vertical 39 over Vertical U - 2206-33520 (band size 6)
3. Vertical 20 over Vertical Z - 1687-02404 (band size 7A)
4. Vertical 02 over Vertical S - 1687-02405 (band size 7A)

So we banded 1 male, 1 female and 2 uncertain as to sex. The adult male was double banded but took a powder when I showed up with my scope. We read his band last year and, if he is the same bird, was banded as a nestling at the "Fox" eyrie in 2003.

From left to right: Russ, Nic, and Ed, ready for pick-up after successful banding at "Coyote."

"Cormorant" – The male came off the cliff on a hunt but failed to catch prey. He returned to a high perch. He made a few "e-chup" vocalizations and flew south, perching high again. If they are nesting here, they are using a small hidden ledge in the trees.
"Fox" –Russ and Ed banded one healthy chick (about 21-22 days of age).

1. Vertical 93 over Vertical Z - 1687-02406 (band size 7A)

The adult female at this site is double-banded (i.e. a USFWS aluminum band on one leg and a black VID on the other) but we were unable to read her band.

In addition, we had two disturbing findings at this site. First, an unknown person has set up an observation blind on the adjacent cliff. It is located within 30' of the active ledge. We suspect it was built by a wildlife photographer.

Second, we also got an unwanted band return. Russ found the articulated skeleton of a 4 week-old peregrine chick with our bands on at the bottom of the cliff (VID 39 P). It was one of four chicks banded on the ledge by Mark Proster and Ed Deal last year on 3 June. We assume that something frightened this eyass into a premature flight off the ledge. Since we have observed Red Fox at this site in the past, we hypothesize that one may have entered the nest and attempted to eat the nestling.

Russ also found a second and younger skeletalized, unbanded dead chick among the rocks. We don't know the year of origin of this bird.

Russ and Ed on the ledge at "Fox." Left of the ledge, next to the tree, the photo blind set up by person(s) unknown is visible.

"Carolina" – Both adults were present, the male with VID on left leg. They both disappeared into an overhang low and right (south) on the cliff in an area obscured by a cluster of tall conifers. No activity or mutes on the traditional ledge.

"Guillemot" – 45 minute visit. No birds seen.

End of report by Ed Deal.

First weekend of June survey of the eyries

2007-06-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 3 June 2007, we returned to the islands for more of our peregrine survey work. Aboard the Shaheen were Ed Deal, Gerry Chambers, and Martin Muller.

Below is a list of the sites we visted and their current status. We are using code names for the eyrie (nest) locations both to protect the birds and to avoid disturbing the landowners. This report was prepared by Ed Deal, who writes:

"A typical bouncy crossing of Rosario Strait, then off for the first visit of the year to the "HARRIER" nest site.
We found an adult male Bald Eagle perched at left end of the cliff, with a new house under construction in sight at the top....no peregrines here...No need to revisit. It would be a good idea on the 'mop-up' cruise to survey some nearby cliffs.

We hit thick fog...very happy to pick up landmarks out of the gloom. Slow going. "Braille" navigated our way out of the fog, to the next cliff.

"MOSSY CLIFF " continues to be a mystery. Female peregrine perched in the center of the cliff sleeping off a small crop, never moved in 90 minutes of observation. There are mute streaks over the side of the eyrie indicating youngsters, but nothing seen or heard. In past years, we could line up the boat with the south edge of the cliff and sight into the eyrie and see and age youngsters....not so again today. Essentially the same picture as on our 25 May visit. Perhaps on both visits cropped (recently fed) youngsters pancaked (lying flat) and dozing? Need another visit next week...and be prepared for banding.

ORCA site appeared unoccupied on 25 May trip while today we had an adult female paired with a male in Second Year (juvenile) plumage (see below). He was standing in the entrance of the cave that has been the nest in past years. She was initially in there with him, but flew south 30 feet to a small nice ledge. They are not acting like they have youngsters. Perhaps eggs? Needs another visit later in the season.

STERNA site. Nothing seen from the water on 25 May or today. The water was glassy, so Ed and Gerry landed and hiked up and leaned over the edge of the cliff. They found at least two eggs on last year's ledge. This is only the second year this cliff has been occupied by a pair of peregrines. Before Ed and Gerry arrived at the top, Martin spotted an adult female flying out from the cliff site. She produced a huge mute (defecation), indicating she had been sitting on the ledge for several hours This leads us to believe she was still incubating as peregrines will not defecate on a ledge that contains eggs. We need to return here in 3 - 4 weeks to see if the eggs hatched and if chicks are ready to be banded.

SALMON. We lucked out and saw a shift change between the adults. Female coming out, male entering. They disappear onto a small ledge at the top-right corner of the cliff. Definitely not a prey delivery or feeding. They acted like they are still incubating, so we can combine this with visit to STERNA in 3 - 4 weeks to see if they hatched or failed.

GOLDEN. As on 25 May, Ed leaned over the top edge of the cliff but didn't see anything. Usually a quiet person leaning over can see a bird on the nest ledge below, without disturbing them. Martin checked out the cliff around the corner, where they've nested in the past. An adult Bald Eagle flying to its nest performed a nice survey of the length of the cliff. Because the fly-by elicited no defensive response from a peregrine, we concluded they are not nesting along that cliff. We cruised past several of the nice cliffs further east, but each one seemed to have an adult Bald Eagle at the top. Conclusion: failed.

GINGER. No activity in 45 minutes. If we had not seen the female disappear onto a ledge on 5/25 we would have assumed this site was abandoned for the third straight year (there's a lesson in there somewhere). We need to go back to determine what is happening here. We will hike up to the top of the cliff and lean over to see what is going on at the nest ledge.

SEA LION. Brief visit. No activity. Can be considered failed/abandoned but worth a brief stop only because you motor past it on the way to other sites.

CORMORANT. Brief visit. No activity. Had a peregrine do a food "wail" (i.e. call) here last week, so still worth checking.

ED

2007 Banding season starts

2007-06-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

June 1, 2007, was a gorgeous day in the San Juan Islands. Picture-perfect with nice views of Mount Baker, Washington's northern-most volcano. One of the perks of volunteering for this project is that you get to take the research vessel 'Shaheen' (depicted below with volunteer Wendy Gibble aboard) out in the islands. It is a 21' aluminum Workskiff, manufactured here in Skagit County.

Here the 'Shaheen' is located at the base of one of the San Juan cliff eyries, while teammembers have hiked to the top of the cliff and are preparing to rappel down to band some young.

Some eyries require a free rappel, here expertly executed by FRG founder and director Bud Anderson. Note the eyrie below his feet, where four chicks are hunkered down. While humans need all this climbing equipment to safely access most island nest sites, predators like fox and raccoon can access many of the sites. As a result, some nests consistently fail, year after year. Once predators have learnt to recognize the food-begging calls of peregrine chicks as an invitation to come have dinner, we can only hope the adult birds will move to a better site.

After successfully banding four chicks in another nest, volunteers Ed Deal and Mark Prostor demonstrate how spaghetti is created.....Bud calls it 'rope management.'

Today's nest site is hard to spot on the cliff due to a screen of trees. We have to line the boat up exactly with one small gap in the trees to see into the nest ledge. We had failed in four previous attempts this season. Just as we were about to give up on our fifth try, we spotted it! We also spotted three three-week-old chicks, so the team of Ed Deal, Pat Little, and Martin Muller banded the chicks. Above picture shows the two female chicks who loudly protested the intrusion....

....while the slightly smaller male chick figured that what he doesn't see doesn't exist.

Meanwhile mom kept an eye on the proceedings and showed off her VID (Visual IDentification)bands. Much to the chagrin of the researchers who goofed and put a VID band upside down on a chick at another San Juan Island eyrie, back in 2002, this particular bird keeps showing up and allowing people to read her band.