Spring
Last spring we left HOOT readers in suspense. Would Cory and Blake successfully trap and band some Band-tail Pigeons (BTPI)? Could a few of the bigger birds be outfitted with satellite transmitters? If successful, where would the signals come from – the coast, north, or maybe just from right here in the Tehachapis? Did Fred, the first spring male Copper’s wannabe Red-tail Hawk, drop from his ambush tree and grab lunch?
To briefly review, the U.S. Geodetic Service’s Band-tail Pigeon project aims at banding and attaching (in some cases) transmitters to birds from several locations to track and better understand this species’ migratory behavior. The U.S.G.S. had sought TMBC’s assistance in locating BTPI’s in this area based on the TMBC’s CBC results posted on the net. We obliged by finding two populations of pigeons, each with 400 birds.
In the several weeks that Cory Overton and Blake Barbaree spent covering southern and central California they were successful in banding a number of BTPI’s and harnessing five birds with transmitters – two of them here on Bear Mountain in the Wilderness Way area. As a Band-tail flies, they're fast birds, less than thirty seconds from Lake George.
Also outfitted was a bird just south of Laguna Mountain (64234), another in the vicinity of Lake Arrowhead (64238) and a third in the coastal mountains between San Luis Opispo and Los Osos (64235). On Bear Mountain and Tehachapi Peak six birds were also banded, however there have been no sightings of any of those individuals - yet.
In March, shortly after attaching, one Bear Mountain bird showed no movement, just a signal from one stationary location. From our experience with Condors, Jean and I knew this might mean trouble, that is, while the transmitter beeped, the bird could be laying there dead. On the other hand the bird could have just dropped its still functioning unit.
These satellite transmitters are expensive, so Cory and Blake made a special trip, honing right in on their beeping $3500 instrument! There was no feather kill pile. So apparently the bird had not met up with “Fred” or any other untimely demise. From the condition of the transmitter, Cory feels the bird just squeezed out of its backpack.
Summer
In my opinion, from the satellite mapping, it does not look good for the Arrowhead bird. The signal is coming from somewhere in the middle of the Antelope Valley and has been stationary for two weeks. Unless it’s hanging around Apollo Park, Cory (Blake is now in Alaska) may have to again search for a lost transmitter, and maybe this time a dead bird.
For two weeks the coastal bird (San Luis County) has been flying about in a large rectangular patch bordered on the west by Los Osos, Lompoc on the south, San Luis on the east and Atascadero on the north – her signals have been received from twenty-six locations. This central coastal range area is excellent Band-tail habitat. On June 18th this individual was signaling from the Los Osos Oaks Preserve – acorns are its diet mainstay.
Heading north, the Laguna Mountain Band-tail made a few rest stops, including one in the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento, before making a non-stop flight on a heading taking it to the coastal mountains just east of Newport and west of Eugene, Oregon, where its signal was recorded on June 6th and continued to be heard on June 18th!
And From The San Juan Islands
What about the other Bear Mountain bird (64237)? After leaving Wilderness way she made a stop in Sequoia National Park, then took four days to reach a spot in the Oregon coastal mountains just east of Tillamook. The bird was not through. Her next signal was from the southern border of Olympic National Park, really not that far from Tillamook.
Finally, on June 18th, her signal was picked up from the very northeast tip of Orcas Island! From here to there, the length of the Sierra, over to and up the coastal ranges of Oregon and Washington, then across the Straits of San Juan De Fuca – all in less than two weeks! TMBC’s Bear Mountain Band-tail Pigeon is the long-distance champion!
Jean and I have birded Orcas Island. It is an oddly shaped piece of land, like a 3 that has fallen horizontally on its belly, with inlets, bays, peninsulas and the San Juan Islands highest point, Constitution Mountain (check a Washington State map). As we write this, the beginning of July, our bird is in a wooded area along the northern shores of the island around Moran State Park. From experience, a great place to bird and spend the summer.
It will be interesting to see where the two migrating birds go next. Will they return in the fall for the acorn crop? What about the stay-at-home resident San Luis bird? As long as they keep transmitting we’ll keep you informed.
Good birding – gone birding.
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