Author Topic: Migration: Peregrines / Island Girl (Read 9842 times)

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #43 on:** November 29, 2016, 14:15 »

Nice timing IG - a sub-par signal but enough of a signal to let folks you arrived home safely!!

If her battery & transmitter do go kerflewie, we know she got home at least which is wonderful considering how long we've been watching her. But it will be weird not to know where she is or what she is doing next spring ....

Alison · « **Reply #42 on:** November 22, 2016, 10:08 »

Island Girl is home!

I was worried about her, because the last location posted on the map was from November 17, but this morning there is one more entry. She arrived at her winter home in Chile yesterday. I am so happy for her, and wish her a safe, enjoyable winter and a safe return in the spring.

What a wonderful, incredible peregrine she is! She has now travelled 8,491 miles.

The final details of her journey:

The blog entry, from Donald McCall:

22 November, 2016

Island Girl Has Completed Her Southbound Migration

As Island Girl was approaching Valparaiso, Chile on the last leg of her southern migration, we lost all contact with her for approximately 5 days. Usually this is a bad sign, because temporary outages due to a depleted battery in her backpack have always in the past resolved themselves after two or three days, with at least occasional data being received even if it's not of sufficient quality to publish on a web map. By the third or fourth day we began to fear that her backpack transmitter had failed, or worse (the batteries have never before lasted more than two years or so, so eight years has already been extremely exceptional). But, amazingly, we received one more sub-standard data point early this morning, but it was good enough to indicate that Island Girl has reached her southern home range near Putu on the Pacific Coast of Chile.

Whether her transmitter and battery will regain full functionality, enabling us to track her next northbound migration in April, is an open question. For now, all is well.

Alison · « **Reply #41 on:** November 20, 2016, 23:49 »

The most recent map update, from November 17, shows Island Girl in Chile. She has now covered a distance of 8,308 miles.

The three most recent blog entries, from Donald McCall:

12 November, 2016

At the "Arica Bend"

Island Girl’s shortcut yesterday (in the region of South America known to geographers as the “Arica Elbow”, or "Arica Bend") took her over the Pacific Ocean for 371 km (231 mi) before returning to land in southern Peru. She appears to have made landfall in the vicinity of Ito, although it must be remembered that we have only a few GPS locations every day and the route that Island Girl actually follows to connect those dots is, by default, shown as straight lines on the maps but her exact route between the dots is unknown. For example, she might have returned to the coast considerably north of Ito and then followed the shoreline to Ito, and the map would look exactly the same.

By late morning today, Island Girl was on the move again, following the coast, and was 86 km (53 mi) from the Chilean border.

Here's an interesting article about the geology of the Arica Bend. Apparently the land north of Arica is slowly rotating counterclockwise, and the land south of Arica is rotating clockwise, resulting in the bent coastline (and the entire Andes chain, for that matter): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040195198000584

14 November, 2016

Heading For Home

Island Girl is now in Chile and following the Pacific coastline south, currently passing through the barren Atacama Desert, typically roosting at night hundreds of meters above sea level but only a few kilometers from the ocean. She is about halfway between Iquique and Antofagasta, and about 1450 km (900 mi) from her final destination.

17 November, 2016

Approaching Valparaiso

Island Girl has flown 1200 km (746 mi) in the past three days, averaging 400 km (249 mi) per day as she has followed Chile's Pacific Coast southward, roosting at night in the high desert foothills of the Andes just a few kilometers from the ocean - although last night she roosted near some coastal dunes adjacent to the Petorca River north of Valparaiso. She is now 296 km (184 mi) from her final destination at the Putu Dunes just north of Constitución, and will most likely complete her migration within a day or two.

Alison · « **Reply #40 on:** November 20, 2016, 23:45 »

By November 6, Island Girl was in Ecuador and approaching the border of Peru. So far, she had travelled 6,041 miles.

The associated blog entry, from Donald McCall:

6 November, 2016

Approaching Peru

Over the past three days Island Girl has moved from the higher ground of the western foothills and fringes of the Andes down into the coastal lowlands of Ecuador, still a few hundred meters (1000 feet, more or less) above sea level and some distance inland. She has been roosting overnight in mixed agricultural/forested areas and generally staying close to rivers, at least overnight. She spent last night in the southwestern corner of Ecuador, not far from the border of Peru which, at this location, is both west and south of her.

This is close to the spot where Island Girl roosted last year on 01 November, so she's now about 5 days behind last year's schedule, which is a typical variation from year to year.

Alison · « **Reply #39 on:** October 18, 2016, 16:53 »

October 18, 2016

Island Girl continues on her purposeful track south, making her way along the coast around the Gulf of Mexico in a leisurely manner and stopping here and there for several days. She has now covered 4,133 miles.

The most recent blog entry from Donald McCall:

17 October, 2016

Island Girl is in Southern Mexico and Headed for Guatemala

After following the Gulf Coast of Mexico until just past Veracruz, Island Girl has now moved inland, and to higher ground, as she continues southeast through the state of Chiapas, Mexico toward Guatemala. She traveled 322 km (200 mi) on Sunday, remaining north of the Sierra Madres, and roosted in a forested area last night at an elevation of 1198 m (3931 ft). She was 200 km (124 mi) from the Guatemala border.

This is her usual and most direct route through southern Mexico and Central America, which she will probably follow through Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua before reaching the Caribbean Coast in Costa Rica.

Alison · « **Reply #38 on:** October 18, 2016, 16:44 »

Island Girl has continued her southern migration. The site was down for some days, but came back online.

From October 8; by then she had travelled 3,118 miles.

And the relevant blog entry, from Donald McCall:

08 October, 2016

Island Girl Has Almost Reached Mexico

Island Girl followed the Texas coastline for 333 km (207 mi) yesterday (Friday, 7 October), and nearly reached Mexico. Her southwesterly course took her farther inland by the end of the day; she roosted last night in the town of Pharr, 11 km from the Rio Grande (and Mexico), and 100 km (62 mi) west of South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico. Google Earth shows her location to be a small strip mall, where the tallest nearby object appears to be a large billboard (visible on Google Street View).

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #37 on:** October 10, 2016, 15:32 »

Quote from: Dagny on October 07, 2016, 19:18

I found an interesting article on an eagle website about how they may use barometric pressure to navigate during migration. I suppose this would apply to peregrines as well.

I've wondered about this - if it is barometric pressure that answers how they get around storms and take advantage of weather fronts to move fast but a) where do they know where to go generally and b) specifically why such a huge range in where our birds go? One of our birds remained in Winnipeg all winter for many years, another spent time in Iowa (ack it was Iowa or a state further north), others have gone to Mexico (all over Mexico), others have gone to or via Florida to the islands and another made it all the way to Brazil. Why not just keep flying as far south as the Tundra birds like Island Girl? Glad they don't go all the way north like she does but I'd love to know how they know ... though the mystery of it is pretty cool as well.

Dagny · « **Reply #36 on:** October 07, 2016, 19:18 »

I found an interesting article on an eagle website about how they may use barometric pressure to navigate during migration. I suppose this would apply to peregrines as well. Note: this is aimed at schoolkids.

https://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/WeatherBarometer.html

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #35 on:** October 07, 2016, 14:50 »

Quote from: GCG on October 07, 2016, 05:30

I'm curious and concerned. Will hurricane Matthew have some effect on the migration? TPC?

Birds (all birds) have to be good at reading changes in barametric pressure if they plan to survive given that they live in flight. It is entirely possible that NA's birds knew about Matthew long before we did. As for Island Girl I would expect her to tuck down out of the hurricane's path if it is between her and Chile. Otherwise I would expect her to head west as Matthew is heading northeast. Just because she (or other migrating peregrines) have a preferred route doesn't mean they aren't perfectly capable of changing their plans en-route.

GCG · « **Reply #34 on:** October 07, 2016, 05:30 »

I'm curious and concerned. Will hurricane Matthew have some effect on the migration? TPC?

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #33 on:** October 06, 2016, 17:21 »

You Go (Island) Girl!

Never fails to impress how far these birds travel every year - heck some days even.
They are very appropriately named that's for sure.

Alison · « **Reply #32 on:** October 03, 2016, 15:25 »

The first blog post for this year's southern migration, posted by Donald McCall:

Island Girl Begins Her 2016 Southbound Migration

Island Girl began her 2016 southern migration, the eighth one that we've tracked, on 17 September this year, a few days sooner than usual. Data reception was spotty during the first few days because her backpack solar-rechargeable battery had been depleted, probably because of cloud cover or stormy weather. She didn't cover a lot of distance during the first few days, either, moving slowly southwest across the Ungava Peninsula of northern Quebec after crossing Hudson Strait from Baffin Island. By 28 September she had passed through Quebec and the southeastern corner of Ontario, and crossed into Michigan. She often covers greater distances each day when passing through the central United States (in either direction), and this year was no exception. Over the next three days of flying, through late afternoon Friday (30 Sep), she traversed upper Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and most of Arkansas, and was approaching Louisiana and heading for the Gulf Coast. She had covered 1299 km (807 mi) in those three days, and 3897 km (2422 mi) since leaving Baffin Island.

In four of the past five years she has followed this approximate route to the Gulf Coast in south central Louisiana and then flown southwest across the Gulf of Mexico, making landfall at various places in Mexico or the southern tip of Texas. 2014 was similar except in that year she departed from northern Florida, not Louisiana. By contrast, in the first 2 years that we tracked her (2009 and 2010), Island Girl departed from the tip of Florida and crossed the Gulf via Cuba, so this might represent a permanent change from her earlier routes. We have no idea how old Island Girl is, or how many times she made this migration before we started tracking her.

http://frgroup.frg.org/2016/10/island-girl-began-her-2016-southern.html

Alison · « **Reply #31 on:** October 03, 2016, 15:18 »

October 2, 2016

Island Girl has now travelled 2,631 miles, and has almost reached the Gulf of Mexico. I will be very interested to see whether she travels along the coast or decides to cross the Gulf.

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #30 on:** October 02, 2016, 14:03 »

on the map Alison provided that almost looks halfway back home (or other home?) to Chile but if I recall she does about 6K miles each way - unless this year she's choosing a very direct route will be interesting to see if she follows the coast or hops makes a beeline for the Mexican peninsula across the Gulf.

Thanks for keeping an eye on Isand Girl - you are right she really is a wonderful bird to "watch"!

Alison · « **Reply #29 on:** September 30, 2016, 11:37 »

As of September 29, Island Girl has already travelled 2,156 miles! She really is a remarkable falcon.

Map from the Southern Cross Peregrine Project.

Alison · « **Reply #28 on:** September 29, 2016, 13:56 »

Island Girl is now in the Great Lakes area. The map has been updated, and as of September 28, she has now travelled 1,614 miles.

Alison · « **Reply #27 on:** September 27, 2016, 22:05 »

2016

Island Girl has now begun her 2016 southern migration.

So far, there is map information only for September 17-21.

Main page

http://www.frg.org/sc_pefa.htm

Tracking page

http://www.frg.org/track_pefa12.htm

Wishing her a safe journey and a safe winter in Chile.

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #26 on:** August 13, 2013, 11:20 »

2013

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #25 on:** December 09, 2012, 15:43 »

Quote from: gemcitygemini on November 03, 2012, 08:27

I was just looking at Island Girl's tracking page and happily I see that she is safely ensconsed in South America. Thankfully she escaped harm from Superstorm/Hurricane Sandy.

It's taken me this long to have time and remember to check on Island Girl and her final 2012 southern migration statistics are "in" - 51.5 days on migration for a total of 13,457km this year. That's an average of 261km per day!

GCG · « **Reply #24 on:** November 03, 2012, 08:27 »

I was just looking at Island Girl's tracking page and happily I see that she is safely ensconsed in South America. Thankfully she escaped harm from Superstorm/Hurricane Sandy.

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #23 on:** October 20, 2012, 15:14 »

Looks like Mexico is the in place to hang out for peregrines right now ....

Peregrine counts at Veracruz for this migration period is 848 as of the 18th of October.
As of the 19th of October further south at a hawk migration site in Panama, only 64 peregrines have been observed. I do know that often raptors cross to Colombia south of Panama City, so maybe this is just a good year for that route.

Looks like our kids go to Mexico then work their way back to Texas early in the New Year. Perhaps anatum birds that nest further south go further south and vice versa. It will be interesting to see what the final counts for the season are though.

Interestingly Island Girl is still hanging out in Limon, Costa Rica, so its possible even many of the tundra birds haven't gone through the Panama site yet. Looking at her 2011 migration, she was in Limon on the 19th last year too. And even though she is only half-way through her migration, she will likely be at her summer home in a month or less - last year she was home by November 12th.

Pam · « **Reply #22 on:** October 19, 2012, 20:18 »

Thanks RCF, great link!

Kinderchick · « **Reply #21 on:** October 18, 2012, 23:07 »

It is truly amazing to look at Island Girl's migration map!

RCF · « **Reply #20 on:** October 17, 2012, 20:26 »

Quote from: Jazzerkins on October 17, 2012, 20:04

transplanted maple - would you be able to post a link to the photo so we can take a look at this amazing bird? Many thanks.

Here is the link to the photo. http://frgroup.frg.org/

Click on picture to enlarge.

Island Girl's Tracking page http://www.frg.org/track_pefa12.htm

bcbird · « **Reply #19 on:** October 17, 2012, 20:14 »

Quote from: irenekl on October 17, 2012, 11:16

I love hearing about Island Girl. Imagine her sitting atop a great ship, head to the wind, scanning the horizon. (which makes me seasick ) Thanks for all the updates Tracy, keep them coming!

I agree irenekl. Great image!

Jazzerkins · « **Reply #18 on:** October 17, 2012, 20:04 »

transplanted maple - would you be able to post a link to the photo so we can take a look at this amazing bird? Many thanks.

transplanted maple · « **Reply #17 on:** October 17, 2012, 12:56 »

Yesterday, in Costa Rica they got a picture of Island Girl on a cell tower just outside Limon. What a great story but still miss hearing about your birds..

irenekl · « **Reply #16 on:** October 17, 2012, 11:16 »

I love hearing about Island Girl. Imagine her sitting atop a great ship, head to the wind, scanning the horizon. (which makes me seasick

) Thanks for all the updates Tracy, keep them coming!

Kinderchick · « **Reply #15 on:** October 16, 2012, 21:35 »

That is truly amazing!

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2012, 20:34 »

Update on Island Girl ..

She is 7500km from Baffin Island on the east coast of Costa Rica surrounded by national parks and biological reserves. Looks like she might have had an interesting trip across the Gulf of Mexico. She left the US just south of New Orleans early in the morning on October 7th and it looks like she might have spent a chunk of the 8th resting on a northbound ship. She took off again in the late afternoon on the 8th and came ashore at Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Trip across water was 1025.7km over 3 days.

Kinderchick · « **Reply #13 on:** October 09, 2012, 09:35 »

What an amazing distance Island Girl flies in such a relatively short period of time.

I find this information very interesting. Thanks for posting it, TPC.

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2012, 23:29 »

Quote from: allikat on October 07, 2012, 22:07

Quote from: The Peregrine Chick on October 02, 2012, 11:03
Speaking of Island Girl ...

- October 1st she was in Illinois
- September 30th she flew 635km
- average distance of her southward migrations = 15,250 km
- average distance of her northward migrations = 13,200 km
- her average annual migrations = 14,366 km
Which is why I posed the question of, are tundra peregrines larger and/or stronger than our, I hate to label them as standard, but, just curious... or, is it just that, that's where that particular specie of falcons breed, and that's just what they do because it's instinct and they are hard wired to do so?

Tundras and anatum are about the same size/weight. Pealei are non-migratory and larger by up to a couple hundred grams. They migrate to Chile because its not that dissimilar to their habitat up north and the coast of Chile is a pretty productive environment for birds and aquatic mammals and fish - lots to eat so there is lots for the tundra birds to eat as well. If they were hanging out in Mexico or Central America or even northern South America, they would be in competition for food with lots of other raptor species - including anatum peregrines. Not a good evolutionary adaptation. The distance they fly is long but birds can die anywhere along a route, short or long. They can die while waiting to come back north or the can die when they get back up here. So its all choices - need food and need space to reproduce, Tundra peregrines have found a combination that works for them though its a bit of a hike to get there.

Just as an FYI ... Island Girl as of 3pm this afternoon was over the Gulf of Mexico roughly 600km east of Corpus Christi. She has been on migration for 12 days and has covered just over 4000km. I suspect that she will come ashore about between Matamoros and Veracruz based on her flight path so far. Last year she essentially stayed over land following the southern Texas coast then the eastern coast of Mexico and much of Central America before hopping overland and down the west coast of South America. In 2010 and 2009 she hopped from Florida to Cuba then across to the Honduras-Costa Rica area and then south. This year she's splitting the difference it looks like - looking at USA national weather maps, looks like she's avoiding storms that run from the Great Lakes to Louisiana.

allikat · « **Reply #11 on:** October 07, 2012, 22:07 »

Quote from: The Peregrine Chick on October 02, 2012, 11:03

Speaking of Island Girl ...

- October 1st she was in Illinois
- September 30th she flew 635km
- average distance of her southward migrations = 15,250 km
- average distance of her northward migrations = 13,200 km
- her average annual migrations = 14,366 km

Which is why I posed the question of, are tundra peregrines larger and/or stronger than our, I hate to label them as standard, but, just curious... or, is it just that, that's where that particular specie of falcons breed, and that's just what they do because it's instinct and they are hard wired to do so?

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #10 on:** October 02, 2012, 22:08 »

Quote from: irenekl on October 02, 2012, 17:16

Why and how was Island Girl caught?

She was caught as part of a transmitter study to see how/when/where tundra falcons summer/migrate/winter. There have been about 10 of them banded, 2 are still active but I think its really just one that's still active (Island Girl). Most of the others had their transmitters fail - a couple of have been confirmed to have died, the others its still unknown. Island Girl was caught on her wintering grounds in Chile - they tend not to travel very far while they are there so they are not exactly easy to find/catch but easier relatively speaking.

irenekl · « **Reply #9 on:** October 02, 2012, 17:16 »

Why and how was Island Girl caught?

transplanted maple · « **Reply #8 on:** October 02, 2012, 16:33 »

Island Girl sure travels, it is nice to know that her transmitter is still working..

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #7 on:** October 02, 2012, 11:03 »

Speaking of Island Girl ...

- October 1st she was in Illinois
- September 30th she flew 635km
- average distance of her southward migrations = 15,250 km
- average distance of her northward migrations = 13,200 km
- her average annual migrations = 14,366 km

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #6 on:** October 02, 2012, 11:03 »

Quote from: Kinderchick on October 01, 2012, 22:42

That's amazing! I can't remember... how old would Island Girl be, TPC?

No idea how old, she was caught and fitted with a transmitter as an adult while on the tundra peregrine wintering grounds in Chile in 2009. So minimum 5 years old or she could be 15 years old. Probably somewhere more than 6 if I had to guess based on her migration travels, she's wickedly consistent on her path north and south over thousands of kilometres - minimum median adult lifespan for tundra birds is 4-5 years old.

Kinderchick · « **Reply #5 on:** October 01, 2012, 22:42 »

That's amazing!

I can't remember... how old would Island Girl be, TPC?

birdcamfan · « **Reply #4 on:** September 30, 2012, 21:17 »

unbelievable!

allikat · « **Reply #3 on:** September 30, 2012, 20:15 »

Quote from: The Peregrine Chick on September 30, 2012, 15:38

Island Girl the tundra peregrine that nests on Baffin Island and has a transmitter is on the move ... she left on the 24th and 4.8 days later she has already covered 2,009 km (1,250mi).

At 1400h on the 29th the bird was north of Pukaskwa Provincial Park on her way south. From 2200h on the 25th to 2200h on the 26th, she flew 919km (520 mi) then hung out for a day before getting going again on the 27th.

At this rate she could be passing through Texas before a number of our birds are!

WOW!!! I'm amazed! Are the female tundra peregrines stronger and/or larger? It seems from what you have explained before regarding Island Girl, this bird flies a very long and vigorous route to basically land, mate, brood, mother, teach and then she's off again...again, WOW!

bcbird · « **Reply #2 on:** September 30, 2012, 19:25 »

Quote from: The Peregrine Chick on September 30, 2012, 15:38

Island Girl the tundra peregrine that nests on Baffin Island and has a transmitter is on the move ... she left on the 24th and 4.8 days later she has already covered 2,009 km (1,250mi).

At 1400h on the 29th the bird was north of Pukaskwa Provincial Park on her way south. From 2200h on the 25th to 2200h on the 26th, she flew 919km (520 mi) then hung out for a day before getting going again on the 27th.

At this rate she could be passing through Texas before a number of our birds are!

Absolutely amazing species!

The Peregrine Chick · « **Reply #1 on:** September 30, 2012, 15:38 »

Island Girl the tundra peregrine that nests on Baffin Island and has a transmitter is on the move ... she left on the 24th and 4.8 days later she has already covered 2,009 km (1,250mi).

At 1400h on the 29th the bird was north of Pukaskwa Provincial Park on her way south. From 2200h on the 25th to 2200h on the 26th, she flew 919km (520 mi) then hung out for a day before getting going again on the 27th.

At this rate she could be passing through Texas before a number of our birds are!