Date: February 28, 2009
Beach: Long Beach
Observers: Dan Varland, Bryan Bedrosian, Mary Kay Kenney, Dave Murnen, Scott Horton, Suzanne Tomlinson, Marc Tomlinson, Dan Miller, Rob Palmer and Nick Dunlop.
Miller's Obiter Dictum
Marked Individuals Observed:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
H/4 |
Peregrine Falcon |
W/Z |
Raptors Banded:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Bald Eagle |
N/A |
Peregrine Falcon |
S/3 |
Peregrine Falcon |
H/2 |
Mary Kay Kenney with N/A, a two-year-old female Bald Eagle captured and banded on the beach this morning. Photo by Dan Varland.
Mary Kay with N/A. Photo by Bryan Bedrosian.
Bryan Bedrosian with S/3, a first-year female Peregrine Falcon. Dan Varland photo.
Mary Kay with H/2, a first-year male Peregrine Falcon. Photo by Bryan Bedrosian.
H/2. Photo by Bryan Bedrosian.
H/2 had an injury to his left foot. Given that he seemed in good health overall, we released him after banding despite the injury. Photo by Bryan Bedrosian.
H/4 lifts off from a creek on the Long Beach Peninsula. H/4 is a first-year female peregrine Rob Palmer photo.
W/Z, a one-year old male Peregrine Falcon. W/Z was banded at Ocean Shores in November 2007, when he was less than a year old. Photograph by Rob Palmer.
Date: February 27, 2009
Beach: Ocean Shores
Observers: Dan Varland, Bryan Bedrosian, Dave Murnen, Brian Sterling, Rich Sivonen, Rob Palmer, Nick Dunlop, Dianna Moore, and Tom Rowley.
Comments:
Bryan Bedrosian, Avian Program Director for Craighead Beringia South
(
http://www.bswy.us),
joined us in the field. Bryan was with us for four days to provide training in the
use of Netlaunchers for the capture and color marking of Bald Eagles. Today we captured four eagles.
Two world-class photographers, Rob Palmer and Nick Dunlop, also joined us.
Rob and Nick specialize in raptor photography (Rob:
http://www.falconphotos.com;
Nick:
http://www.nickdunlop.com).
While those of us trapping eagles stayed in one location, Rob and Nick drove the beach.
They were joined today by Dianna Moore and Tom Rowley. Among the raptors they photographed were A/4 and X/D,
two of our color marked peregrines.
Marked Individuals Observed:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
A/4 |
Peregrine Falcon |
X/D |
Raptors Banded:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Bald Eagle: 1-year old |
M/U |
Bald Eagle: 2-year old |
M/B |
Bald Eagle: 2-year old |
M/P |
Bald Eagle: 4 or more years of age |
M/M |
Professional raptor photographers Rob Palmer (left) and Nick Dunlop.
First-year female Peregrine Falcon A/4 feeding at Ocean Shores this morning. A/4 was banded at Ocean Shores on September 19, 2008. Photo by Rob Palmer.
Bryan Bedrosian prepares a Netlauncher for use in Bald Eagle capture. Photo by Tom Rowley.
Dan Varland and Bryan Bedrosian with four Bald Eagles. The color of the plumage, eyes, and beak are key to aging the species. In this photo, the eagles on the left and center are two years of age and the one on the right is one. I hold an adult; this bird is least five years of age. Once a Bald Eagle reaches adulthood at five, year-by-year aging is not possible. Photo by Brian Sterling.
From left: Dan Varland, Bryan Bedrosian and Scott Horton hold a one-year-old Bald Eagle. This bird was later banded with color band M/U. Photo by Brian Sterling.
M/U. M/U is a male, as were the other eagles captured this morning. As with most raptor species, males are smaller than females. We used bill depth and hallux measurements to determine the sex of this eagle and the others we captured. Photo by Bryan Bedrosian.
A juvenile Bald Eagle out-flies the reach of the Netlauncher net. Photos by Tom Rowley.
Date: February 16, 2009
Beach: Long Beach
Observers: Dan Varland, Dave Murnen, Dan Miller, and Frank Gordon
Raptor count:
Bald Eagle |
3 adults,
3 juveniles |
Incoming waves from the tidal push meet outgoing waters of Willapa Bay at the north end of the Long Beach Peninsula. Dan Miller photo.
Date: February 12, 2009
Beach: Ocean Shores
Observers: Dan Varland, Suzanne Tomlinson, Dianna Moore, and Mary O'Neil.
Raptor count:
Bald Eagle |
Peregrine Falcon |
Northern Harrier |
2 adults,
1 juveniles |
1 juvenile |
2 adults |
Marked Individuals Observed:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
X/D |
X/D, a first-year male Peregrine Falcon on the beach this morning. We banded X/D on November 1, about ½ mile north of where we saw him today.
Date: February 3, 2009
Beach: Grayland
Observers: Dan Varland, Suzanne Tomlinson, and Dianna Moore
Raptor count:
Bald Eagle |
Peregrine Falcon |
Northern Harrier |
2 adults,
1 juveniles |
1 |
1 |
Driftwood, with drifted sand, on the beach this morning.
Date: January 31, 2009
Beach: Ocean Shores
Observers: Dan Varland, Dave Murnen, Dan Miller, and Dianna Moore
Comments: We saw an adult Bald Eagle pursue, capture and begin feeding on a gull at the surf's edge.
The eagle left the beach and flew east over the dunes shortly after the capture.
Raptor count:
Bald Eagle |
Northern Harrier |
5 adults,
3 juveniles |
1 |
While we were unable to get a photo of the Bald Eagle we saw capture the gull, we found this impression of the gull imbedded in the sand at the kill site.
Date: January 18, 2009
Beach: Grayland
Observers: Dan Varland, Dianna Moore, and Dan Miller
Comments: Comments: We saw a Merlin on the beach this morning. This is the first Merlin we have observed
since October 9, and the Merlin we saw that day was the only one observed last fall.
Raptor count:
Bald Eagle |
Merlin |
2 adults |
1 |
Tracks in the sand this morning.
Date: January 17, 2009
Beach: Ocean Shores
Observers: Dan Varland, Dave Murnen, Dan Miller, Kate Bullington, and Chad Miller
Comments: We were able to re-capture W/X today, a 5-year female Peregrine Falcon banded
in April of 2004 at Ocean Shores.
Miller's Obiter Dictum
Raptor count:
Peregrine Falcon |
Bald Eagle |
Northern Harrier |
1 adult,
1 juvenile |
1 juvenile |
1 |
Marked Individuals Observed:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
W/X |
Peregrine Falcon |
X/D |
W/X, a 5-year old Peale's peregrine banded at Ocean Shores on April 18, 2004 (Kate Bullington photo).
W/X's bands were dirty; she was last captured on January 22, 2006.
We cleaned both bands with a tooth brush, making field identification easier.
The bands, looking better.
Date: January 3, 2009
Beach: Long Beach
Observers: Dan Varland, Dan Miller, Jon Hawkins, and Dennis and Dotty Colwell
Comments: We saw a record seven peregrines on the beach today, four adults and three
juveniles. All four of adults were banded. We were able to read the color band code
for only one individual: C/4.
Miller's Obiter Dictum
Raptor count:
Peregrine Falcon |
Bald Eagle |
Northern Harrier |
4 adults,
3 juveniles |
4 adults,
1 juvenile |
2 |
Raptors Banded:
Species |
Color Marker Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
H/4 |
Marked Individuals Observed:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
C/4 |
C/4 on the beach today. This 4-year old female was banded at Long Beach on December 19, 2004.
H/4, a first-year female Peale's peregrine banded on the beach today.
H/4.
Date: January 2, 2009
Beach: Ocean Shores
Observers: Dan Varland, Dave Murnen, Dianna Moore, and Marshall Ross
Comments: We saw two old friends on the beach this morning, M/K (banded in 2003) and W/M (banded in 2004).
Raptor count:
Peregrine Falcon |
Bald Eagle |
Northern Harrier |
Red-tailed Hawk |
2 adults |
5 adults,
3 juveniles |
1 |
2 |
Marked Individuals Observed:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
M/K |
Peregrine Falcon |
W/M |
M/K on the beach today. This 6-year old male was banded at Ocean Shores on April 6, 2003.
An adult Red-tailed Hawk feeding on carrion. Red-tails are an uncommon sight during our surveys.
The red-tail takes off with breakfast.
Date: December 20, 2008
Beach: Ocean Shores
Observers: Dan Varland, Dave Murnen, Suzanne Tomlinson, Marc Tomlinson, and Mary O'Neil
Raptor count:
Bald Eagle |
Northern Harrier |
7 adults,
3 juveniles |
2 |
Date: December 6, 2008
Beach: Long Beach
Observers: Dan Varland, Dianna Moore, Aaron Perry, and Dale Larson
Raptor count:
Peregrine Falcon |
Bald Eagle |
Northern Harrier |
2 juveniles,
1 adult |
1 adult,
1 juvenile |
4 |
Raptors Banded:
Species |
Color Marker Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
R/3 |
Marked Individuals Observed:
Species |
Color Band Code |
Peregrine Falcon |
X/V |
Dan Varland with R/3, a firs-year female Peale's peregrine. Dale Larson photo.
R/3. Dale Larson photo
R/3 at release. Dale Larson photo
X/V, a first-year males Peale's peregrine banded at Ocean Shores on October 9 of this year. Dan Varland photo.
Northern Harriers over the dunes. Dan Varland photo.
An un-banded adult Peregrine Falcon feeds on a small bird. We were unable to identify the prey item. She ate the whole bird: head, legs, and all. Dan Varland photo.