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Coastal Raptors-Banded Bald Eagle Washes Ashore in Puget Sound
Eleven years after Coastal Raptors volunteers and I applied visual ID band P/O to a Bald Eagle, it was found dead below a line of homes at the water’s edge in South Puget Sound on March 22, 2025 (red arrow on map above shows the general location). Homeowner JC found the eagle on the bulkhead […]
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Long-lost Banded Peregrine Sighted on the Oregon Coast
I first got to know Roy in 2010 when he contacted me about a banded Peregrine Falcon that he’d photographed circling the lighthouse at Oregon’s Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Through Roy’s photos, we were able to determine that this peregrine was one of ours, wearing visual ID band C/5. In September 2024, I received […]
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Better Late than Never, the Bald Eagle Becomes Our National Bird!
Note to readers: My main source of information for this post was a January 2025 interview that I was privileged to have with Preston Cook, the star of this story. The National Eagle Center’s Ed Hahn put me in touch with Preston for the interview. Other sources that I used include Preston’s book, “American Eagle: […]
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The Peale’s Peregrine Falcon – A Quintessential Coastal Raptor
Introduction The Peale’s Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus pealei) is one of three subspecies of peregrine found in North America. The others are the Anatum Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) and the Tundra Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus tundrius). Due to the effects of environmental contaminants, Peregrine Falcon populations declined substantially in the mid-twentieth century in the […]
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Remembering Bald Eagle B/O
Four miles north of Ocean Shores, Washington. During a raptor survey on June 12, 2015, we stopped to record a Bald Eagle perched atop a signpost. In a half-hearted effort to trap him (or her!) for banding, we drove by and tossed a baited snare out the window near his perch. Our snare was attached […]
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Steller’s Sea-Eagle: My Lucky Encounter with Stella!
June 23, 2024. Newfoundland, Canada. Below you see my best photo of a Steller’s Sea-Eagle, taken during a boat tour off the coast of Trinity, Newfoundland. Native to the Russian Far East, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, this bird was most certainly out of place on the far east side of the North American continent! […]
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Where’d That Carcass Go?
On April 21, 2024 Tom Rowley, Pam McCauley, Dianna Moore and I conducted a raptor survey at Ocean Shores (see Surveying and Banding for more on Coastal Raptors’ survey efforts). We tallied 16 raptors in all, 10 Bald Eagles and 6 Turkey Vultures. All of the vultures and one of the eagles were perched close […]
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“Perhaps the Most Unique Looking Peregrine Falcon I Have Seen Here”
People often ask me to help them identify birds, especially raptors. This past April 11 was one of those occasions. John Raymond, whom I’ve known and “talked birds” with for years, got in touch by email to ask about a Peregrine Falcon he’s seen that day. “Perhaps the most unique looking Peregrine Falcon I have […]
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Friendly Falcons
Our raptor Surveying and Banding research has been ongoing since 1995. In the ensuing 29 years, we’ve captured 244 Peregrine Falcons, fitting each with a visual identification leg band. As we approach these falcons in our vehicle for banding or resighting, the degree of wariness they show ranges from extremely skittish to very approachable. […]
