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Shoalwater DNR Locates Vulture-Shed Transmitter!
April 30, 2023. Ocean Shores Muncipal Airport. Coastal Raptors trapped a Turkey Vulture for a research project on the movement ecology of this very important scavenger species (for an overview of the study, go to Turkey Vulture Tracking). Trouble began one week afterward. At the time of her May 20 observation, Cyndie was conducting a […]
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You Win Some, You Loose Some
April 29, 2023: Ocean Shores Muncipal Airport Coastal Raptors began monitoring the health of avian scavengers on the Pacific coast in 2011. This effort involves capturing Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures and Common Ravens for tissue sampling ahead of lab tests for pathogen and contaminant exposure. This day we trapped a Bald Eagle with a severe […]
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Is This Your Bird?
On May 1, 2023 I received an email from David Estroff of Gig Harbor, Washington with “Is this your bird” as the subject. I knew immediately that his email was going to be about a banded bird. I hoped that it would be one of mine and it was! David was birding on Grays Harbor […]
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To a Career in Wildlife Science and Conservation
My wife Sue and I spent the last week of February in Tucson, Arizona. A highlight of that visit for me was presenting a seminar at the University of Arizona’s school of natural resources, the title of which was Reflections on a Career in Wildlife Science and Conservation – 30 Years and Counting. I was […]
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Turkey Vulture Amelia Slips Transmitter, Soars Free!
On August 4, 2022 Jake Burroughs, Sandra Miller and I trapped a Turkey Vulture for the Coastal Raptors Turkey Vulture Tracking research project. We fitted that vulture with a transmitter and wing-tag EA. Captured at the Ocean Shores, Washington airport, we named this one Amelia after famed aviator Amelia Earhart. (Vultures cannot be sexed by […]
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The Fishing Line Threat
On April 4, 2020 Ocean Shores photographer Pat Hayes gave me a call, indicating that a Bald Eagle was dead on the beach north of Ocean Shores. I drove to the closest access road and found the way blocked to vehicle traffic due to the pandemic. Thinking that my research permit from Washington State Parks […]
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Peregrine Falcon 32/B – The Gray Ghost!
Dave Murnen, Jake Burroughs, Tom Rowley and I conducted a raptor survey on October 13, 2022 on the Ocean Shores beach that was remarkable in two ways. It was the first time to band three Peregrine Falcons during the same survey. And, for just the second time in 27 years, a Peregrine Falcon showing leucism […]
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Turkey Vulture ES: Re-sightings in California and Oregon
Whenever the USGS Bird Banding Lab contacts me with information from a person who has re-sighted one of our wing-tagged Turkey Vultures, I write them for more info. While the reports from the BBL provide me with basic information about the observation (i.e., who saw the bird, when and where), there’s always more to be […]
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Remembering Peregrine Falcon Z/U
Z/U, a female Peale’s Peregrine Falcon banded by Coastal Raptors in 2015, was found dead near Ruby Beach on the Olympic Peninsula’s north coast. The falcon was found by Jessie Huggins and Dyanna Lambourne on October 9, 2022. It’s worth noting that Jessie and Dyanna are members of the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network […]
