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Field Trips and Walks
Audubon BirdLoop at Marymoor Park
Citizen Science
The Southern Cross Peregrine Project
Come hear raptor biologist, Bud Anderson, present his fascinating stories of the beautiful Peregrine Falcon’s incredible migration from the Chilean Andes to the northern Arctic and back and the new GPS tracking they use.
Raptor biologist, Bud Anderson, has studied raptors for over 35 years and has an incredible knowledge of local populations of peregrine falcons. He and the members of the Southern Cross Peregrine Project have spent three years tracking these incredible birds. They have followed the spring and fall migration of North American tundra peregrines from their southern ranges in Chile to their breeding grounds in the arctic.
The group captured, banded and attached GPS transmitters to the falcons. The Falcon Research Group led by Bud Anderson was able to track these birds every day and learn more about their behavior and migratory pathways than ever before. Linking the GPS data to Google Earth, they can closely examine the departure dates, specific routes, daily distance travelled, arrival times and even the locations of the northern nest sites of the individual birds. Locations can be pinpointed to within 20 meters, often allowing us to identify individual perches and roosts used by the migrant peregrines anywhere in the western hemisphere.
During each migration period, this information is shared online, allowing anyone to follow the falcons as they traverse two continents on an 8,600 mile journey that may last up to two months.
Last fall, one peregrine, Elizabetha, travelled a spectacular 935 miles in a single day a world record for distance covered by a migratory bird (New Jersey to Florida). This is a typical example of the revolutionary new GPS satellite technology being "married" to the ancient phenomenon of global bird migration. This technology has allowed the group to track nine migrant Peregrine Falcons "wintering" in Chile. Bud will share amazing stories and pictures of the Southern Cross Peregrine Project, the travels and travails of Peregrine tracking throughout the Americas.
Skagit Flats Winter Raptor Count
Bud invites EAS members to join about 100 volunteers who participate in the one hour annual Skagit Flats Winter Raptor Count in February. A demonstration of how many birds of prey occur on the Skagit Flats, one of the premier winter hawk watching sites in Washington.
Please join us Thursday, September 24, for Bud's thrilling presentation on peregrine falcons. Program night will start promptly at 7:00, however, you are welcome to come early and enjoy the Activity Fair. Bud's presentation is FREE and open to the public - invite a friend.
