GGRO Telemetry

Update on Diana and Coco

2012-02-03T15:31:00.000-08:00

Coco:
February 2, 2012! Coco is located on the ridgeline just west of Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir, just north of Highway 92 and west of Highway 280. It is very surprising that his transmitter is still working, since the manufacturer gives the battery a 6 - 8 week estimated life and we're going on 3 months! Coco is active, up and circling and apparently hanging out with a number of other Redtails along the coastal ridge.

Diana:
Jan. 3, 2012! Phil walked into the Laguna de Santa Rosa and observed Diana perched in a tree. Her transmitter was still working (almost 2 months after release). Phil returned on January 17, but was unable to pick up her signal. At the end of January, Phil and Lorri checked out the wider region, but were unable to pick up her signal. Her transmitter may have stopped transmitting, or she may have moved beyond the region.

Diana Checks Out Phil and Megan, Nov. 16, 2011

2011-11-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

Phil captured this image of Diana as she flew directly above them.

If you look closely, you can even see the thin antennae protruding beyond the center of the tail.

Wednesday, Nov. 16 -- Eureka, We've Found Her

2011-11-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Eureka!

Phil and Megan ventured through the gate off Sanford Rd. and walked about 1/2 mile into the Laguna de Santa Rosa Preserve. Diana flew towards them and perched atop an old telephone pole. Diana then flew and soared, finally stopping at a big old oak tree. As soon as possible I'll post a great picture of Diana as she flew directly above the team. Confirmation that Diana is alive and well in the Laguna de Santa Rosa.

Tuesday, Nov. 15 -- Zipped to San Andreas Lake

2011-11-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Larry "zipped" down to San Andreas Lake to check on Coco. Coco had moved slightly! Coco is now at the north end of San Andreas Lake. If you recall, Coco was last located towards the south end of the lake, close to Crystal Springs Reservoir. San Andreas Lake is approximately 3 miles in length, so when Coco travels from one end to the other, it is not exactly a marthon effort. Our Lake Bird seems very content.

Another storm is headed into Central California. Willl either of our birds move? Or, are they both happy in their chosen homelands?

Monday, Nov. 14 -- She Seems to Like the Area

2011-11-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, two teams went out today to check on Diana. I got a call from Larry about mid-morning. Something about moving to winery tasting rooms. I don't know if he meant Diana, but she's underage, so I hope she's not hanging around the tasting rooms. So, that means that Larry and Katie must be hanging around some wineries. I checked on the DeLorme (map) and see grapes decorating the area near Vine Hill and Guerneville Rd just north of Diana's last known location (Sanford near Occidental Rd.). I'll have to assume that is their location. [Larry has a way of locating wineries which are situated in a perfect spot from which to take bearings. Years ago he and Phil perched for hours on the grounds of the Mt. Aukum Winery] Back to Diana....

Bill was south of Larry's team. The two teams determined that Diana is well, and moving around the same Laguna de Santa Rosa area. She may have moved as far as 2 miles northward (toward the wineries), but by the end of the day she was back near Occidental and Sanford. Tomorrow, or Wednesday maybe someone will venture into the preserve. We certainly don't want to disturb Diana, but it would be nice to have a visual.

Sunday, Nov. 13 -- We Doubled Our Chances....

2011-11-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

As we discussed yesterday, we split the tracking teams in order to double our chances of having a moving bird. Larry and Katie headed to San Andreas Lake, Coco's last known location, and found he had moved! Yes, he moved ever so slightly southward to the area between San Andreas Lake and Crystal Springs Reservoir. He was very easy to locate.

And back up near Sebastopol, Diana remained in her same location. Everyone is reporting that the signal is "different", in that the volume changes quickly, but she does appear to be moving. A creek runs through the area and perhaps her signal is bouncing or being carried along the creek.

The plan for tomorrow is to concentrate on Diana and to try to determine what she is doing. Access to the area is limited, but Bill is going to try to use his charms to gain access. The season is definitely winding down with two birds that appear to be stationary.

Saturday, Nov. 12 -- It's a Nice Day to Fly

2011-11-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

The weather was beautiful today. Nice flying weather, indeed. However, Diana again spent the day doing local movements around the golf course and Laguna de Santa Rosa. It is nice redtail territory, but trackers need something to track. Otherwise, we would call ourselves, "Monitors".

Other than Diana's local movements, and strange signals that are one moment soft and then loud, and the predominantly vertical signals that we get.... the teams have little to report on Diana. No Visuals!

The teams that stay overnight in Santa Rosa, did report police action at the hotel around 2 AM. Wonderful! A good night's sleep interrupted for about a half hour while the police quieted the party going on upstairs. Diana was not there.

Tomorrow the teams will try to double their chances of tracking a moving hawk. One team will head down to check on Coco. Will he still be at San Andreas Lake? Will he have decided to move on? Will he be gone? Meanwhile, the other two teams will stay with Diana.

Friday, 11-11-11 -- Diana Moves--- (well, sort of)

2011-11-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Diana was up and moving today, but ended the day right back in the same general location near Laguna de Santa Rosa and the nearby golf course. All of her movements were strictly local. We did have some strange signals today, though.

Stay tuned to see what will happen tomorrow. Will Diana resume her flight northward? We know she did a good move northward on release day.... Wednesday. And yesterday it rained; and, as anticipated, she stayed put. Or.....will we end up with two stationary birds?

Thursday, Nov. 10 -- Teams Zero In On Diana

2011-11-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

The teams headed to their morning positions: Cheryl and Mike to Sonoma Mt., Larry to Mt. Burdell, while Phil and Ron would be a traveling team, "on the bird", if they could just zero in on Diana's location. At 7:30, the Sonoma Mt. team sent out a page with Diana's bearing which meant that Phil and Ron could try to get closer. Indeed, at 9:20 from Two Rock, they reported, "Visual!" [The teams carry old-fashioned pagers and are able to send out 20-digit codes which can report bearings, movements, visuals, or problems. It's antiquated, but it works to let everyone know what is going on with each team.] Success! Diana is found!

For the remainder of the day, the two highpoint teams have cross-bearings and the team "on the bird" is indeed able to keep up with Diana. In fact, they have another "Visual" of her just before noon in a riparian area west of Rohnert Park. Around 1 PM Diana began drifting to the NW and followed the riparian corridor of Laguna de Santa Rosa. Following the other teams crossed-bearings, the team relocated Diana in the northern end of Laguna de Santa Rosa a "really fabulous, really cool area and right next door to the Laguna Foundation office." To see more go to LagunaFoundation.org.

Phil's End-of-Day message ended with, "So, it was some really cool tracking, 2 visuals and all worked well."

Wednesday, Nov. 9 -- Goodbye Coco, Hello Diana

2011-11-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

Two teams met at San Andreas Lake to monitor Coco, while Larry and Ron headed to the GGRO Headquarters to be prepared to put a transmitter on our next tracking bird..... if the banders are able to provide one. [Phil reported in the End-of-the-Day Message that "we likely had a visual. Coco seemed quite content."]

I've been reminding the Banding Dayleader, David (aka my husband), that we would really like a new bird today; so the banding team was ready and very willing to provide one. Bingo... before 10:30 POAK blind called the telemetry team saying that they may have our bird. First checked for health, and feather condition, it looked like we had a new, juvenile redtail to track. Gender? They still had to check. Weight was >1200 grams.... (much larger than Coco's 800+), and the tarsus measurement confirmed that we had a big, beautiful, female RT to track. Now to come up with a name.... a "D" name. Hawkwatchers, banders and office staff offered ideas, some good, some not-so (sure Dumbo knew how to fly, but we are NOT naming this bird Dumbo!). Delilah had several votes, and then Cheryl (long time tracker out at San Andreas Lake with Coco) suggested 'Diana the Huntress'. Ah, a dignified, appropriate name for a hunter!

So, two teams re-positioned themselves for the release of Diana with one team to the south on San Bruno Mt., and the second on San Pablo Ridge in the East Bay. Down at Building 1064 Larry applied the transmitter, and then he and Ron headed up to Hawk Hill to release Diana. And she's off. Almost immediately, she began flying NORTH! The team on San Bruno had early bearings then lost the signal. Larry and Ron were the traveling team, trying to keep up with Diana. Cheryl (Queen of San Pablo Ridge) clicked off the bearings through Mill Valley, Larkspur, San Rafael and northward. Diana was rapidly flying northward through Marin Co. [Phil's message that evening included "The San Pablo team kept us in the game."]

Phil and Mike headed from San Bruno Mt. to Mt. Burdell..... one giant leap. Upon arriving, they picked up a loud, strong signal and determined that Diana was still to the northwest of them! Then the signal was lost. It was after 4 PM, so Diana probably just moved locally perhaps settling down for the evening. The teams tomorrow will have to zero in on her location.

So, two birds in one day. The transition to a new bird went great. And at the end of the day the teams have moved through five counties.... but they've kept up with Diana.

Tuesday, Nov. 8 -- "Coco Must Really Like This Place"

2011-11-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

Coco spent the entire day at San Andreas Lake. This is the same location since Saturday. In the End-of-the-Day Message, Bill James said, "Coco must really like this place." Larry has wondered whether this is a good place for a red-tailed hawk, since it's coastal chaparral with lots of shrubs and a few trees. We're so used to seeing redtails hunt over more open lands that this kind of habitat doesn't fit our image of good redtail country. In talking with Buzz (GGROResearch Director), he commented that sometimes we do not remember the wide variety of prey that redtails are looking for. Sure, they like ground critters, but they also take small birds; and chaparral is full of small birds. We've tracked many redtails who flew right past this location... and kept going. To each, his own.

After a tracked bird remains in the same location for a fourth day, we declare it a stationary bird, and seek to move on to a new bird. So, we'll leave Coco to his chosen home..... by the way, he's our first "Lake Hawk"..... and tomorrow we'll ask the banders to provide a new subject. There's a storm headed our way, so we hope we can get another raptor before the rains arrive. Meanwhile, we'll leave two teams with Coco until we get the call that we have a new bird.

Monday, Nov. 7 -- The Sun Comes Out

2011-11-09T00:45:00.000-08:00

Finally the skies cleared, the sun came out and it warmed up a bit. All right, Coco, let's fly.

With all the teams again in position on San Bruno Mt., Black Mt., and one team "on the bird" we're ready to track. We're back to nice weather..... good flying weather....... nice tracking weather. But by the end of the day, Coco remained on the western side of San Andreas Lake. Yes, he's occasionally up and flying around, but he never goes far. Has Coco found his place in the world?

The teams are getting antsy.

Phil Capitolo Tracks Coco, 11-4-11

2011-11-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

Sunday, Nov. 6 -- Another Gray Day

2011-11-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

The weather didn't improve much today, and Coco stayed put. Being on a mountain top is not enjoyable for man (or woman) or hawk when the weather is cold and gray and windy and drippy; but, that describes the weather on Sunday. Two teams were station on mountain tops; one on San Bruno Mt. and the second on Black Mountain which is farther down the Peninsula. The third team was "on the bird", which in this case means that they were across the lake from Coco, near Hwy 280. They had difficulty getting a clear bearing, since the signal seemed to be all around them. That was probably due to bounce off the surrounding hills, as well as the signal spreading out across the surface of the water.

However, it was clear that Coco remained on the western (inaccessible) side of San Andreas Lake. He made several short flights, so we know he's there. At least when he does a short flight, San Bruno Mountain can pick up his signal. The Black Mountain team heard only a few beeps, since they were just too far away. They will be in "perfect position" if/when Coco moves south. Hopefully, the weather will clear tomorrow.

Saturday, Nov. 5 -- Coco Leaves Mt. Sutro

2011-11-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

Coco hung out at Sutro Towers all morning. The teams were in place...waiting....with one team on Grizzly Peak above Berkeley in the East Bay, and two teams on the Peninsula. The weather was cold, gray and wet. As Bill James put it, around 1 PM Coco "left the shadow of Sutro Towers". He flew to the east side of San Bruno Mountain (where one team was stationed), and ended his 12.5 mile journey at the SE side of San Andreas Lake. Coco seems to like to go AROUND mountains. He stayed in that position for about a half hour, and then flew back to the north about 2.6 miles. Quite a circuitous flight path for the day. He ended up near the north end of San Andreas Lake which is just west of Hwy 280 and north of Hwy 92. The lake is part of the San Francisco Peninsula Watershed and inaccessible.

Friday, Nov. 4 -- Coco Takes the Teams for a Ride

2011-11-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

In the morning, Phil and Lorri re-located Coco near Ring Mountain.   Larry and Robyn would protect the south from Twin Peaks in SF (even though the Sutro Tower causes lots of interference), while Cheryl and Dan have the East Bay highpoint. Phil and Lorri were "on the bird". What a plan!

Coco got up and started moving by mid-morning.  Bearings to the northwest indicated that Coco headed around the north side of Mt. Tam. Phil and Lorri caught up with Coco at Bolinas. At the same time, the Twin Peaks team in SF picked up the bearing "peak" pointed back up the coast to Bolinas. The East Bay team had occasional signals, including an afternoon signal pointing directly to the Golden Gate Bridge. (The signal often carries across water, leading to inaccurate or erroneous bearings).

Phil and Lorri lost the signal in Bolinas.  The Twin Peaks team discussed heading north to help the Bolinas team. After a quick discussion with homebase (who stated that it is probably safe for the team to head north, 'cuz it's unlikely that Coco will come south that late in the day), Larry decided to stay on Twin Peaks until 3 PM.

Larry and Robyn, on Twin Peaks, re-acquired the signal. Through interference from Sutro Tower they  got westward bearings, and decide to "put pedal to the metal" and head down the coast in pursuit of Coco. After checking out Verde Road (Athena's haunt last year), they return to SF. Guess who was waiting for them near Sutro Towers! Yes, Coco flew down the coast from Bolinas directly towards the Twin Peaks team. Having Sutro Tower's interference as a cover, Coco was not 'hiding in plain sight'. More accurately, he was 'undercover' less than a mile from the team's original location on Twin Peaks.

So, Coco started his day at Ring Mt., flew counter-clockwise around Mt. Tamalpais, and slipped down the coast to SF. He was located hiding out amid the interference of Sutro Tower.

Written by Homebase, Lynn, who didn't think Coco would fly south so late in the day. Oops!

Barb Releases Coco, Nov. 3, 2011

2011-11-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Telemetry 2011 is Off and Running

2011-11-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Nov. 3, through gray clouds, threatening skies and occasional drizzle, Hawk Blind presented the Telemetry Team with an absolutely beautiful juvenile Red-tailed Hawk! When we asked the blind, "Fritos or Chocolate?" The response was "Always Chocolate!". (As a thank you for giving us such a handsome bird to track, we provided chocolate in exchange to the banders).

Now, if you remember, we name the birds alphabetically, and this was our "C" bird. On the Name Board were such suggestions as Charlie, Claudius, Clyde (in deference to Bonnie last year), and even Citi-group (never!). Hm.... chocolate is a "C" word, but hard to keep saying over the radios. How about cocoa? So the bird was named, "Coco". Now if you think about chocolate, it comes in white, milk and dark forms.... just like Coco. His head was a little light, and he had beautiful milk chocolate eyes. His white chest medallion was actually surrounded by hearts..... really! And, of course, he had feathers of all three varieties, including dark. Silly isn't it! Although we try to be very scientific in our approach to tracking and data, we do have a little fun, when we can.

Anyway, in addition to being beautiful Coco was very mild mannered and cooperative. Larry and Barb affixed the transmitter and the Hawkwatchers (rained off Hawk Hill) were able to see him before release. We released Coco near the base of Hawk Hill above Kirby Cove. It was drizzling lightly and we wanted him to be able to find cover; so Kirby Cove with its assortment of eucs and pines, was our choice.

The skies remained mostly gray with occasional drizzle. Coco moved through Southern Marin county. He was actively moving around even as the sun set. The teams had his last location at Ring Mountain (east of Hwy 101, near Mill Valley/Tiburon). And, on Friday morning he was relocated there.

Will he be a Lean Mean Flying Machine? ...... maybe today will tell.

Getting Ready for the 2011 Tracking Year

2011-08-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

We're trying a new flexible schedule, and the sign-ups are moving along pretty well. We are hoping to track a Prairie or Broadwing during this special, early schedule. Prairie Falcons and Broadwings come through the Headlands early during the Fall, so we're hoping to be ready to hit the road IF one stops by. As soon as we hit the tracking road, we'll actively post to the 2011 Telemetry Blog.

Saturday, Nov. 20 Team Snowed Off Mt. Hamilton, but....

2010-11-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

This morning no teams have picked up Bonnie's signal. Cheryl and Maxine are on Fremont Peak, Tom and Mike were on Mt. Madonna and have just gotten permission to go through a locked gate to head towards Loma Prieta, and Barb and Jonathan were on Mt. Hamilton, the only spot with the signal yesterday.

At mid-day the ranger at Mt. Hamilton told Barb and Jonathan they would have to leave due to snow. However, they just paged that they have a bearing! Did they actually leave the top and pick up the bearing on the way down? Did they stay, and get snowed in and then picked up the signal? It's too soon to tell, but I wanted you to know that Barb (after spending 3 days last year on San Bruno Mt. without a signal) has finally heard a signal on a moving bird!!! Could it be the work of her magic stilettos?

Friday, Nov. 19 Bonnie Hides Out

2010-11-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

Today, we only fielded 2 teams. One team remained on Fremont Peak while the second headed back to the San Luis Reservoir area. Although that location was the last to have a signal on Thursday, they did not pick up the signal this morning. So, at 11:30 they headed to higher ground.... Mt. Hamilton. The team took a couple of hours to reposition. Meanwhile, Fremont Peak continued scanning for Bonnie's beep.

At 3:25, Tom, Ann and Jonathan managed to pick up a weak signal from Bonnie! It looks like that old Ace Tracking Team (and company) succeeded in at least locating her signal. When I spoke with Libby, she said the Fremont team was in the fog, cold and freezing, but Happy! Ah, the True Tracker Spirit lives.

Will tomorrow's teams be able to zero in on Bonnie's hideout? Will Hamilton once again provide critical clues? or Will the weather make Bonnie hunker down, so that her signal will not carry? Stay tuned.................

Thursday, Nov. 18, Trackers on Highpoints

2010-11-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

Today, the trackers positioned themselves with one team on Fremont Peak, one team wandering the lands around Paicines and Hollister and Tres Pinos, one team went down to Clearwater Summit. Only Fremont Peak was successful in picking up Bonnie's signal during most of the day. Finally, one team headed over to San Luis Reservoir (going across Pacheco Pass and looking for access to Pacheco Peak). At about 3:15 that team picked up a signal which pointed back towards Paicines.... but Bonnie could be anywhere in between, since Fremont Peak did not pick up the same signal.

The teams are having increasing difficulty trying to pick up signals in the rolling terrain between Fremont Peak and Highway 5. In the evening, Tom, Jonathan and Mike left Marin and joined up with Cheryl and Ann in Hollister. When I spoke with Tom he said, "The ACE tracking team is on their way". (Sounds something like the Ace Detective Agency). We'll see how well they do on Friday. Good Luck.

Wednesday, Nov. 17 Bonnie Tries to Evade the Trackers

2010-11-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

Bonnie is a pretty smart gal. She rose early this morning and all three teams had her signal. She then tried to evade their efforts to keep up with her.

(Please understand, that Bonnie doesn't really know that we are out there trying to follow her. We do not try to move in close to her, or obtain sightings of her. We do not want to change her behavior. Most tracking is done from a distance, with us frequently being 5 - 30 miles away. Any reference to "hiding" or "evading" is purely done from the human point of view of the trackers).

While I don't have the maps completed, it appears she woke on the south side of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the moved northward around Loma Prieta. She then tried to slip to the southeast. But she couldn't evade Libby and James on Fremont Peak. They had bearings as she moved eastward, and then to the southeast of their position. Cheryl and Roger hopped from Loma Prieta to Mt. Hamilton, which is not an easy trick. And finally, late in the afternoon, Larry and David located Bonnie hiding out on the east side of the Pinnacles. Great work team.

View of Martins Beach Area

2010-11-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

Athena continues to hang out near Martins Beach.

Tuesday, Nov.16 Bonnie Continues South

2010-11-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

By mid-day Bonnie was moving south, not particularly quickly, but with steady flight. Libby and Roger on Black Mountain on the Peninsula marked off her bearings as she moved to the west of their location, and then to the south. James and Tom along Hwy 1 had frequent cross-bearings as Bonnie coursed over the hills. Larry, David and Ari found a new highpoint off Skyline which gave them bearings as she began moving southward. The last bearings in the late afternoon were from Mt. Bielawski, along Hwy 35, south of Hwy 9 in the Santa Cruz Mts.

James reported that Athena was still hanging out at Martins Beach.

Tuesday, Nov. 16 Morning Report on Bonnie

2010-11-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

This morning the teams located Bonnie's evening hide-away west of Skyline Blvd, and south of Hwy 92. And the 11 AM cross-bearings of Black Mt. and Hwy 1 teams, have Bonnie just S. of Martins Beach. Has Bonnie found the beach party with Athena? stay-tuned...

Athena near Martins Beach

2010-11-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

Monday, Nov. 15 Mid-day, Bonnie is on the Run

2010-11-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

Bonnie spent last night above Highway 101 near Spencer Ave. This morning she escaped southward, and is now on the run down the Peninsula. Stay tuned.

Sunday, Nov. 14 Telemetry Starts a New Bird

2010-11-14T22:35:00.000-08:00

At mid-day today, Jonathan called from HAWK blind to tell us that they had a new Red-tailed Hawk for us. That was the beginning of a massive shift. Pager messages were sent to the teams in the field, "We Have a New Bird"; and then the rush was on. The teams near Half Moon Bay had to re-position to San Bruno Mt., the San Pablo area, and one team had to come into the Headlands. And David and I needed to get to the blind to pick up our new bird and apply the transmitter. It all went very smoothly.

Oh, no. We didn't have days to ponder over a wonderful name for our new bird. "B", hmmmmm. In honor of the Giant's, how about "Buster?", nope it's a girl. What about noble people..... a big blank. How about towns far south.....another blank. Belvedere is across the water, but I think the teams would like to head outside of the neighborhood. We made a call back to Hawk Blind to ask for help in naming our "B" bird. "Give us a list of names starting with "B", was our request.

On the list was the suggestion to name this bird, our "B" bird, Bonnie; and then, the next bird would be "Clyde". Not the most heroic of names, but being half Irish I thought we could try to have a bonnie good time tracking this bonnie lass. Now, let's think about this. Bonnie and Clyde were on the run, and covered a lot of ground. That's good. In the past, names such as "Traveler", "Nomad", "Nimbus", etc. had little effect on the respective raptors. Maybe this time we'll try to be more subtle.

Tonight, the team left Bonnie along the Sausalito ridgeline..... overlooking Belvedere. Where will she take us tomorrow? Stay tuned.

Sunday, Nov. 14 Mid-day Teams Say Good-bye

2010-11-14T21:59:00.000-08:00

Mid-day, the banders called to report that they had a new Red-tailed Hawk for us. Pages were sent, and the teams packed up and headed away from Martins Beach. If anyone would like to check on Athena, there is an extra set of equipment. On to the "B" bird.

Sunday, Nov. 14 Morning Report

2010-11-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

The teams arrived to find Athena was still along Highway 1. Instead of heading to highpoints, the teams meet locally. Two teams then stay local, with one near Athena and the other moving down the coast to get cross-bearings.

Saturday, Nov. 13, Mid-day Report

2010-11-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hold onto your hats! Athena crossed the road!! Yes, the team at Martin's Beach reported that they saw her actually fly across the road to a location behind Bob's Pumpkin Farm. One of the teams immediately called to share the news with me; and I, in turn, am sharing the news with you.

Saturday, Nov. 13 Morning Report

2010-11-13T16:06:00.000-08:00

Athena spent last night at Martin's Beach, which is along Highway 1, south of Half Moon Bay. The morning report was that she was still on the west side of the road, in otherwords, ocean-side. Her signal is not carrying very far, so two teams were along Highway 1 this morning. Eventually, one team headed south to San Gregorio where they could get cross-bearings..... Yeah! The third team is planted in the cemetery along Highway 92 at Skyline. They report it is a very quiet place.

Friday, Nov. 12 Athena Remains Oceanside

2010-11-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

Last night Athena remained at Martin's Beach; and as of midday today, she's not budging. There are several other redtails in the immediate area, and the teams have seen interaction between them. Athena is between Highway 1 and the ocean in an area with dunes.

Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 Athena Crosses the Gate

2010-11-11T16:01:00.000-08:00

Athena is an earlier riser. Having spent the night in Gerbode Valley, in the center of the Headlands, Athena was up and heading south over the Golden Gate before 9 AM. Ron and Phil had a bearing on her from San Pablo Ridge, as she crossed the gate. Ann and Theresa on San Bruno Mt. tracked her as she headed along the coast towards Half Moon Bay. Bill and James headed over to Highway 1, and followed her as she headed further south to Martins Beach. By midday, she seems to have slowed down. The other teams are re-positioning to get her roost site. More to come.......

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 Athena is Released by Larry

2010-11-11T15:50:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010-- 3 PM, Athena Flies Free

2010-11-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

In the early afternoon, Slacker provided a big, healthy, female, juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Larry released her from Conzelman Rd, just below Hawk Hill. and she flew north through the valley. Adrenalin is pumping and the teams are now tracking her near Sausalito.

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 Midday Wait

2010-11-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 A New Day, 9 AM

2010-11-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

It's another beautiful day in the Headlands. Now, all we need are birds. The banders are all primed and This Will Be The Day.

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010, 3 PM, End of Day

2010-11-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say "End of Wait", but unfortunately, the wait continues until tomorrow. It is the end of another day of waiting. Five and counting. The skiies were clear, but there was generally a lack of birds flying. We updated maps, re-scheduled those who missed their time in the field, did the dishes, and waited......

David is Banding Dayleader tomorrow, and he really wants to go home at the end of the day. Keep your fingers crossed.

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010, Morning Wait

2010-11-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

It's a beautiful day here in the Headlands. Marion and her crew are out and trying their darndest to entice a juvenile RT, Prairie Falcon, Goshawk, Swainson, Ferrug, or Broadwing out of the sky. If a Rough-legged Hawk happens by, it will be the first of the season.... but we'll take it! A slight chance of rain later today, should squeegie the birds down to us..... at least we hope so.

Monday, Nov. 8, 2010, 3 PM

2010-11-08T15:00:00.001-08:00

3PM has now passed, and we've no bird to track. Hopefully, tomorrow will be the day we get to finally hit the road and follow a hawk.

Monday, Nov. 8, 2010

2010-11-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

Today the telemetrists are waiting at Building 1064 for a juvenile red-tailed hawk. We've been "waiting" since Friday. Today, the weather is beautiful, the winds are up, and yet the bander's have not been able to attract a single redtail. We remain hopeful for the next 30 minutes, until we will have to give up for the day.