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Migration: Peregrines / Island Girl
The Peregrine Chick:
Nice timing IG - a sub-par signal but enough of a signal to let folks you arrived home safely!!
If her battery & transmitter do go kerflewie, we know she got home at least which is wonderful considering how long we've been watching her. But it will be weird not to know where she is or what she is doing next spring ....
Alison:
Island Girl is home!
I was worried about her, because the last location posted on the map was from November 17, but this morning there is one more entry. She arrived at her winter home in Chile yesterday. I am so happy for her, and wish her a safe, enjoyable winter and a safe return in the spring.
What a wonderful, incredible peregrine she is! She has now travelled 8,491 miles.
The final details of her journey:
The blog entry, from Donald McCall:
22 November, 2016
Island Girl Has Completed Her Southbound Migration
As Island Girl was approaching Valparaiso, Chile on the last leg of her southern migration, we lost all contact with her for approximately 5 days. Usually this is a bad sign, because temporary outages due to a depleted battery in her backpack have always in the past resolved themselves after two or three days, with at least occasional data being received even if it's not of sufficient quality to publish on a web map. By the third or fourth day we began to fear that her backpack transmitter had failed, or worse (the batteries have never before lasted more than two years or so, so eight years has already been extremely exceptional). But, amazingly, we received one more sub-standard data point early this morning, but it was good enough to indicate that Island Girl has reached her southern home range near Putu on the Pacific Coast of Chile.
Whether her transmitter and battery will regain full functionality, enabling us to track her next northbound migration in April, is an open question. For now, all is well.
Alison:
The most recent map update, from November 17, shows Island Girl in Chile. She has now covered a distance of 8,308 miles.
The three most recent blog entries, from Donald McCall:
12 November, 2016
At the "Arica Bend"
Island Girl’s shortcut yesterday (in the region of South America known to geographers as the “Arica Elbow”, or "Arica Bend") took her over the Pacific Ocean for 371 km (231 mi) before returning to land in southern Peru. She appears to have made landfall in the vicinity of Ito, although it must be remembered that we have only a few GPS locations every day and the route that Island Girl actually follows to connect those dots is, by default, shown as straight lines on the maps but her exact route between the dots is unknown. For example, she might have returned to the coast considerably north of Ito and then followed the shoreline to Ito, and the map would look exactly the same.
By late morning today, Island Girl was on the move again, following the coast, and was 86 km (53 mi) from the Chilean border.
Here's an interesting article about the geology of the Arica Bend. Apparently the land north of Arica is slowly rotating counterclockwise, and the land south of Arica is rotating clockwise, resulting in the bent coastline (and the entire Andes chain, for that matter): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040195198000584
14 November, 2016
Heading For Home
Island Girl is now in Chile and following the Pacific coastline south, currently passing through the barren Atacama Desert, typically roosting at night hundreds of meters above sea level but only a few kilometers from the ocean. She is about halfway between Iquique and Antofagasta, and about 1450 km (900 mi) from her final destination.
17 November, 2016
Approaching Valparaiso
Island Girl has flown 1200 km (746 mi) in the past three days, averaging 400 km (249 mi) per day as she has followed Chile's Pacific Coast southward, roosting at night in the high desert foothills of the Andes just a few kilometers from the ocean - although last night she roosted near some coastal dunes adjacent to the Petorca River north of Valparaiso. She is now 296 km (184 mi) from her final destination at the Putu Dunes just north of Constitución, and will most likely complete her migration within a day or two.
Alison:
By November 6, Island Girl was in Ecuador and approaching the border of Peru. So far, she had travelled 6,041 miles.
The associated blog entry, from Donald McCall:
6 November, 2016
Approaching Peru
Over the past three days Island Girl has moved from the higher ground of the western foothills and fringes of the Andes down into the coastal lowlands of Ecuador, still a few hundred meters (1000 feet, more or less) above sea level and some distance inland. She has been roosting overnight in mixed agricultural/forested areas and generally staying close to rivers, at least overnight. She spent last night in the southwestern corner of Ecuador, not far from the border of Peru which, at this location, is both west and south of her.
This is close to the spot where Island Girl roosted last year on 01 November, so she's now about 5 days behind last year's schedule, which is a typical variation from year to year.
Alison:
October 18, 2016
Island Girl continues on her purposeful track south, making her way along the coast around the Gulf of Mexico in a leisurely manner and stopping here and there for several days. She has now covered 4,133 miles.
The most recent blog entry from Donald McCall:
17 October, 2016
Island Girl is in Southern Mexico and Headed for Guatemala
After following the Gulf Coast of Mexico until just past Veracruz, Island Girl has now moved inland, and to higher ground, as she continues southeast through the state of Chiapas, Mexico toward Guatemala. She traveled 322 km (200 mi) on Sunday, remaining north of the Sierra Madres, and roosted in a forested area last night at an elevation of 1198 m (3931 ft). She was 200 km (124 mi) from the Guatemala border.
This is her usual and most direct route through southern Mexico and Central America, which she will probably follow through Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua before reaching the Caribbean Coast in Costa Rica.
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