|
The San Juan Peregrine Project...
San Juan Island Overview:
The San Juan Islands are located in the northwestern corner of Washington State, approximately an hour NNW of Seattle. The archipelago is composed of over 300 islands and covers 4 counties (San Juan, Skagit, Whatcom and Island). The climate is arid with rainfall averaging 15-35” per year.
Peregrines have most probably nested in the islands for millennia, although the first record was reported by Dawson and Bowles in Birds of Washington (1909). W. L. Dawson and J.M. Edson of Bellingham, WA, found a single nesting pair in June 1905, the first breeding record for peregrines in this state.
There are only 3 other reported San Juan breeding records, all from early falconers, in the first half of the 1900’s. So the historic breeding population was thought to be low.
In 1968, C. Anderson, W. Goben and R. Peterson found that the original site was abandoned, presumably as a result of DDT.
Independent surveys of the islands by Anderson and J. Fackler in 1976 and the
WDFW in 1978 did not locate any breeding pairs. Subsequent annual surveys were also unproductive.
Peregrines re-occupied the San Juans in 1980 when a single pair established an eyrie on the largest cliff in the islands. This site has remained active ever since and the first Washington peregrine eyasses were banded there in 1982.
Since that time, the peregrine population in the San Juan Islands has increased at an unexpected rate.
There are currently 20 pairs of falcons inhabiting the islands, far more than anyone anticipated for the islands.
In 1995, we began an intensive study of this population, including visits to the nesting ledges to accurately count, sex and band the nestlings. We also collected information on prey items to determine what the San Juan peregrines were eating.
In 2006, from 28 May through 8 July, the FRG volunteer banding team set a new record, banding 33 eyasses (nestlings) at 12 eyries (nests).
Since 1995, this team (Martin Muller, Mark Prostor, Ed Deal, Wendy Gibble and Bud Anderson) has banded a total of 253 eyass Peregrine Falcons in the San Juans.
What to expect during the breeding season
|
