American Kestrel Study<\/a><\/em><\/span>. I also told her that I’d photographed the kestrel on Antelope Island on the morning of 2\/7\/2022.<\/p>\nIn this version of the photo the E\/9 part of the colored band is easy to read but I was afraid that wouldn’t be enough for them to ID the bird with confidence so…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/american-kestrel-2565-cropped-for-bands-and-resized-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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I cropped in on the high resolution version of the image for more detail and sent this version to her also. That made all the difference. Nikki responded yesterday afternoon, the same day I sent her the photos.<\/p>\n
“Hey Ron,<\/em>
\nI miss seeing you too! Hope you are doing well. That is indeed one of our banded birds, Red (E\/95), banded as an adult 3\/30\/2021 at the parking lot at the mouth of the causeway on the mainland side.<\/em>
\nWould you be willing to let Dave and Jesse use these photos for training? And, can you provide a more specific location on the island where you saw the bird?<\/em>
\nHope to see you soon,<\/em>
\nNikki”<\/em><\/p>\nI love getting feedback like that when I send banding information to the groups or institutions that banded one of “my” birds. “Dave” is Dave Oleyar, Director of Long-term Monitoring and Community Service and “Jesse” is Jesse Watson, Research Biologist and Banding Coordinator, so of course I gave them permission to use my photos for training purposes. Those guys know what they’re doing and passing their knowledge and skills onto others is exactly the kind of thing I like to see.<\/p>\n
I also told Nikki precisely where on the island I photographed the kestrel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hwi-kestrel-banding-and-photographed-locations-map-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
This map shows the north end of the island, the causeway and where the causeway connects to the mainland. The red arrow marks where I photographed the kestrel on the island and the blue arrow marks the spot where HWI banded him 11 months earlier. For spatial perspective, the causeway is seven miles long.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To be perfectly honest I have strongly mixed feelings about at least some bird banding (that’s another story, one for another day) but when the banding is done by well trained individuals for a well designed study with specific purposes that are followed through long term, I’m an enthusiastic supporter.<\/p>\n
I have high confidence in HWI’s American Kestrel Study and there’s no doubt that American Kestrel populations are declining so for management purposes we need to learn everything about them we possibly can.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Note: I spend so much time talking about Antelope Island and its environs I thought this would be a good time to provide readers with some more perspective.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/antelope-island-map.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The “island” as it’s presently defined is 15 miles long and 5 miles wide at its widest point. It consists of 27,000 acres or 42 square miles.<\/em><\/p>\nBut this map isn’t current and the island is no longer an island. Because of climate change, our current drought and most importantly the insane mismanagement of water resources (especially the Bear River), the lake is shrinking dramatically and there’s almost no water in Farmington Bay today. In most places you could literally walk from the island, across Farmington Bay to the mainland, without getting your feet wet.<\/em><\/p>\nA healthy and vibrant Great Salt Lake covers about 1700 square miles but today it’s been reduced to only 900 square miles and its decline is continuing. The only place where there’s any water next to the 7 mile long causeway today is about the last 1\/4 – 1\/2 mile before you get to the island. The Antelope Island Marina is bone dry. You couldn’t float a toothpick there.<\/em><\/p>\nIt’s disgusting. And scary as hell.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I heard back from HWI already. (2 photos, 2 maps)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n