Subject: [Tweeters] CA birders/researchers request sightings of Eurasian
Date: Sep 28 16:23:27 2009
From: Kirn, Shelly - SAKirn at csuchico.edu



Hello Washington Birders

I am a California birder passing along this request for help from Jeremey Ashe, a graduate student at CSU, Chico. I am Biology faculty, but not on Jeremey's graduate committee. Jeremey is studying waterfowl, and as part of his thesis, he has banded and place a GPS unit on a male Eurasian wigeon. His bird is somewhere in Gloyd Seeps Wildlife Area, and although I've never been there, I am certain that this is the proverbial needle in the haystack sort of search. However, I thought that it might be worth a try. If any birders see this bird, or the PTT unit (!) please respond to me, off-list. You would make this grad student's day (year?) since the PTT unit was quite costly, nearly $4,000.

Thanks so much for your eyes and any information that you might have. Below is what Jeremey wrote to me. Thank you.
Bird on!
Shelly

I am asking the local birding community to be on the look out for a dead or living male Eurasian wigeon with a backpack mounted PTT (Platform Transmitting Terminal). A PTT is essentially a little silver rectangular box (about the size of a pink eraser) with solar panels on it and it has a large antenna (about 1.5 feet long). The wigeon is part of a migration study and it is believed to have died. I am hoping that someone will find the PTT and return it to me so I can track another Eurasian wigeon. The migration data suggests that the wigeon is located 47? 17' 55'' N 119? 18' 60"W with an estimated radius of error 217m. With the PTT sending good data and the solar cells recharging I believe the best place too look would be on land in an open sunny area. We have been told that this is the Gloyd Seeps Wildlife Area.



--
Shelly Ann Kirn
Biology Department
Omicron Theta Epsilon Faculty Advisor
Chico State Birding Club Faculty Advisor

"In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught."
Baba Dioum, Senegalese Conservationist