Date: 4/16/24 4:49 am From: Dave Nutter <nutter.dave...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Taughannock Peregrine Outreach
Showing people scope views of the incubating Peregrine and talking to people about the history during the celebrations would be good too.
Last year I was at Taughannnock the day the young were fledging. It was also the day that the Park chose to have worker rappel on the S cliffs to knock off loose rocks so they wouldn’t fall on people on the trail below. It seemed to me like there must be a better time to do that in terms of stress & success of fledging, and I wonder if there can be discussions with Park staff beforehand this year. They did have a biologist on hand on the trail by the pull-off on Gorge Rd which is where I usually scope, and they were diverting people onto the road instead of a section of trail, perhaps because one of the fledglings was nearby, which is good. And they were talking to people about Peregrines, also good, but the biologist was too young to personally know about DDT wiping out Peregrines or the local efforts through the Lab and falconers to restore them at this site, and did not mention these things. I added this info as I also showed scope views. The biologist was also supposedly able to shut down the rappel work if it became too stressful for the birds, but I’m not sure how that would have been determined. Maybe better to do that work a week before or after fledging? Others on this list may know better.
- - Dave Nutter
> On Apr 16, 2024, at 7:25 AM, Peter Saracino <petersaracino...> wrote:
>
> Great idea Suan.
> And perhaps make an educational handout - both for visitors and educators- brief history of previous Hacking efforts, natural history of peregrines and overall nationwide success of efforts to restore their populations...very teachable moment.
> Pete Saracino/ NY State Master Naturalist Volunteer
>
>> On Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 10:56 PM Suan Hsi Yong <suan.yong...> wrote:
>> Hello birders,
>>
>> I was thinking it might be a good outreach opportunity to educate the
>> public park-goers about the Taughannock Peregrines by scheduling some
>> viewings, say on weekends when the fledglings are most likely to be
>> active, which I believe would be May 18-19, May 25-26, June 1-2
>> (please correct me if you think other dates are better). The idea
>> would be to have one or two people with scopes pointed at the nest to
>> show passers by and share information about the bird, the history, and
>> a bit of "here's why we thought lighting the falls was a bad idea in
>> late April".
>>
>> If you would like to volunteer, please let me know. Maybe say which of
>> the above weekends you would be willing to be present, and approximate
>> time of day. If there are enough volunteers, we could work out a
>> schedule of 1-2 hour shifts or something. We could then talk to the
>> parks and chamber of commerce people to publicize it. I know that
>> whenever I was there with my scope, the few passers-by on that lightly
>> used trail were always appreciative when we shared scope views and
>> information. And I believe that by now the birds are used to us
>> distant scopers from across the gorge that this should not be a
>> disturbance to them - but do let me know if you think this is a bad
>> idea.
>>
>> Suan
>>
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