So what do Montreal and Rochester have in common you ask? A certain Ring-bill Gull with a transmitter that visited Rochester, NY last year has returned after spending the summer at his home breeding grounds. I was contacted by Professor Jean-Francois from the University of Quebec at Montreal. We had corresponded last year when the gull I've nicknamed Mon-Ro (Montreal to Rochester) was 1st spotted by a bunch of Rochester Falcon Watchers last year at Charlotte. We were keeping an eye on the female Peregrine Falcon that wintered over at Charlotte, when a gull flew towards us and landed nearby. We were so surprised to see that he was wearing a transmitter just like Quests. I was able to track down where the gull was from, Montreal, Quebec.
In the email, the professor told me that another gull with a transmitter had returned to Moravia, NY, birthplace of the 13th President of the United States, Millard Fillmore. The satellite readings on this gull had stopped moving and he feared the gull was dead. Well, that wasn't too far from Rochester and we're always up to a good roadtrip. It was approximately a 90 mile trip, one way. I spoke to some of the Watchers to see if there was any interest and of course there was.
I emailed the professor and told him that we would be interested in attempting to find the gull and the transmitter. He sent me detailed instructions on where the transmitter readings continued to come from with the coordinates, which we fed into a GPS. From what we saw on Google Maps, it looked like it was located in an open, flat field near power lines. This looked like it would be an easy retrieval.
Early this morning (Saturday, 8/20) Kathy O, Lisa McK, Dana, MAK, Joyce and I left Rochester and headed to Moravia. We arrived around 8 a.m. We found the large field and it was anything but flat. Yikes! There were deep dips and large rock covered hills and tall trees. This would not be easy, but we still thought we might have a good chance to find the gull.
Using Joyce's GPS ap, we found the area where the transmitter readings were coming from. It was below the high power lines and the area was not very accessible. We checked around the lower area first and found a pile of gull feathers. Plucked, but no sign of the gull carcass or any blood. We check all over and found another pile of feathers under an old rotten log. A few of us climbed the hill and checked from above. The whole group ended up making their way to the top. For three hours, we looked and had no luck finding the gull or the transmitter. It was very warm out and there was not much protection from the sun. We decided to give up and attempt another search in the near future, if the transmitter readings continued.
We were all sad that we didn't find the gull or the transmitter, but it was a valiant effort. Maybe next time! On the way home, we drove through Montezuma and saw lots of Eagles, Osprey (two nests; one with 3 young and one with 2 young). Also, lots of Great Blue Herons and Egrets and all kinds of little shore birds that I don't know and quite a few different types of ducks.
It was a beautiful, warm day spent with good friends. I still have to go through my pictures and I'm sure the others do to. I'll share some soon. Thanks Kathy, Lisa, Dana, MAK & Joyce for joining me on yet another adventure.
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