Face Behind the
Badge Event
See page 19
Turtle Season
Wrap-Up
See page 22
Vol. 12, No. 12
A Shoreline Community, Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.
December 2017
Cape Lookout Raptor
Research Project
By Steve Felch
I was sure I saw the distinct peregrine flight profile as it popped over the
dune 800 yards out, so I launched my tethered pigeon lure into the air. Almost
immediately the distant raptor turned in my direction and dropped down into a
stealth stoop (the downward swoop of a bird of prey), hugging the rolling dunes
and came barreling in. In typical falcon fashion, it buzzed right over the lure and
swung back for another stoop. By now I recognized it as a male peregrine by its
smaller size, and switched to a starling lure centered in a triangle setup of three
mist nets. The peregrine instantly switched its focus and stooped into' the mist
net, which is designed to catch birds effectively and without any harm: Out of the
blind I went and soon I had a juvenile male peregrine in hand. After taking some
measurements, what
we call morphometric
data (weight and wing
chord, which is the
length from the “elbow”
of the wing to the tip); I
affixed a US Geological
Survey (USGS),Bird
■ Banding Lab-issued leg
band and, after a quick
picture, I set the raptor
free to continue his
journey south.
After 38 years of
catching and banding
raptors during the fall
migration at Cape May,
New Jersey, I am still
jazzed when I hold
a raptor in the hand.
Prior to retiring from
the US Department
of the Interior in
Washington, DC, where
I worked on a variety
o* r- , u • X * f iu ^ 1 I X u- j of natural resource,
Steve Felch in front of the Cape Lookout bird
b\M.—Photo by Mr. Felch
.E JTj. fut
Standard
Pre-Sort
Permit #35
h, NC 28512
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Pine Knoll Shores
Election 2017
I "" Winners in Bold Type |
I Mayor |
I Ken Jones (incumbent): 279 votes |
I John Ferguson: 220 votes |
I Commissioners (3) |
I John Brodman (incumbent): 280 votes |
I Bill Knecht: 261 votes |
I Larry Corsello (incumbent): 242 votes'^ |
I Alicia Durham: 242 votes |
I Fred Fulcher (incumbent): 182 votes |
I Shannon Smylie: 125 votes |
I Write-In (miscellaneous): 5 votes |
I Special appreciation is extended to outgoing |
I Commissioner Fred Fulcher for his service to the community. |
=
*At the conclusion of a recount of the Pine Knoll Shores votes on November 27, there was |
I still a tie in the commissioner race between Larry Corsello and Alicia Durham. Pursuant |
I to NC General Statute 163-292(3), the winner was determined by the Board of Elections |
I (BOE) by lot. In this case, the method used by BOE was a draw of the winning name. |
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reforestation, migratory bird issues, arid moving to Pine Knoll Shores, I called
the Cape Lookout National Seashore superintendent and proposed a long-term
research project monitoring the status, trends and level of migrating raptors along
the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Shortly thereafter, the Cape Lookout Raptor
Research Project was set up with the full blessing and support of the National Park
Service (NPS).
Actually, there is much more involved, in a regulatory sense, than a simple
phone call in order to capture and band raptors. I have a master banding permit
from the USGS Bird Banding Lab, a North Carolina Wildlife Collection license
and a National Park Service Scientific Research permit that satisfy the legalities
and the administrative requirements.
The real work involves building a blind and setting up multiple spring-operated
bow nets designed to “throw” themselves over a raptor by pulling a release line;
Dho Gazza nets, which collapse around the raptor (falcons like to grab their prey
and fly off, sort of like a drive through, and this type of net collapses around the
raptor as it stoops in); and a series of mist nets that contain loose, baggy pockets
to capture the raptor as it flies in to grab the lure, arranged in a triangle shape to
ensure coverage from all sides.
(Continued on page 6)