A bit of bird telemetry....

For those that were able to attend Margaret's Think & Drink about Bird Telemetry, you can imagine what a treat it was to actually go in the field and learn from her expertise.

For those that missed it, a recording of her presentation is here, and I highly recommend you watch it as it's a fascinating insight into her research.

As for the W&T, Margaret had placed decoy ducks around Caw Caw Interpretive Center for our group to find using the same tools she uses in the field. The decoys had been equipped with radio transmitters that produced a brief radio frequency blip every 30 seconds.
Using an aerial not unlike the television aerials of yester year that was plugged into a radio receiver, we ventured out to find the ducks!

I'll be honest. This sounded very simple. It wasn't!!
At times we literally walked in circles trying to pick up the electronic scent of a duck, to no avail. When the transmitter picked up a signal, we had something to pursue...or did we?? The premise was that once the receiver detected the signal, we would walk in that direction and the signal would get stronger the closer we got...yeah, not so much!
Keep in mind we also had to wait 30 seconds, at least, for a confirmation that we were heading in the right direction. If we didn't get that blip, we had to go in circles again.

30 seconds can be a very long time!!

Craig Hammer, counting the seconds...

We found that there were a myriad of reasons why the signal would get lost once you'd found it.
A tree would get in the way, blocking the radio signal. A definite challenge when you're in the woods.
A signal could bounce of a tree. Who knew? But you were going the wrong direction if you followed that signal!
Or you could be standing in a slight dip in the terrain and that strong signal disappeared and you'd need to find that higher ground...basically about a foot higher!
There might be interference from a storm miles away (there was), or you followed a signal 180 degrees in the wrong direction (we did)!!

Keep in mind, we had these challenges with ducks that weren't even moving! Imagine pursuing an active duck! One that was alive, and moving. Flying, even!

Eventually I found a duck. But it took the best part of an hour! There it was just sitting there, nesting! :)
The challenges really made me appreciate the difficulties and challenges researches face during their expeditions...Kudos to Margaret and thanks for all that she does!