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| Dave Garcelon | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 6 2006, 10:23 PM (711 Views) | |
| Hulabird | Aug 6 2006, 10:23 PM Post #1 |
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Hi Dr Sharpe, I hope your vacation is going great and you're getting some down time. It seems that we can't just let you be. This question, if you decide to answer it will probably take some time and I am very content to wait until you get back and caught up and have time to answer. I can't give enough accolades on the video. I've watched it an embarrassing amount of times and still learn something new every time I see it. Dave Garcelon, the first person on the DVD. Who is he? He looks about the same age as me and I can guarantee there isn't going to be any of the effortless climbing in my life that he exhibits. Can you give us his background and how he is related to the project. How about the "crew"? How many of there are you and what is a typical day like? Do you have volunteers? People who are wannabe biologists or just others who want to help out come over there do your typing, laundry, cooking, fetch your water and slippers, etc just for a chance to be part of the experience or to add to their resume or have a chance to get actually hired on as a member of the crew? I'm very interested in the crew too. I'm sure I speak for all of us over here on the forum when I say that we would love to hear stories, background info, how they became a member, how it feels to hold an eaglet, etc, etc, etc. Similar to the fabulous account Jim gave us after the banding day. I know I was not the only one who was beside myself when that post came through. I read it a hundred times, watched every bit of video on the day, continue to post reminders of it, ad nauseum. In short, what may be a daily routine and not as interesting to you as it was the first day you knew about it is wondrous to us. We crave to know what it is to be doing your job. If any of you have time, can you post and let us know? Aloha, All of Us Newly Fledged Eagle Lovers |
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| Anibird | Aug 7 2006, 10:59 AM Post #2 |
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Hulabird, I know Pete will answer your questions in more detail, but thought I would give a quick answer. Dave Garcelon is the President of IWS and has dedicated much of his life to restoring bald eagles back to the Channel Islands. In 1980, as a Masters student, he began the effort to restore eagles back to Catalina Island. He used to be the one dangling from the helicopter before Pete took over that job Since then, he has worked tirelessly on the conservation and research of bald eagles, island foxes, San Clemente Island shrike, sage sparrows, etc. on the Channel Islands. Dave was also an expert witness on behalf of the State and Federal governments during the litigation against the Montrose Chemical Corporation. After 25+ years of trying to restore bald eagles to the Channel Islands, you can only imagine his joy at seeing A-49 hatch in the wild. He is truly a proud grandpa of A-49 :lol: Although Dave still does plenty of fieldwork, Dave has hired a great crew in Pete and the rest of the IWS biologists to manage the projects in the field. I am glad to see Dave get some attention in this forum because he has really been the heart and soul behind the eagle restoration efforts for so many years. |
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| Hulabird | Aug 7 2006, 12:36 PM Post #3 |
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Thanks for the information Annie. I'm glad to get the background info in Dave. I know I speak for all of us when I say we are very proud of him and all of you for the tireless and hard work you do on the restoration project. Maybe if Dave sees this, he can jump on and say hi. |
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| Cumbrian | Aug 7 2006, 03:02 PM Post #4 |
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Thank you Annie, for the background information on Dave. I remember Peter saying somewhere, that Dave is his boss, but it is nice to know a little bit more about him. He certainly has made a difference, through his dedication to the restoration projects, including litigation, and he must have really good people skills, to have put together this wonderful team. Did anybody take a photograph of his face the day that A-49/Cruz hatched? We truly appreciate Dave, and everyone who is involved, in all the restoration projects. |
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| ElaineRuth | Aug 7 2006, 04:56 PM Post #5 |
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I knew we had two heroes!!!!!!! Waaaaaahooo! |
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| Lou | Aug 7 2006, 07:07 PM Post #6 |
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Cumbrian: In case you are interested, there is a picture of Dave on the iws website under Staff, Staff Directory along with a list of publications/articles he has authored or co-authored dating back to 1977. I do imagine that on hatching day, he must have been grinning from ear to ear! Thanks Dave for your perseverance and dedication to make all this happen! Lou |
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| Cumbrian | Aug 8 2006, 08:16 AM Post #7 |
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Thanks Lou.....I will go there and check out the publications etc. (He is on the DVD too) |
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| Hulabird | Aug 20 2006, 10:31 PM Post #8 |
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Humbly bumping since Dr Sharpe will be back to work tomorrow. I know you'll be busy but whenever you can... |
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| Emma Rose | Aug 21 2006, 05:53 PM Post #9 |
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Also, Dr. Sharpe and all, where do you live. Close by? On Santa Cruz? Are your wives there? |
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| Eagle Guy | Aug 21 2006, 07:31 PM Post #10 |
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I've got a little time to answer some of your questions. The accommodations vary by island. On Santa Cruz we stay at an old Navy Site up on top of a ridge on the Park Service part of the island. You can see the big, white radar ball (huge golf ball) at the site from the water. It has a huge kitchen, living room, dining room, and individual bedrooms (about 15-20). Most of the people there are IWS personnel (bald eagle, island fox, golden eagle projects), as well as a couple Park Service employees, and a Navy contractor or two. The number of personnel depends on the time of the year. For the eagle project, we generally try to have two people working on the same shift during the breeding and hacking part of the year (February-August). We start cutting back during the fall and winter because there is not as much to do and will have one person working on most days. Work shifts out there are 8 days on and 6 days off. A work day on Santa Cruz starts with downloading the GPS data to make sure that all the birds are moving. If there is no movement, we go out and try to locate the bird, which has hopefully just dropped its transmitters. This year we began searching for potential pairs and nest sites in February, by both foot and boat. Next year we will probably spend additional time looking for nests on Santa Rosa Island, which has some older eagles on it now. Prior to getting eagles for our hacking towers, we spend a lot of time fishing to stockpile food. Most days are spent fishing as long as the birds are in the towers because each bird eats a lot of fish and it is hard to keep up. We have an 18 foot inflatable boat with a 40 hp engine to get around in the area surrounding Prisoner's Harbor to find the good fishing. We've also had good luck fishing off the Prisoner's Harbor pier in the past. Once the birds fledge we spend most of our day tracking them to make sure that they are finding food and looking healthy. We also spend time collecting food that we can put out at the towers and on ridge tops as known food sources as the birds learn to forage on their own. On Catalina, where I live, I now have one assistant from February through August, and then it is just me. Before our funding was cut last year, I would have two assistants during the breeding season to help monitor nests, record behavior data on the birds at the nests, help take care of our education bald eagle, Pimu, and assist with the incubation of the eggs. We check each nest almost daily beginning in February to determine when the eggs are laid so that we can get them before they break. Once we have eggs, they are weighed and candled daily so that we can control water loss (should be about 15% weight loss over the 35 day incubation period). Nests are monitored throughout incubation to make sure that the adults continue to sit on the fake eggs. Once we foster chicks into the nests, we watch them for several hours every 2-3 days to make sure they are being fed and are active. This is done from fostering until fledging. Once they fledge, we try to check on each bird 2-3 times per week, again to make sure they are healthy. After August, I'll try to check on each bird at least once per week, or until they leave the island. Much of my fall and early winter is spent writing annual reports for our state and federal permits and for the Montrose Trustee Council, as well as advertising and hiring for the next season. We haven't used volunteers much in the past, but we may try to use volunteers more because of the Catalina funding cuts. I'd want someone here for at least a couple of weeks so that I didn't have to constantly train new people. Just a little on my history. I grew up in Carbondale, Illinois, a college town in southern Illinois (Southern Illinois University). I go my bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois, my Master's at Southern Illinois University (studying ruffed grouse winter ecology), and my Ph.D. at Colorado State University (Townsend's ground squirrel ecology). I saw an ad for a 9 month position, with possibility of extension, working with bald eagles on Catalina Island in the fall of 1996, when I was still writing my dissertation. I ended up getting the job, starting in February 1997, and spent the next year and a half working about 10-12 hours per day, 7 days a week, working on the eagle project, and then 3-4 hours each night working on my dissertation. I finally graduated in December 1998. And the 9 month position has now been going on for over 9 1/2 years. In addition to bald eagles, I've also had the opportunity to work with island fox on Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Cruz, and San Nicolas Islands. I've also directed a small scale osprey restoration project on Catalina, the golden eagle removal project on the northern Channel Islands this year, and the northern Channel Islands bald eagle project since we began in 2002. OK, that's enough for now. Perhaps more later. |
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| Hulabird | Aug 21 2006, 08:45 PM Post #11 |
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Thank you so much for your lengthy and very informative post! Your work is so valuable, rewarding, and interesting! What I'm wondering now is what do you do with all the free time you must have on your hands ![]() Also, do you feed the eaglets anything besides fish? |
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| Eagle Guy | Aug 21 2006, 08:48 PM Post #12 |
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What is "free time"? I'm not familiar with that We feed the eaglets fish and feral pig, if we can get it. |
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| Hulabird | Aug 21 2006, 08:50 PM Post #13 |
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Thanks again for everything! We all appreciate all your hard work! Every single day! |
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| Joanie | Aug 21 2006, 10:26 PM Post #14 |
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Thank you, first, for the thoughtful and informative reply and, secondly, for your obvious dedication and caring.... this is obvously a true labor of love! |
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| peppermint | Aug 22 2006, 07:15 AM Post #15 |
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Peter: Did any of the feral pigs that were..."eradicated"....get used to feed eaglets? It would feel better to know that they were put to good use. |
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Since then, he has worked tirelessly on the conservation and research of bald eagles, island foxes, San Clemente Island shrike, sage sparrows, etc. on the Channel Islands. 


6:29 AM Jul 11