[Posted by Chuck Almdale]

Motus: Latin for movement, motion

If you haven’t heard of Motus Wildlife Tracking System, this is it (very short version):

• Attach a tiny radio transmitter (tag, $200-250 each) to an animal (see Piping Plover above); set it free
• As it moves around its location is received by the Motus antennas (Collaborative automated radio telemetry) in the area
• Motus gathers the locations; you see it on your computer

I received the following Motus summary from a member of COBOL – Central Oregon Birders OnLine – basically a hotline for birders, most of whom belong to East Cascades Audubon Society. I didn’t know these birds traveled this fast!

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Speedy birds
From: Kevin Smith
Date: Fri, 17 May 2024 22:05:14 PDT

This in from the Oregon coast.  Roy Low’s figures show that Dunlins can fly 58mph during migration!!  AMAZING!  The Motus system is posting some really speedy birds.
Kevin Smith

Msg: #6 in digest

From: Roy Lowe <roy.loweiii@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 May 2024 17:24:41 -0700
Subject: [obol] Oregon Coast Motus Detections

Detections of marked birds at Motus towers along the Oregon Coast continues to provide intriguing information.  Dunlin dominated the detections until late April when red knots took the lead.  The following are a few nuggets from the detections.

On 4.23.24 dunlin flew from Llano Seco near Glenn, CA to Bullard’s Bridge in Bandon 6 hrs 47 min.  If then was next detected at the Frazer River Mouth in Delta BC 17 hrs 19 min later.

On 4.25.24 a dunlin was detected in Newport that depart Salt Slough near Los Banos, CA  26 hrs 2 min earlier so it paused before reaching Newport but it was then detected in Cannon Beach 1 hr 32 min later of an average straight-line speed of 58.4 mph. 

A dunlin departed Bandon and was detected in Cannon Beach 3 hrs 20 min later for an average straight-line speed of 57.8 mph.

On 5.3.24 a dunlin departed Rogue River Preserve near Eagle Point, OR and was detected in Newport 3 hrs 50 min later.  After Newport it was detected 1 hr 30 min later at Cannon Beach for a straight-line average speed of 59.7 mph.

On 5.6.24 a long-billed dowitcher departed Sacramento NWR and was detected at Langlois 5 hrs 37 min later for a straight-line average speed of 47.8 mph.

On 5.6.24 a red knot departed Tomales Bay, CA and was next detected in Langlois 7 hrs 56 min later.  It was then detected at Controller Bay, AK  1 day 13 hrs 31 min later after flying 2,327 miles at an average straight-line speed of 38.5 mph.

A Hermit Thrush was detected in Milpitas, CA (South San Francisco Bay) from March 15 to April 29.  It was next detected in Langlois 6 days 6 hrs 46 min later so it took it’s time coming north.

On 5.8.24 a red knot departed Guerrero Negro, Baja California and then was detected near the Salton Sea and the next detection after that was at Cartago, CA east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  It was then detected in Langlois 4 days 16 hrs and 46 min later.  A number of marked knots are taking inland routes and reach the Oregon coast from Langlois to Cannon Beach or further north.

On 5.16.24 a red knot departed Colusa NWR and was next detected in Langlois and spent about 5 hrs in the New River area.  It was detected Bullard’s Bridge in Bandon and then next at Ankeny NWR 13 hrs 24 min so it stopped along the way.  But here’s the ringer, after the Ankeny detection the bird backtracked to the WSW arriving at Yaquina Bay in 1 hr and 5 min later for a straight-line speed of 46 mph!

Besides the above, something else I find interesting is that only a single bird (dunlin) has been recorded along the Oregon coast that was also recorded at Humboldt Bay and there have been no red knot detections at Humboldt Bay.

Roy Lowe
Waldport, OR
— Nature is my Religion.  Wildlife has never said “Don’t take a photo of me while I’m laughing”