{"id":22192,"date":"2014-06-21T00:30:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-21T06:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibo.boisestate.edu\/?p=22192"},"modified":"2026-08-18T08:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:52:16","slug":"transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/ibo\/2014\/06\/21\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\/","title":{"rendered":"Transmitter Down in the Pahsimeroi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Jay Carlisle<\/em>
\nLate last week I started to notice that something was amiss with Borah\u2019s transmitter \u2013 in technical terms, the activity counter data was \u201cstuck\u201d which suggests the transmitter wasn\u2019t moving. My heart sunk \u2013 in the 3 prior times this had happened, we found a dead curlew (one in which we strongly suspected foul play, 1 predator kill, and 1 unknown cause). Of course I care about all of these curlews but Borah had migrated to Mexico and back last winter and we\u2019d just recently captured his mate (\u201cGoldie\u201d) so I feel a little extra for Borah and really didn\u2019t want this to be the same result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Borah,
Borah, just before release in 2013, with his namesake Mt. Borah in the background. Photo by Heidi Ware<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday I made the 5+ hour drive from Boise to his breeding area on Big Creek Ranch, decidedly nervous about what I would find. I had texted with ranch co-owners, Molly & Tom Page, the night before and they were going to be there at the same time and generously offered to help me search \u2013 a relief for me b\/c finding a small transmitter in a vast grassland can be tough even with the tracking gear! I thought I might have 4 helpers (Molly & Tom and their children, Lilia & Henry) but I ended up with 7 because Molly\u2019s sister Ann Fuell was visiting with her 2 children, Kate & Ted, and they were excited for an outing. What a bonus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we met up, they enthusiastically asked, \u201cwhat do we do?\u201d I suggested we walk straight towards their nesting territory because if Borah was alive and their nest was still active, he\u2019d surely appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Part of the family search party, heading out to find Borah’s transmitter.
Photo by Molly Page<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As we neared the nest, I could see a female (longer bill) standing in the vicinity of where the nest was and as I looked closer I could see, but not read, the plastic leg band (\u201calpha flag\u201d) and suspected it was Goldie. Not long afterwards a screaming curlew appeared \u2013 as it flew towards us I could see it was a male by bill shape\/length and then I saw the leg band and was hopeful. There was no antenna from a satellite transmitter which could suggest Borah was alive and had shed his transmitter \u2013 I just needed to read the alpha flag with certainty. On his next fly-by I could clearly read the letters \u201cAU\u201d and I breathed a huge sigh of relief \u2013 this was Borah and he must have dropped the transmitter. Likewise, once the female flew towards us I could see her antenna and read her 2-letter code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Borah:
Borah, very much alive! Showing off his back with no antenna, and about to swallow a food morsel.
Photo by Jay<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Adding to my excitement is that both Borah and Goldie were exhibiting the aggressive and defensive behavior that happens when they are protecting chicks! I was dive-bombed several times and I think Lilia & Henry were wondering if Goldie might actually hit one of us :-) Needless to say, I\u2019m pretty sure these 2 curlews don\u2019t share the same affection for me!
\nWe then turned our attention to finding the transmitter. This consisted of waiting for once-a-minute messages from the receiver to deduce direction & distance. It took a while but we eventually got \u201cwarm\u201d as we neared the headwaters of the creek (which flows into the Pahsimeroi River).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The creek. Photo by Jay<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The family had previously agreed that extra s\u2019mores would be the reward for whoever found the transmitter while I would just be happy to find it in one piece and try to figure out why it had fallen off. Before long, Kate said, \u201chey, what\u2019s this?\u201d and I was relieved once again \u2013 an intact transmitter on which the Teflon harness material had worn down so it fell off the bird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Borah's
Borah’s transmitter with broken strap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was only a few feet from the creek so maybe Borah was bathing at the time? Lucky it hadn\u2019t fallen in the stream because my understanding is that if the antenna is underwater, the unit won\u2019t transmit and we wouldn\u2019t have been able to find it at all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Success!
Success! A much happier search result than we first envisioned. Kate (center) shows off her find. Thanks to the Page and Fuell families for helping to find the transmitter! Photo by Jay<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The bad news is that we won\u2019t be able to track both Borah and Goldie in the same migration but I\u2019m thankful that Borah survives and will cross my fingers that they raise the chicks to fledging and that Goldie goes somewhere exciting this winter! Thanks a ton to the Pages and Fuells for assisting with the search and for helping make my trip that much more worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Borah
Borah with leg flag. Photo by Jay<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jay Carlisle Late last week I started to notice that something was amiss with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[262],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-curlews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTransmitter Down in the Pahsimeroi - Intermountain Bird Observatory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/ibo\/2014\/06\/21\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transmitter Down in the Pahsimeroi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Jay Carlisle Late last week I started to notice that something was amiss with...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/ibo\/2014\/06\/21\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Intermountain Bird Observatory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-21T06:30:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T14:52:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/ibo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/141\/2013\/06\/HeidiWare_05_25_13_1095_small-1024x630.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/ibo\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/21\\\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/ibo\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/21\\\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/ibo\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91d6c18c6787e7610e162c3142465c4d\"},\"headline\":\"Transmitter Down in the Pahsimeroi\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-21T06:30:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-18T14:52:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/ibo\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/21\\\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":830,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/ibo\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/21\\\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/141\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/HeidiWare_05_25_13_1095_small.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Curlews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/ibo\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/21\\\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/ibo\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/21\\\/transmitter-down-in-the-pahsimeroi\\\/\",\"name\":\"Transmitter Down in the Pahsimeroi - 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