Date: 7/5/26 3:14 pm From: Kaaren Perry via groups.io <surfbird1...> Subject: Re: [slocobirding] Welcome back, Dozer!
Hi Carol.
Thanks for the updated summary. What a guy! Still sad that the funding for the project had been called off, indefinitely I assume. Too bad that MCAS and other Audubon chapters didn't take up a fund raising drive for the possibility of renewing the monitoring research project. Seems that it would be a well received donation venue. I sure know I for one would help with a little $ if I knew it was going to help. I imagine it is too late now?
> On Jul 5, 2026, at 8:22 AM, RoserComeau via groups.io <80comros...> wrote:
>
> A big congratulations to Anne Marie Bergen for spotting and photographing our celebrity Long-billed Curlew, MV Dozer, at Morro Strand State Beach on July 3rd. For those new to the SLOCO Birding Group, here's some background:
>
> · Dozer was banded and fitted with a satellite transmitter by the Intermountain Bird Observatory in May 2020, at his breeding grounds in Indian Valley in Idaho's West Central Mountains.
>
> · Local birder Petra Clayton first spotted Dozer on Sunday, June 21, 2020, at Morro Strand State Beach. This marks his 6th non-breeding season on the Central Coast, where he's frequently seen near Alva Paul on Morro Strand. In 2025, the Tillmans spotted him on June 28th.
>
> · On September 11, 2024, Dozer's transmitter went silent after he lost part of the antenna on his "backpack" unit — a small piece of it is still visible.
>
> · Mimi, Dozer's mate, was banded in early May 2021 at Indian Valley, ID. Her transmitter kept working until May 29, 2025, last signaling from an agricultural field in Mexico (32.159160, -115.075530). Since the signal hadn't moved since January, she's presumed deceased.
>
> · Funding for the curlew monitoring program ended several years ago, so we can't confirm whether Dozer has found a new mate or had a successful breeding season this year. He's expected to stick around the Central Coast until March, so keep an eye out — you might get lucky with a sighting of our famous curlew! And even without funding, I still pass along Dozer sightings to the researchers.
>
> Happy birding,
>
> Carol Comeau - Los Osos
>
>
>
>
>
