Ep. 115 Mapping the Flyway: CWA Science Director Corey Overton on Telemetry, Pintail, and the Klamath Connection

Jeff Smith and Carson Odegard welcome Cory Overton, California Waterfowl’s new Science Director, for a clear, field-level look at how modern telemetry is rewriting what we know about duck movements—and how that science feeds better habitat work and smarter regs. From the original PINSAT satellite project to today’s GPS/cellular tags and emerging smart bands, Cory explains what the data actually show: longer staging in SONEC/Klamath, pintail that roam like “five-year-olds on espresso,” fog-driven chaos that scatters birds, and why some geese will cross wildfires or even sit down on the ocean to ride out smoke. He also digs into CWA’s role training the next generation with UC Davis and how new assessment tools will tie real duck use to on-the-ground management.

Episode highlights

• Telemetry 101 to now — from old VHF triangulation to GPS/cellular tags and first-gen smart bands that could run for decades
• What PINSAT taught us — SONEC as the spring gas station, and how routes/timing have shifted since the early 2000s
• Fog, storms, and smoke — why pea-soup weeks burn calories, scramble patterns, and sometimes push birds hundreds of miles the “wrong” way
• Pintail vs. mallards — restless travelers vs. homebodies, and how that plays into the new pintail framework
• Klamath staging — more birds lingering north into winter, with some not dropping to the Valley until late (or at all)
• What’s next at CWA — postseason pintail banding, valley-wide habitat assessment tools, and a UC Davis pipeline for future wetland pros

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