Warren Plumb In Memoriam Click here for a larger image

Those of us who have been in the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (GGRO) Telemetry Program for a long time will always remember Warren as a gentle, quiet, detail-man who loved Telemetry.

Warren joined the GGRO in the early 90s and began on David Jesus' Hawkwatch Team; however, he was soon bitten by the Telemetry bug. He remained on Hawkwatch until complications of earlier polio meant that he could no longer stand against the wind on Hawk Hill. He then moved indoors to the GGRO offices and became the Library Guru who organized, categorized and 'modernized' the GGRO library.

Telemetry allowed Warren to continue his "active" participation in the GGRO as we tracked juvenile Red-tails throughout California. Warren was atop Oat Mt. when one juvenile Red-tail took one look at the Las Angeles basin, made a U-turn around Oat Mt. and eventually flew back north over the Grapevine. Warren was a "problem solver" and once, when equipment problems meant the Yagi was unavailable, Warren developed a method to 'track' using only the roof-mounted Omni. To aid a high point team, he fabricated a mounting piece which allowed a Yagi to be mounted on a tripod so that the signal could be consistently monitored at all times.

Prior to cell phone use, Warren would be the San Pablo Ridge 'connection'. From his home, he would monitor the various teams' radio communications, and then help the San Pablo team by sending out pager messages for them.

Prior to GPS, Warren would take all of the teams' data sheets, determine the exact location of each team, and then measure that location by millimeters for entry into the database. Warren, the detail-man, even measured all of the teams' rulers to be certain that the millimeters were truly millimeters! If the locations were not clear, he would check with the team members, or even drive back to the area to clarify the team's description.

When his condition no longer allowed him to actively track, he then volunteered to drive or ferry team members out into the field. Warren was always willing to help. During the 2001 season, Warren even helped by being a "drop-off' point for equipment" and, of course, when we picked up the equipment he had made sure that it was properly charged.

Warren was a quiet, humble gentleman. He enjoyed "waiting" with the teams at 1064, and watching the transmitters being applied. Once when we were shorthanded, we asked Warren if he thought he could "do" the epoxy (meaning simply to mix it). Warren humbly replied, "I think so. I was a polymer chemist." Later, when we had a recurrent problem with transmitters slipping or moving on the feather shaft after release of the bird, Warren 'instantly' became our resident expert. He bought several types of epoxy, tested them, and then, based on his suggestions, we rewrote the protocols for applying the epoxy to the transmitter. End of problem. But that wasn't enough for Warren. He then made faux transmitters so that volunteers could practice applying a transmitter.

Warren frequently commented on how much he enjoyed Telemetry and wished he could be out tracking. He missed his time in the field, and now we will miss our detail man, our polymer chemist, our communications man, our inventor, our resident expert, our teammate and our friend.

Lynn Jesus

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