Posted on RRP Facebook - Janet Holland-DillowRaptor Resource Project founder Bob Anderson passed away six years ago today. We talk a lot about the present and the future, but we wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for Bob's vision, persistence, sense of fun, and fascination with birds of prey. I wanted to share a memory from 2000, the year that the first of Bob's cliff-released birds came home. Please feel welcome to share your memories below.
In 2000, Bob's peregrine falcon cliff-release program was proven when a gold-banded peregrine that he released from Hanging Rock at Effigy Mounds National Monument showed up at Queen's Bluff, a historic eyrie roughly 60 miles north of the hack site. Bob was thrilled!
I was four months pregnant with my last child when Bob invited me to hike up the back of the bluff to see the first falcon to return to the cliffs of the Mississippi river since the species' extirpation in the mid-1960s. Keep in mind that the peregrine's wail could not be heard anywhere along the Mississippi river from about 1965 to 1987, when a falcon Bob produced became the first to return and breed in the wild mid-continent - a 'silent spring' of 22 years. But it was at least 35 years since peregrine falcons had nested on river cliffs and once again, one of Bob's birds was leading the way! How could I say no?
I huffed and puffed as we hiked very slowly up the back of the steep bluff and pushed through the crown of cedars at the top. I will never forget the gold-banded bird glowing against the backdrop of the Mississippi river. This photo shows two year-old male *E/W surveying a wide-open world with everything in front of him. His mate *C/*P was also produced by Bob and the two falcons fledged one unbanded male that year. Long may they all fly!
Thanks, Bob, for all you did. It was an honor and a privilege to know you.
Good morning Beakers
This is the day to honor and remember Bob Anderson.
Please share any special memories and photos you may have of Bob or RRP events. 
