From June 22, 2010 – Golden Eagle 42 (Whitey) moved a total of 406 miles (756 km) between May 14 – 26 eastward into Quebec. Since then he has centered his movements within an approx. 90 sq. mile area.
From May 21, 2010.
GOEA42 (Whitey) – Whitey has spent about 4 days in a small area near the east coast of Hudson Bay. This continues the pattern we saw last summer where he slowly moved from one area to another over the course of the summer. It will be interesting to see if he settles down in one spot.
From May 11, 2010.
Beginning around the 24 of April, Golden Eagle 42 made himself at home on a large peninsula on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay around 58 degrees north. This area appears (on Google Earth at least) to be fairly uninhabited and full of lakes and estuaries. However on May 9 he moved to the south and east about 60 miles. So it would appear he has not yet found a lady friend with whom to spend the summer.
From April 20, 2010.
Golden Eagle 42 continued moving back toward the eastern shore of Hudson Bay then turning north on April 21 and following the shoreline and spent April 24-26 around a group of bays and islands at 58.5 deg north. His signals for those days are pretty close together.
From April 17, 2010.
GOEA42 (Whitey) – Golden Eagle 42 continued his flight through Quebec, moving to the east/northeast on April 11 and 12th. On the the 13th he turned north, took a break on the 14th and then started heading north/northwest on April 15 – 17. This brought him back around to the east shore of Hudson Bay. These travels totaled 693 miles (1,388km). With the exception of the 14th and 17th when he traveled about 40 miles each day he covered between 133 – 168 miles a day. A pretty good pace for a bird we think is looking for a breeding spot.
From April 11, 2010.
I have been satellite tracking birds for 15 years now and I am not sure I have run into a bird that is behaving as unpredictably as goea42 “Whitey” Last week he was on the west side of Hudson Bay, not too far from his migratory route in spring 2009. Don Sutherland, Zoologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, informed me that he was in an area known to contain a number of Golden Eagle territories. It was reasonable to think that Whitey was prospecting for nests in the region and then might follow his 2009 route north. However, he continued to move south then took a sharp left (?) turn and is heading pretty much straight east. Our last signal has him in Quebec near a small town call Chibougamau. Maybe he is looking for a nice French speaking eagle.
From April 5, 2010.
Golden Eagle 42 is on the western shore of Hudson Bay. He was in Minnesota on March 28 and unfortunately we have a data gap until the morning of March 31 when we picked him up in Ontario about 375 miles to the N/NE. O
From March 28, 2010.
Golden Eagle 42 has started his migration north. He left Pepin County, Wis on March 26 and was near the south shore of Lake Superior that evening. He did not move very far on the 27th, but on March 28th he took of east over Duluth (the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory recorded 1 golden eagle that day) and then headed north. He traveled a total of 121 miles on the 28th and ended up near Moose Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness not too far from the Canadian border. This puts him almost a full month ahead of where he was last year.
From March 1, 2010.
During the past 2 weeks goea42 has explored central and northern Fillmore County which is one of the southern tier of counties on the Iowa border. From Feb 17 – 24 he used the area around Lanesboro and Preston not roosting more than 5 miles apart on any successive nights. On the 24th he move 10 miles to the south of Preston within 8 miles of Iowa, and then the next day moved 15 miles north to where Olmstead/Winona/Fillmore counties meet. He has remained within about 7 miles of that point through March 1.
From Feb. 17, 2010.
Golden Eagle 42 continues to wander and is spending most of his time in Minnesota. He was just east of Cannon Falls on Feb 8 then moved a bit to the southwest on the 9th. Feb 10-12 found him in western Wabasha County, not too far from the National Eagle Center. He moved north and on the 14th was back in Buffalo County Wisconsin. However Minnesota must have seemed appealing because he was back in the gopher state on the 15th in southern Winona County. He has continued to move south and west and was in central Fillmore County on the 17th. Straight line measurements between these evening roosts totaled 135 miles which is more traveling than we have seen him do this winter.
style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
From Feb 8, 2010.
What a wanderer our eagle has become. Since Jan 21 he has moved around 3 counties in Wisconsin and crossed the mighty Mississippi and headed west into Minnesota. On Jan 21 he was just south of Fountain City, WI. From there he moved north into central Buffalo County for a few days, then headed east into more familiar haunts in central and northern Trempealeau County where he remained until Jan 29. He took off again going north and west into Pierce and Pepin Counties. He stayed around the Plum City area in Pierce County until Feb 5 and then took off again and headed about 30 miles west into Goodhue County Minnesota. He spent the Feb 6, 7, and 8 in various woodlots near Cannon Falls, MN. A search for him on Feb 9 showed that he has been using habitats very similar to what he uses in Wisconsin – wooded hillsides next to open fields.
From Jan 21, 2010
It has been a few weeks since I last checked in with you and eagle42 apparently resented being ignored as he moved out of northern Trempleau County. On Jan 7 he started heading towards the Mississippi River and from the 8th through the 19th was around the City of Winona. He used the same woodlot for roosting on more than one night. On Jan 11 he crossed the river and spent the day in Minnesota. The past 2 evenings (Jan 20, 21) he has been roosting just outside Fountain City, WI.
From Jan 6, 2010
Golden Eagle 42 has continued to focus his time in northern Trempleau County in the area around Independence, Arcadia, and Whitehall. His evening roosts shift from day to day but there seems to be a few favorites he does come back to. His movements during any given day also do not wander greatly from the roost areas. Woodlots and the valleys that cut through this part of Wisconsin are his favorite haunts.
From Dec 22, 2009
Golden 42 remains in northern Trempleau County, Wisconsin, were he has been since November 29. Since my last message he has not moved a great deal. He spent Dec 11 – 1
4 hanging around a small valley about 5 1/2 miles north of Independence, WI. On the 15th he moved about 6 1/2 miles to the west using another small valley until he moved a short distance to the SW on the 20th near Whitehall, WI. The past 3 days have found him moving around the area. A serious winter storm is expected to hit the area for the next 3 days, and it will be interesting to see if and how that affects him.
From Dec 11, 2009
No big changes for Golden Eagle 42. During this time he was moving around the northern half of Trempleau County, Wisconsin. On Dec 5 he was just south of Strum and on the 6th near Pigeon Falls. The distances between his evening roosts were between 2 – 12 miles in any successive days. His evenings have been spent in or at the edge of woodlots. Maybe he is settling down for the winter.
From Dec 4, 2009
November 24 and 25 found Eagle 42 roosting in west central Dunn County, Wisconsin in the same woodlot he used on the 23rd. On Nov. 26 he moved 41 miles south to Buffalo County, WI and spent the 27th and the 28th near Nelson, WI using woodlots on the bluffs above the junction of the Buffalo and Mississippi Rivers. On the 29th he moved again, this time 25 miles west to the northwest corner of Trempleau County, WI. The evenings of the Nov 29–Dec 4 found him roosting in various woodlots no more than 8 miles apart in that part of Trempleau County.
From Nov 23, 2009
Eagle 42 used the same woodlot for roosting from Nov 12 – 19. There was little daily movement from the are and it would seem that the deer carcasses in the corner of the lot are keeping him tied closely to that spot. On the 20th he roosted about 1 mile north and then moved another 10 miles N/NE on the 21st. He roosted for 2 evening in a wooded area in western St. Croix County and on the 23rd was about 1 mile S/SW in eastern Dunn County.
From Nov 17, 2009
It appears that our eagle has found a place he likes. On Nov. 11 he moved 13 miles north into Dunn County. On the 12th he found a spot about 3 miles west of Menomonie, WI where he basically remained through mid-day on the 17th (which was the last data point we received). His evening roosts were all at the edge of the same field with the exception of the evening of the 14th when he roosted about 1 mile to the SW. Daytime tracking data shows him moving about although not any great distance. It appears that he has found a good source of food and has had no reason to move on. On the Nov. 11-17 map note that the location marked Nov 12 includes all his locations through the 17th with the exception of the evening of Nov 14.
From Nov 11, 2009
Eagle 42 remains in western Wisconsin. After his return on Nov. 2 he moved to a spot in Trempealeau Co., where he hung out until the 7th. He moved about 5 mi to the SW and then on the 8th he went north about 35 miles into Dunn Co. As of last night he had moved a bit south into northern Pepin County.
From Nov 4, 2009
He may be back on his wintering area! A 62 mile jaunt on Nov. 2 took our bird into Buffalo County, WI. On the 3rd he moved 21 miles to the NE, over the spot we released him in March and in the late afternoon settled in to a wooded area about 7 miles north where he remained through Nov 4.
From Nov 1, 2009
Golden Eagle 42 has left Minnesota and is moving south through Wisconsin.He spent the evening of Nov. 1 on the edge of a woodlot in an agricultural area about 4 mi. west of Glenwood City, St. Croix County, WI. He traveled about 19 miles on the 1st, having spent the night of Oct. 31 about 5 mi. south of Turtle Lake in Barron Co. WI. His longest move during these past 3 days was on the 31st when he moved 90 miles from Aitken Co., MN.
From Oct 27, 2009
Our eagle spent last night in Itasca County, MN about 3 mi. NE of Battle Island. He has been steadily making his way south at about 30 – 40 miles per day since Oct 23. The exception being Oct. 24 when he was on the Chippewa National Forest about 16 miles east of Lake Winnibigoshish and he made almost no movement.
There have been 111 Golden Eagles counted over Hawk Ridge so far this year, obviously our bird was not one of them. Is he an outlier and not following the main migratory path, or does this mean there is an even larger and broader migration of golden’s going through northern MN? And if so, where do they winter? Winter counts turn up around 80 eagles in SE Minn, and SW WI, are there more Golden Eagles in the area or are some going further south?
From Oct 23, 2009
Golden Eagle 42 continues to make my predictions look silly. While he continued his southbound journey over the past couple of days, he headed a bit to the southwest. As of Friday evening he was in Koochiching County having avoided Lake Superior, and at lest for now Hawk Ridge.
From October 20, 2009
Golden Eag
le 42 has slowed his southward journey a bit the past few days. His most recent location (evening of Oct 20) has him about 240 mi (380 km) north of Thunder Bay.
