Golden Eagle 42 Release

Tracking Updates

Recent Golden Eagle 42 Roost Sites | 1 of 3

Golden Eagle 42 Ready for Release | 2 of 3

Golden Eagle 42 Ready for Release | 3 of 3

Golden Eagle 42 was released on March 25, 2009 in Buffalo County, WI. This bird had been accidentally caught in a leg-hold trap set for a coyote in early November 2008 and suffered serious leg injuries.

After treatment at the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, we attached a satellite monitored radio to the bird to monitor its migratory movements, determine its summer breeding area, and learn more about how it uses the Mississippi River Valley during the winter. (Read more about the Golden Eagle Project.)

Update maps on the eagle's roost sites are provided below. To see all the roost sites on an interactive Google Earth map, click here. (You will need a recent version of Google Earth to view this file. Download Google Earth for free.)

UPDATES:

Nov. 1-4, 2009 Map. 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.

Nov. 1, 2009 Map. 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.

Oct. 28-29, 2009. Spent the evenings of both days in eastern Aitken Co. 5 miles east of Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Moved about .5 miles during the day of the 29th and roosted on the edge of a woodlot. Roosted 18 mi. south from his location on the 27th.

Oct. 27, 2009. In Aitken Co. on the SW border of Savanna Portage State Park, about 2.75 mi. NE of Battle Island. Roosted 41 mi. south/southwest of his location on the 26th. Roosted on the edge of a dirt road leading into a gravel pit (?).

Oct. 26, 2009. Just outside of Hibbing, St. Louis Co., MN. Roosted in a fairly open/shrubby field 34 mi. west of his location on the 25th.

Oct. 24-25, 2009. In Itasca Co. on the Chippewa NF about 5 mi. north of Deer Lake and 17 mi. east of Lake Winnibigoshish. He roosted about 35 mi. south of his location on the 23rd.

Oct. 23, 2009 Map. Golden Eagle 42 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 least for now Hawk Ridge.

10-22-09. First day in MN. Roosted on the bank of the Little Fork River about 3 mi. southeast of Little Fork in Koochiching Co

10-20-09 Map. Golden Eagle 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.

10-18-09 Map. Our bird continues to move south although he slowed down a bit over the weekend. He spent last night in Ontario at approx. 52 N. Lat and 91 W. Long

10-15-09 Map. The most recent batch of data shows a golden eagle who seems to be in a hurry to leave the arctic. Between Oct. 6-15 he has traveled 926 miles (1,444.23km) and our last reading had him at 54degrees lat. The distance he covered in any single day varied from 14 (first day) to 170 miles (23 – 274km), and there seems to be very little variation from his direction of travel during the day. If he continues this rate of travel he should be in Minnesota by the beginning of next week.

10-11-09 Map. Golden Eagle 42 seems to be moving south towards his wintering grounds. Even as I right this I hesitate given the number of times he has proven my predictions wrong in the past. But, as the attached picture shows he is showing a definite movement away from Franklin Lake, covering about 400 miles between October 7 and October 11. At this point he is not retracing his spring path but basically taking a compass heading south.

09-21-09 Map. As of September 21 our eagle was still in Nunuvaat, Canada hanging around Franklin Lake. He continues to move around the area having spent a few days about 20 miles to the east and another few days about 35 miles to the south of the lake. Golden Eagles typically show up in Minnesota and Wisconsin about mid-October with peak numbers over Hawk Ridge in late October and early November. We can only wait and see when 42 begins his journey south.

09-08-09 Map. While Golden Eagle 42 showed a bit more curiosity about what the area around Franklin Lake is like, moving about 25 miles to the east-southeast for a few days, he ended up back in his usual area on the west side of the lake. Apparently, he is as happy as can be.

09-02-09 Map. Golden Eagle 42 seems content to stay on the west side of Franklin Lake. Daily movements would indicate that he is alive and doing fine. Now it seems we have to wait for his return.

08-23-09 Map. Our bird has not moved much since the last time we checked in on him. He is still hanging out on the west side of Franklin Lake above the arctic circle. He continues to move around daily but seems to have found a pretty satisfactory place to hunt and hang out.

08-16-09 Map. Eagle 42 remains active in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut Canada west of Franklin Lake. He continues to move around daily with new roost sites each evening. He moved about 6.7 miles (10.7) km NW on the 13th and our last signal was about 3 mi (5km) west of Franklin Lake at 66.9N, 96.35W which puts him above the Arctic Circle.

08-09-09 Map. Golden Eagle 42 remains north of the arctic circle in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, Canada. He appears to have shifted his center of operations about 9mi. (14.5 km) west to the other side of Franklin Lake. His evening roosts and daily movement patterns are in constant flux

08-02-09 Map. It has been a few weeks since the last update but little has changed. Our bird apparently has found a place above the arctic circle that he likes. He is in the Kitikmeot region of Nuvaat, Canada around 66.9N and 95.8W. Since July 19 he has restricted his roosts and daily movements to an area approximately 4 X 5.6 miles (6.6 X 9 km). He uses different roost sites each evening, except for July 27 and 28 when his roosts were less than 100 yards apart (he did move around during the day).

07-19-09 Map. Our eagle is still moving around although he is limiting himself to a smaller area in the Kitikmeat region of Nunavut, Canada. As of the 19th of July he was around 66.9 degrees north which puts him above the Arctic Circle. Since the last update on the 11th he moved 54 miles (87 km) north. His daily movements ranged from 41 to only 1.3 miles (66 – 2.2km).

07-05-09 to 07-12-09 Map. Our eagle continues to wander around the northern reaches of Canada. He moved about 106 miles (170K) west of where he was last week. His daily movements range from a few miles to 62 straightline miles (102K) in a day.

07-05-09 Map. Golden Eagle 42 continues to roam around Nunavut, Canada. He has been crisscrossing an area just west of Wager Bay which is an inlet of Hudson Bay. He roosts in a different spot every night but is not moving as far as in previous weeks. The total straight line distance he moved over the last week was 21 miles (34km).

06-28-09 Map. While not moving as much as he did a few weeks ago our eagle continues to wander northward on the west side of Hudson’s Bay. He has covered quite a bit of territory in Nunavut Canada and is now above 66 degrees north.

06-21-09 Map. Eagle 42 has not moved much farther although he continues to be active along the west side of Hudson’s Bay. He has spent the last week on a large peninsula around Nunavut, Canada. Roosts change every evening.

06-14-09 Map. Our bird continues to move north up the western side of Hudson’s Bay. He is now about 170 miles north of where he was last week but he has been doing a lot of wandering as he travels. Since he seems to have forgone breeding this year we can only hope he is enjoying his life as an unattached bachelor.

06-07-09 Map. The golden eagle continues to move north. He is now above 62.8 degrees latitude and as of yesterday afternoon was about 13 miles west of Hudson’s Bay near Rankin Inlet. Photos of Rankin Inlet posted on Google Earth show an area that seems not so friendly to a golden eagle, pretty treeless.

05-30-09 Map. The eagle is still moving north, although not as much as he had the last few weeks. His last signals are from Bibby Island which is on the western edge of Hudson’s Bay. He spent the last 3 days there so it will be interesting to see how long he remains there.

05-25-09 Map. Golden Eagle 42 continues to wander north along the western shore of Hudson’s Bay. He is now above 61 degrees north latitude. So far he is showing no signs of settling down for the breeding season.

05-11-09 Map. Our wandering voyageur has traveled from western Wisconsin, through northern Minnesota, and along the top of Lake Superior. Our most recent data had him moving north through Ontario on May 3. Over the course of the past week he continued his northward journey and by late afternoon on Monday May 11 he was on the western shore of Hudson's Bay.

05-04-09 Map. Well all I can think is that “it’s about time!” Our golden eagle has finally left Wisconsin and appears to be headed to its nesting grounds (we hope). On April 26 he was near Duluth MN, then true to form, headed south towards the Twin Cities before turning west and then north. He traveled through north-central Minnesota then into Ontario. Our last signal on May 4 has him in Ontario, apparently headed to Hudson’s Bay. According to published reports from a researcher studying Hudson’s Bay golden eagles, those birds begin egg laying from April to early May. So our bird may still be on schedule. An interesting side note is a report Scott Mehus received from a Wisconsin turkey hunter who saw a golden eagle near Eau Claire on Sunday. So, apparently our bird is not the last to leave the area.

04-23-09 Map. The bird is still in west-central Wisconsin, primarily using Dunn and Buffalo Counties. After spending the evening of April 17 in SW Dunn County he moved to a spot in the northern part of the county for the next 2 nights, then went to south to Buffalo County for the 20th and 21st. The last two days of data show the bird back at the Dunn County woods were he spent April 14 – 17. A ground check of that site on April 21 turned up a deer carcass in the woods with evidence of raptor use but no other signs of our eagle.

04-17-09 Map. The most recent data is cause for concern. The transmitter sent signals until about mid-morning April 10, 2009 indicating the bird was in Houston County, Minnesota. No data was transmitted until April 14 and showed the bird to be in the SW corner of Dunn County, WI. The transmitter continued sending data but unfortunately it indicated no change in location. This usually means the radio fell off or the bird was unable to move.