Where is D27? Hiding from us…but not too far from the hatchery! On Wednesday, John and I went looking for her. We had the latest coordinates Brett could give us, two phones, google maps, and the Yagi. D27 is currently wandering around an area of large fields, feedlots, steep wooded hills, and running water. We saw seven eagles on our walkabout – this part of Iowa is a winter eagle paradise given the warm weather and abundant food! – but none of them were her. So where was she? While we were looking a little southwest of Decorah, she traveled east! We were within five or ten miles of her, but the steeply folded hills and valleys blocked her signal and we couldn’t find her.
We would love to have seen her, but we were happy to explore her wintering grounds. If you would like to follow in our tracks – no assurance you’ll see D27, but the drive is lovely! – take Middle Calmar Road south from Decorah, turn east on 52, and catch Middle Ossian north. As always, a thousand thousand thanks to Brett Mandernack and the staff of Eagle Valley for sharing their knowledge, data, and experience. You guys rock!
One more thing: you can download D27’s kml file from our interactive maps at https://www.raptorresource.org/learning-tools/eagle-map/ and check it out on google earth or google maps. You can’t see Middle Ossian on Google Maps Streetview, but you can see Middle Calmar!
The Raptor Resource Project