Where are our eaglets? D27, D35, and D36 all sent postcards this week! Here is what we know…
September 28, 2020: D35’s map. Click to enlarge.
D35 is still enjoying east central Minnesota, although she has made her way a little south from Princeton/Cambridge to the Elk River area, passing within a mile of our Great River Energy peregrine falcon nestbox. Breezy and Brooklyn could have easily seen her from their vantage point high atop the new nest pole! Unsurprisingly, she’s also spent some time at the large landfill on the north end of town. We might cringe a bit at the idea, but the landfill is rich in food resources and has a very distinct footprint from on high. Perhaps she saw other birds circling and wanted to check it out!
September 28, 2020: D27’s map. Click to enlarge.
D27 is back in Decorah, just a few miles south of the hatchery! She and D36 haven’t crossed paths that we know: they’ve been in similar places, but not at similar times. She’s hanging out in Bald Eagle paradise (Decorahdise?) – plenty of steeply folded hills, cold trout creeks, and wide open pastures for soaring. We hope to get a chance to go look for her this week!
September 28, 2020: D36’s map. Click to enlarge.
How about D36? Everyone’s favorite little homebody continues to hang out in the Decorah area, although he’s made trips as far south as Claremont and as far north as Harmony, Minnesota. We just missed seeing him, since he left the hatchery area two days before we started camera work! Brett writes: “After D-36’s loop trek from Bluffton to Strawberry Point to north of Decorah on the Upper Iowa River, he has shifted northwest just across the IA/MN border where he is at peace just south of Harmony, MN.” We hope he enjoys it!
To date, D35 has traveled about 611 miles, D36 has traveled about 499 miles, and D27 has traveled an incredible 12,358 miles – although she has had a little over three years to do it! We wish all of our eagles favorable winds and fair skies. Stay safe, everyone!
As always, a thousand thousand thanks to Brett Mandernack and the staff of Eagle Valley for sharing their maps, knowledge, and expertise! To explore the travels of all of the eagles we’ve tracked, please visit our interactive maps at https://www.raptorresource.org/learning-tools/eagle-map/.
The Raptor Resource Project