Who else was thrilled to get postcards from D36, D27, and Golden Eagles 731 and 733? I loved opening my mailbox (well, email inbox) and getting letters from Brett and Ryan with all of the latest details on our eagles. Let’s take a look back at their year!
Bald Eagle D36 | Parents: Mom and DM2 | Age: Two | Age Classification: Subadult
D36’s 2022 Map
D36 took an Iowa staycation this year! He wandered down to Tama, Iowa, roughly 100 miles SW of his natal nest, and flew north as far as Harmony, MN, about 23 miles north of his natal nest. He spent a lot of time on the Upper Iowa, Turkey, and Cedar Rivers, and very little time anywhere else. I like to picture him kicking back in a folding chair by an Iowa river, sipping on some cold fish tea, and watching the river slide by!
September 5, 2020: Robin’s picture of D36 in flight.
Bald Eagle D27 | Parents: Mom and Dad | Age: Five | Age Classification: Adult
D27’s 2022 Map
After last year, we wondered if D27 would stay in Iowa. She confounded our – well, at least MY – expectations by migrating north to Ontario on May 23rd. She arrived at her usual stomping grounds on June 13 and ventured into SE Manitoba on July 16 – the furthest north that any of our eagles have ever flown! D27 left the Northland on August 15 and was back in the Decorah area by August 29th. I like to picture her having a cool eagle summer up on the Hudson Plains, complete with sunglasses for those nights when the sun never completely set!
December 28, 2022: D27? This was the only look we got at the eagle’s face. D27 turned five years old in April.
Who traveled the most? If we compare each eagle through the end of September – the last time we heard from D27:
- D36 traveled 2,252 miles between January 1 and September 30. 539 of his hits were within 30 miles of his natal nest.
- D27 traveled 3,220 miles during the same time period. 404 of her hits were within 30 miles of her natal nest.
Golden Eagles 731 and 733
September 2022: Golden Eagle 731 and 733
How about our Golden Eagles? 733 and 731 traveled almost half again the distance that D27 did. GOEA 731, an adult female we captured north of La Crosse WI, sent us a postcard from a remote location in Nunavut, 14mi NE of Darby Lake and 66mi SW of Kugaaruk, just south of the Hayes River. At 6,200 feet in the air, she might see the frigid waters of the Arctic archipelago, glimpse a few of its 36,563 islands, or catch sight of large groups of sea mammals: a valuable source of food and carrion for Golden Eagles and other animals. GOEA 733, a subadult eagle we captured in the same region, was just 83 miles WSW of 731 in July. Both eagles were over 1500 miles north of their wintering grounds at their northernmost point.
Looking for more details? We have your links!
D36 in 2020
D27’s cohort: all three eaglets on the Skywalk
The Raptor Resource Project