Thanks for the airmail, eagles! Our inboxes were stuffed with postcards this week as D36 and Golden Eagles 732, 733, 832, and 834 all checked in. Click each image to see a full-sized postcard and click the right arrow to advance it!
Bald Eagle D36
D36 is wandering the Festina, IA area, spreading his wings over farmland, rolling forested hills, the Otter River, and a broad valley just east of Highway 150. Although I didn’t see him the last time I went looking for him, I did find a large bald eagle nest very near his current location. I have to wonder if he’s been pestering the adults in much the same way that we see subadults pestering HM and HD!
Golden Eagles 732, 733, 832, and 834
Our Golden Eagles are all wintering in Wisconsin’s Driftless country, which is bigger and more rugged than its Minnesota and Iowa counterparts. I was struck by how far some of our Golden Eagles wandered and how remote parts of the Driftless can be. You would never guess that over 200,000 people live within its boundaries!
How close are the eagles to one another right now? I was struck by the difference in terrain when I compared D36’s winter territory with his Golden Eagle counterparts. Use the map below to explore their locations and habitat! All locations are approximate. To enlarge the map, click the broken rectangle at top right. Once you’ve done that, you can change the map type by clicking the green square at lower left.
When will our Golden Eagles migrate north? Last year, subadult eagle 733 headed north in late April – substantially later than adult female 731. All of the eagles we’re tracking this year are subadults. However, Peregrine Falcons appear to be arriving at their nest sites a little earlier than usual this year, so I’m curious to see if they will head to their summer grounds a little earlier than 733 did last year. We’ll keep everyone posted! A million thanks to Brett and Ryan for sharing their maps, data, and expertise. If you’d like to explore our interactive eagle maps, please visit https://www.raptorresource.org/learning-tools/eagle-map/.
Peregrine Falcons are arriving earlier this year than last and they are nesting much earlier than they did 30 years ago. More on that here: https://www.raptorresource.org/raptorresource/pdf/AverageNesting.pdf.
The Raptor Resource Project