Tag Archives: D27

Who’s that eagle with a transmitter?

March 15, 2023: D27 eating roadkill. Based on its striped tail, this was a raccoon. Raccoons aren't true hibernators, but at this latitude, they spend a lot of winter holed up in their dens. They tend to be eager to get out, explore, and eat come spring. Note the dark head streaks. Some eagles retain minimal dark streaking past their fifth year. D27 turns six in about a month.

Who’s that eagle with a transmitter? Photographer Seth Vreeman just sent us these photos. He wrote: “I photographed a Bald Eagle just south of Canton, MN tonight. I was surprised when I got home and saw that it had a transmitter on its back. I was far enough away that I didn’t even notice it. The lighting wasn’t great and, like I said, I was a pretty good distance away. Not my best shots, but pretty cool nevertheless!” Thanks to

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Who is that eagle with a transmitter?

D27? This was the only look we got at the eagle's face. D27 turned five years old in April.

Our sharp-eyed camera operators found an eagle with a transmitter on near N1 this morning! While we couldn’t get a band or transmitter number, Brett thinks this was most likely D27 based on the eagle’s location and age. We haven’t heard from D27’s transmitter since late November, but we know that she was in Decorah and tends to spend time in an area between the hatchery and Highway 52. She is looking great and we’ll keep searching for potential nests

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D36 Phones Home!

November 14, 2022: D36's map

Thanks for the airmail, D36! Two-year old bald eagle D36 sent us another postcard from the Turkey River near Spillville, Iowa: seemingly his new favorite hang and the place he’s spent the most time on his Iowa staycation! With winter finally moving in, it’s no surprise that he’s sticking to the steep valleys and flowing water of the Turkey. Given the eagles we’re seeing on the Flyway and wandering through Decorah, he should have plenty of company in the next

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D27 Phones Home!

D27's map: April 8, 2019

Thanks for writing, D27! D27’s latest postcard puts her back in the Decorah area after a brief sojourn to the Mississippi River. On April 4, we tracked her to within about 2600 feet of her natal nest. She wandered throughout the day, ending up about 4.5 miles NW of her nest at 9:42PM. She did not go near her natal nest on the 5th, which means that it was not her we spotted on camera…although we can’t yet rule out

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March 20, 2019: A postcard from D27!

03/18/19: D27's Travel Map

It looks like D27 has decided to join the eagle party on the Mississippi River! She left Decorah on March 13 and flew NNW out to the Bluffton area, not far from Bob’s old farmstead and falcon breeding barns, before heading east to the Mississippi river. She is currently spending time on the Minnesota Slough just east of New Albin, Iowa. This area is rich in food resources and quite close to one of our falcon sites. We can’t help

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Finding D27!

March 2, 2019: D27

Amy and I decided to take a trip to Decorah after Ferryville Bald Eagle Days to see if we could find D27. It was a sunny, cold day and the snow was deep, but we were willing we take a shot! Armed with the latest coordinates from Brett, we decided to start at the hatchery looking for her radio signal. DM2 greeted us and flew overhead as we pulled in, which we took as a good sign. John quickly spotted

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Persistence Pays Off – a post by Brett Mandernack about the fitting of D27’s transmitter.

D27's transmitter fitting

It is early August and I have one satellite transmitter (or PTT) yet to deploy on a young eagle. Dave and Ann Lynch spent two solid weeks in late June/early July perfecting their craft of artful presentation of fish to the Decorah fledglings, yet the “kids” instead chose to food-beg loud and often and insist Mom or Dad bring them food at the nest. There was no evidence of any of the fledglings ever picking up a fish during that

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