Carolina Raptor Ctr NC - Seasons 2018-2021

[JudyB]

I'm a bit late posting here - but the staff removed the eggs March 8 since Savannah was no longer incubating then, and they candled them, and found them to be infertile, as I think we had all expected.

The cam is still on, and you can still see the eagles from time to time, though I haven't seen them together (but I haven't watched for very long - more interested in nests with eggs or that we hope will have eggs, though I am curious how/if Savannah and Luke will become closer.

This is from a few minutes ago and says it's live, though the time stamp says yesterday.

[JudyB]

2019 Posts Start Here

Hi everyone! I don't know if we'll have a camera this year (I've just posted on Savannah Eagle's Facebook page to ask, and to ask for an update on her, Derek, Luke and Dante (who was sharing the bachelor aviary with Derek last I knew) - but we are still getting updates from their tagged foster chick Freedom, and perhaps there will be other news.

Update on Freedom's travels coming soon!

[MaryF]

Many of us have watched and enjoyed Savannah and Derek at the CRC for years. I was VERY sad to read the following post on Facebook this morning.


Savannah Eagle

Savannah the Bald Eagle has been a valued feathered team member at CRC since her arrival in 1998. We are broken-hearted to announce that she has passed away peacefully. Thank you for all you have given us, Savannah. Please join us in wishing Savannah the very best as she has earned her well-deserved rest.

We will be remembering Savannah over the next week and the impact she’s made in her 21 year career at CRC. We would love for all of you to share your favorite Savannah memories or photos from over the years.

[Woodlands Bleu]

Oh Mary, that is so sad. I am glad she passed peacefully, I will remember her with love for all she did for our knowledge of eagles.
Thank you for posting that news, your friend,
carolyn

[IrishEyes]

Many of us have watched and enjoyed Savannah and Derek at the CRC for years. I was VERY sad to read the following post on Facebook this morning.


Savannah Eagle

Savannah the Bald Eagle has been a valued feathered team member at CRC since her arrival in 1998. We are broken-hearted to announce that she has passed away peacefully. Thank you for all you have given us, Savannah. Please join us in wishing Savannah the very best as she has earned her well-deserved rest.

We will be remembering Savannah over the next week and the impact she’s made in her 21 year career at CRC. We would love for all of you to share your favorite Savannah memories or photos from over the years.



CRC Savannah.jpg

Thanks Mary for posting this sad news... many of us watched this nest for years .. happy she didn't suffer .

Fly High, Fly Free Savannah

[JudyB]

2020 Posts Start Here


I don't expect a cam this year, and don't actually know if they have a female who might produce eggs at this point, but some of us are still following an eagle named Freedom who was fostered at CRC with Derek and Savannah in 2016, and who has been doing a great job of exploring the eastern US and Canada as he grows to adulthood, and this is also a place where we might post about him.

I'll try to add new maps of his travels soon.

[IrishEyes]

Thanks Judy... Looking forward to your maps and Freedoms travels !

[JudyB]

To recap a bit of Freedom's history - he was hatched on March 10, 2016, from an egg laid by a non-releasable pair at the Dan Nicholas Park in Rowan County, NC. He spent about a month with his parents, then was transferred to the Carolina Raptor Center because the Dan Nicholas Park didn't have facilities to keep the growing eaglet from being exposed to people. Freedom spent almost a month with foster parents Derek and Savannah before being transferred to a hacking tower on May 3rd in preparation for his release. Freedom had a health check (we learned he's a male) and was equipped with a transmitter on May 13 in preparation for his release. We don't know when the tower doors were opened, but CRC reported on June 2 that Freedom had taken a few flights from the hack tower.
Freedom stayed in that area for another 3 weeks, then on June 23 he headed North, and three days later, he was about 300 miles north, 2/3 of the way through West Virginia. He reached the shore of Lake Erie, about 450 miles north, by June 29, averaging about 75 miles a day. We thought he might continue across the lake (over 50 miles across open water without thermals to provide extra lift) - but fortunately he stayed on the US side, exploring the little rivers and parks for a month or so, then around the beginning of August, he began following the shoreline north and east, eventually crossing from New York into Quebec, where he visited some large wilderness areas (and worried us by not uploading data for days and sometimes weeks at a time). Then, on September 14, I think he decided summer vacation was over - and headed south; he reached the border between Virginia and North Carolina on September 30. You can read more about his travels the first few years on our archive forum, starting here - http://archive.hancockwildlife.org/foru ... 417#870417

As a quick summary of 2017 and 2018 - Freedom did a lot of roaming around, including some time in Quebec both years; comparing maps, he does seem to be finding places of interest which he visits when he's nearby - I wonder if he'll pick one of those locations to settle down.

I use the cell phone app Animal Tracker to follow Freedom, and the following maps are screen shots from my cell phone.

Animal Tracker allows you to see the activity of a given bird for either two weeks or one year. This shows where Freedom has been in the last 12 months - and for the first time he didn't cross into Quebec, though he did stay near the shore of Lake Erie from May through July.

And this shows where he's been recently, for the two weeks ending October 25:

And he's close to home right now - this is a closeup on part of that map, and the Carolina Raptor Center is just to the left of the letters CRC, sort of in the curve of the river. And, Dan Nicholas Park, where he was hatched, is just to the right of the P in the letters DNP! I don't know where the hacking tower is located, but do know it's a fairly remote area where young eagles gather, and I suspect it's not that far from CRC.

[IrishEyes]

Thanks you Judy for Freedom's history ! And for the Maps showing his travels,.It never ceases to amaze me how far he went and is now almost back home ... thinking back to the time when he was was a chick and the love and attention that was given him my Savannah and Derek and before that by his parents .. ... Derek' so loved to bring food to the nest ... what a joy it was to watch this nest ... so many happy memories ... hope you stay healthy and strong Freedom and have a nest and family of your own someday

[JudyB]

Thanks you Judy for Freedom's history ! And for the Maps showing his travels,.It never ceases to amaze me how far he went and is now almost back home ... thinking back to the time when he was was a chick and the love and attention that was given him my Savannah and Derek and before that by his parents .. ... Derek' so loved to bring food to the nest ... what a joy it was to watch this nest ... so many happy memories ... hope you stay healthy and strong Freedom and have a nest and family of your own someday

I love the pictures CRC shared of both adults trying to feed him at the same time - they were such good parents, and it was wonderful that they got to raise one more chick.

[IrishEyes]

Thanks you Judy for Freedom's history ! And for the Maps showing his travels,.It never ceases to amaze me how far he went and is now almost back home ... thinking back to the time when he was was a chick and the love and attention that was given him my Savannah and Derek and before that by his parents .. ... Derek' so loved to bring food to the nest ... what a joy it was to watch this nest ... so many happy memories ... hope you stay healthy and strong Freedom and have a nest and family of your own someday

I love the pictures CRC shared of both adults trying to feed him at the same time - they were such good parents, and it was wonderful that they got to raise one more chick.

Thanks Judy ..indeed they were.. I checked the archives and I found this one that I posted with thanks to CRC .. Derek and Savannah feeding Freedom

[JudyB]

Thanks, Bev - I love that photo!

[IrishEyes]

Thanks, Bev - I love that photo!

I do too.. You are welcome Judy

[Woodlands Bleu]

How exciting! I love the follow up JudyB and Bev......

Freedom is a roamer, but also a homer,
he wanders and then finds his way back home.

Don't worry though he will again roam,
and most likely on his own, and he is grown!
Congratulations Freedom.....
carolyn

[IrishEyes]

How exciting! I love the follow up JudyB and Bev......

Freedom is a roamer, but also a homer,
he wanders and then finds his way back home.

Don't worry though he will again roam,
and most likely on his own, and he is grown!
Congratulations Freedom.....
carolyn

Hi Carolyn and thanks for the lovely poem