Tracking TERF02

[JudyB]

Opening this topic for reports on TERF02's activities.

We don't know much about this eagle yet, except that he or she was tagged in December 2018 - the full report will be here when David Hancock has a chance to write it - https://hancockwildlife.org/our-project ... ge/terf02/.

Here's a picture of David with TERF02:

[JudyB]

Here (from the website above) is a map of TERF02's initial travels.

It looks as the tag was turned on December 12, 2018, and then TERF04 spent a couple of days in Washington State before heading to Delta, where he or she spent a couple of months.

[JudyB]

Here are two views of the area where TERF02 spent the last couple of months - first is in map view like the two previous screenshots - and this shows that he or she was near the Vancouver Landfill, which is a popular place for eagles to gather in the winter - but it looks as if TERF04 was more interested in the Deas Island Regional Park.

This is the same map in satellite view:

[JudyB]

On February 21, TERF02 decided it was time to head north - the dot is where he or she was at 5 am that morning (so actually s/he probably left on the 20th - it was pretty dark for him/her to have been flying before 5 am!).

And here's where he is now (March 1) - all the way up to Prince Rupert!

That's about 750 km or 450 miles.

If you look at the map and open the little calendar icon at the top, you can click on a day and see where he was that day - and he didn't go that far between the 22nd and the 24th - which makes me think s/he flew a long ways some of those other days!

TERF02 is getting close to the Alaskan Panhandle - I wonder if s/he will spend the summer in Alaska, the way some of the eagles that were tagged in early 2018 did.

[JudyB]

Catching up a bit here, since TERF02 recently checked in after a couple of months off the grid.

He or she continued up the coast, arriving in this area of the Alaskan panhandle south of Juneau on March 5th (pink dot on the right side of all the pink lines)

And TERF02 has been in that general area since then - the pink dot is his/her location as of the most recent data upload, on September 23rd.

This is a good time to mention that we did not receive any data between August 5 and September 23, though the data recently uploaded shows that TERF02 was in this general area the whole time (if you go to the map page https://hancockwildlife.org/our-project ... ge/terf02/ and click the little map icon at the top of the page to open the map, you can pick a date and see where TERF02 was that day). We've learned that our trackers are set to communicate with Canadian cell towers, which apparently use a slightly different frequency than US cell towers - so our tagged eagles who spend a lot of time in Alaska may not upload data very often.

I'm guessing that TERF02 came south to the Vancouver area for the winter last year (which is when he/she was tagged) - and may do that again this year. Stay tuned....

[JudyB]

TERF02 checked in again on October 6, the first time I've seen an update since September 23.

He or she is still in the same general area, but it is beginning to get colder up there.

[JudyB]

TERF02 uploaded tracking data again on October 10; I included a couple of screenshots using the satellite view to show the sort of area where he or she has been spending time - looks kind of chilly to me!

[JudyB]

November 21, 2019

TERF02 is on the move! We hadn't heard from him/her since October 14, when s/he checked in from the same general area as my previous post - but now it looks as if s/he is back in BC after spending most of the year in Alaska.

It looks as if TERF02 headed south on the 15th (the pink dot shows the eagle's location on the date chosen on the map)

And here's the most recent upload - just over the border into BC

And this is a closer look at the area where TERF02 lives until it freezes over:

You can follow TERF02's journey south on our website - https://hancockwildlife.org/our-project ... ge/terf02/ - and I'll see if I can get some additional data about this eagle from David Hancock or Myles to update the website page.

Note: the map can be shown in either map view (which I used for this post) or satellite view (as in the previous post).

[JudyB]

November 26, 2019

TERF02 has been exploring a little river in the same general area just south of the Alaskan Panhandle.

[JudyB]

January 15, 2020

TERF02 has checked in again - and is getting closer to Vancouver!

It looks as if s/he may have stayed in the area of the November 26 post through January 11 before moving further south.

Here's a closer look at that area, switched to the Map option and showing Terrain

[JudyB]

And here's where we're seeing her today:

I'm not really sure if s/he's at the pink dot or at the end of the pink line - with luck we'll be able to figure that out better tomorrow!

[JudyB]

January 17, 2020

TERF02 is continuing her journey south.

Here's where she was yesterday, a bit south of Powell River, near Earl's Cove (where the pink dot is)

And it looks as if she's now arrived in the area where she spent time last year, the landfill in Delta.

[JudyB]

After a month and a half on vacation in Delta, it looks as if TERF02 is heading home! This was uploaded yesterday (the pink dot shows where she was at the time).

And zooming in and switching to map view, it looks as if she was in Squirrel Cove.

Using the little calendar icon to see where she's been, it looks as if s/he was also there March 1 when she uploaded data - and was still in Delta on February 29:

Looking back to posts from last year, it looks as if he or she started heading north a week or so earlier last year, on February 21, and by March 1st was almost to the border with the Alaskan Panhandle.

It is interesting when we can follow an eagle for a couple of years and learn their patterns.

[JudyB]

March 23, 2020

TERF02 is back in his/her summer territory in Alaska!

These are three views of where s/he was when s/he checked in on the 23rd:

We may not hear from TERF02 that often over the spring and summer, as our transmitters don't work on US cell towers, though maybe his/her signal is sometimes picked up from fishing boats? Anyway, it looks as if s/he had a good journey home. I'll add a bit more info in the next post.

[JudyB]

Continuing....

If you look back to my March 3rd post, TERF02 was at Squirrel Cove, sort of across from Campbell River, on March 3rd; that's on the mainland just a little bit north of the words Vancouver Island in the picture below - which shows that he or she was almost up to Prince Rupert by March 5th!

TERF02 stayed in that general area, moving slowly north, for the next 10 days; March 15 was the last day s/he checked in from BC.

On the 16th, s/he was moving up the Alaskan panhandle.

And by the 17th, TERF02 was home.

Have a good summer, TERF02 - "call home" when you can - and we hope to see you visiting the Delta area again next winter.

[JudyB]

TERF02 is still checking in from time to time - here's an update from April 20:

[JudyB]

TERF02 checked in on June 19!

It looks as if he or she is exploring a new area towards the end of Kuiu Island.

The maps on our website show everywhere the eagle has been since getting a tracker. I can also see them using the Animal Tracker app on my phone - and that has a setting that lets me see where an eagle has been in the last 2 weeks. Comparing the two-week map below to the 18 months of data in the top two maps, it looks to me as if TERF02 is doing some exploring of new territory.

[JudyB]

Saturday, September 5, 2020

I'm over a month late - but TERF02 checked in on July 25th!

This is the Satellite view, and it looks as if he or she is still in the same general area as in late June, so maybe nesting there?

I'm also noticing that TERF02 was fairly close to the spot s/he uploaded data in June, so am guessing that even though this is Alaska, there is a Canadian cell tower in the area (maybe on a ship?). The green on the left of the gray line showing the international border is Alaska, and the white is BC. Here's the map view.

And zooming in some more, you can see that TERF02's territory includes part of Mitkof Island (you may need to click bigger to read the name under the pink lines) - which is where BETA04/Loki, our fledgling from Surrey Reserve, has been spending some time! I'm picturing them sharing a pitcher of salmon juice at a local watering hole and discussing the featherless creatures who gave them their little backpacks.

[JudyB]

Thursday, September 24, 2020

TERF02 just checked in!

It looks as if he or she is in the same general area as two months ago when we last heard from h/h, if you compare this with the map in the previous post.

[JudyB]

Monday, September 28

TERF02 is in the same general place as when s/he checked in a few days ago - probably still near a Canadian cell tower, though she or he is still in Alaska.

I didn't open the calendar, but this is the image for September 28 - you can almost read the date at the top of the map.

[JudyB]

Friday, November 6, 2020

TERF02 has "called home" today, and he or she is still in the same general area of the Alaskan panhandle.

Last year TERF02 started heading south (to the Delta area) for the winter on November 15 (see posts); I wonder what s/he will do this year.

[JudyB]

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Update from November 19 2020

TERF02 uploaded data on November 19, and it looks as if s/he's heading South:

The data shows that TERF02 was in what appears to be his/her home territory until around November 17:

And was partway to the boarder on the 18th:

[JudyB]

Here's a closer look at where TERF02 was on the 19th, back across the border in BC:

The fact that we haven't heard anything else from TERF02 in the last 10 days even though he or she is back in BC makes me feel a little less worried about Loki/BETA04 - who has not checked in since November 3. They both spent time in the same part of Alaska - so Loki may well be in the same general area as TERF02 at this point - an area where I like to think there are probably a lot more salmon than cell towers.

[JudyB]

Sunday, December 27, 2020

TERF02 checked in last night - and it looks as if he or she is in the same general area as 5 weeks ago, so perhaps a good fishing spot this year.

Here's a closer look.

When I click on the various pink lines, I get some dates from this year and some from 2019, so I think this is a place TERF02 "bookmarked" as a prime location in November and December.


I'm noticing that the date marker I added to my previous post hides the area where TERF04 seems to have been spending time this month, so this is a slightly wider view to make it easier to compare the location in November with the current one.

The pink line at the lower right heading South is from TERF02's trip to the Delta area last year in mid-January; it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

[JudyB]

Friday, January 1, 2021

TERF02 is still in the same general area.

A closer look:

Satellite view with labels:

[JudyB]

January 6, 2021

No update yet from TERF02, but I did also look at his or her recent travels using the Animal Tracker app on my phone, which has an option to show the activity in the past 2 weeks - and that makes it a little clearer which lines are from earlier this month, and which are from previous trips.

And that really doesn't help much, does it. Here's a more zoomed in version of what I posted on the 1st.

And here's a less zoomed in view of what my phone is showing, so you can see the town of Aiyansh and Route 113 (Nisga'a Highway/Cranberry Connector).