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BACA02 (tracked 2/11/18-1/5/21)

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 5:04 pm
by JudyB
BACA02 is an adult male captured on February 11, 2018, at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, BC, about 20kms east of Vancouver as the eagle flies. He was banded by Myles Lamont and David Hancock with USFW Band #629-28666 (right leg) and a blue auxiliary marker N over 2 on his left leg.

BAEA18-03 - BACA02
Banding Date: Feb 11, 2018
USFW Band #: 629-28666 (right leg)
Banded: Blue auxiliary marker N over 2 on its left leg
Captured: Vancouver Landfill in Delta
Age: 5+ years
Eye color: Pale Yellow
Sex: Male


Link to BACA02's Tracking Map

BACA02.jpg
Myles Lamont and BACA02


Update - March 5, 2023 - added more pictures further down the page.


Summary of Travels (last updated September 27, 2021)
  • Received tracker February 11 2018 after being trapped at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta BC
  • began heading north March 11 2018 and crossed into the Alaskan Panhandle March 14
  • by March 18 he was on the coast roughly across from Haines, Alaska, and stayed in that general area until April 27, ranging up and down the coast
  • April 28 he went inland, to a spot on an inlet(?) halfway between Haines and Juneau; on April 29 he visited Haines, and April 30 he was a little south of Juneau; he spent a few days back near the midpoint between the two towns, then went back to the coast near Elfin Cove on May 7, then back up north to the coastal area across from Haines
  • May 13-31 he made another circuit though he didn't go as far south as Juneau
  • June 1 - July 15 2018 he spent along the coast in the same general area sort of west of Haines; it looks sort of like maybe a 30 kilometer/20-mile stretch of the coast where he spent most of his time up north
  • July 15-August 2, he appeared to be on the west shore of Glacier Bay, sort of across from Gustavus, but it's possible part of that time he wasn't uploading data; the rest of August he seemed to be wandering around the edges of the bay. By September 3rd he was back near Elfin Cove and then headed North to what I'm considering his primary territory
  • He went further up the coast, and was near Yakutat from around September 15 to October 12, then spent more time in his primary territory through November 26 - and then he headed south, stopping here and there along the panhandle through December 10.
  • Crossed into BC on December 11, following a leisurely route until he was below Bella Bella on December 20, then straight to Delta, arriving December 21, 2018.
  • Stayed in the Delta/Surrey area until February 9 2019, then apparently moved a bit northwest to Richmond for a few days (there aren't a lot of signals; his tag may be having issues), and headed north around February 25
  • Reached the Alaskan panhandle March 1 2019
  • Checked in January 2 2020 from a bit south of Port Rupert (not a lot of data points from the previous 10 months, again suggesting issues with his tag)
  • January 7 from the mainland across from the north end of Vancouver Island
  • January 10 from the Sechelt area
  • posted frequently January 14-30 from Delta
  • headed north February 3 and crossed into the Alaska panhandle February 9
  • February 10 from the south tip of Etolin Island Alaska
  • November 28 2020 from way up the Alaskan panhandle (not seeing many data points but it looks as if he reached his home territory around February 19 and stayed there until September 22 when he moved further north)
  • January 5 2021 from partway down the Alaskan panhandle (probably heading back to Delta)
  • No additional signals as of September 27 2021 - I'm guessing his tracker tag is probably worn out after 3 years
20230118_BACA02_map.jpg

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 5:05 pm
by JudyB
Shortly after being tagged, BACA02 headed North, arriving in the southern part of Alaska (the Inside Passage) in mid March and reporting back from various spots in that general area until late July.
20190226_BACA02a.jpg

We hoped that he had just traveled somewhere without cell tower reception, because his tracker uses cell towers to check in. But we worried a bit.

And as the months went by and we didn't hear from him, we worried a bit more - but hoped for the best.

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 5:05 pm
by JudyB
And today, when I checked my Animal Tracker phone app, there were 6 eagles in the general area where they had all been tagged; yesterday there were only 5. And the new eagle on the scene was BACA02!
20190226_BACA02d.jpg

(The one in the gray circle went down to the Oregon border last year at this time, and that's probably where he's headed now - and unfortunately the tracking units we used last year weren't configured to work with US cell towers, so we won't know where he's been until he gets back.)

Here's BACA02's path:
20190226_BACA02b.jpg

He hasn't uploaded the data from his trip south yet - that's why it appears as a straight line on the map above. And maybe he never will. His tracker is supposed to last for at least a few years, but I'm not sure that diving into the ocean off the coast of Alaska was one of the tests for the trackers.

When I looked at his activity for the last 2 weeks, this is all I got - he was somewhere in Vancouver, and headed north, a bit inland from Sechelt.
20190226_BACA02c.jpg

I'm hoping he stays where there are lots of cell towers for a while, and downloads a bit more of his story.

But for now - I'm happy he's back! :love:

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:39 pm
by JudyB
January 2, 2020

BACA02 just checked in! He's on his way south from his summer territory in Alaska, and is just a bit south of Prince Rupert. We haven't heard from him for almost a year, so this is exciting! I'm not seeing many data points yet, so he may have additional data from the last 10 months to upload now that he's back in BC.
20200102_001.jpg
20200102_002.jpg

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 10:17 am
by IrishEyes
Thanks You Judy! this is so exciting !

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 12:24 pm
by JudyB
January 7, 2020

Good to see you here, Bev!

BACA02 checked in today, and it looks as if he's heading towards the Vancouver/Delta area.
20200107_001.jpg
20200107_002.jpg

Looking at the map, he's been in some fairly remote area, so perhaps that's why we haven't heard from him for a couple of days - but it could also be that his transmitter is getting weaker - it has been almost two years since he was tagged.

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:33 am
by JudyB
January 10, 2020

BACA02 is getting closer to the Delta/Vancouver area!
20200111_003.jpg
20200111_004.jpg
20200111_005.jpg

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:41 pm
by IrishEyes
Way to go BACAO2 :woohoo:

Thanks Judy for the updates :huggie:

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 2:41 pm
by JudyB
Thanks, Bev!

As of January 14, there's no new data from BACA02. Given how irregular data uploads from him have been, I'm guessing his transmitter is taking a break! And, upon reflection, it is solar powered, and may need more direct sunlight than it's been getting to recharge now that it's getting older.

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 1:21 pm
by JudyB
And happily it looks as if I was right, at least partly - we now have data from later on January 14, and I suspect BACA02 has found his way to the giant landfill!
20200115_013.jpg
20200115_014.jpg
20200115_015.jpg

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 6:48 pm
by IrishEyes
Way to go BACOA2 !

Thank You so much Judy!

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:30 pm
by JudyB
Monday, February 10, 2020

Good - and surprising - news - BACA02 has checked in!

BACA02 arrived in the general area of the Vancouver Landfill in Delta on January 14, and posted fairly regularly from there until January 30 - when he stopped posting (as did TERF02, but TERF02 resumed posting after a few days). We did have a spell of cloudy, rainy days - and BACA02 has one of our oldest transmitters, being part of the group that was tagged in February 2018, so I was hoping that the problem was with his transmitter, and not with him.

And that seems to be the case - he's already on his way back home!
20200210_017.jpg

When he uploaded data earlier today, he uploaded some of the data from previous days, so we know he began flying North on February 3rd, ending up just south of Prince Rupert on February 8th (I'm not going to post daily pictures, but he was further north every day - definitely an eagle on a mission).
20200210_018.jpg

He crossed into Alaska on the 9th, and is now making his way up the Alaskan Panhandle.
20200210_019.jpg

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:45 pm
by JudyB
He still has a ways to go - you can see his green dot to the right of Prince of Wales Island towards the bottom of the map, and he's probably heading into the Glacier Bay Park and Reserve - you can see the heavier green tracks showing where he's spent the last two summers:
20200210_020.jpg

I was thinking it would be too early - and chilly - to be thinking about nesting up there, and he's chosen a remote area, but is not that far from Situk (not easy to read at that scale, but it's the lower town in the upper right below):
20200210_021.jpg

So I checked the weather there - and it's warmer than I expected:
20200210_023.jpg

So, not surprisingly, this eagle knows exactly what he's doing!

Have a safe journey, BACA02!

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 4:32 pm
by IrishEyes
Thank you Judy for update and have a safe journey BACAO2 :luck:

Re: Tracking BACA02

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 1:35 pm
by JudyB
Sunday, November 29, 2020

BACA02 checked in last night! :D And he's way up the Alaskan panhandle, north of where it looked as if he spent time last summer.
20201129_008.jpg
20201129_006.jpg

Here's a bit of a closer look.
20201129_007.jpg

I used the map to look quickly through the months between February 10, when he last checked in, and now - and there were times when the dot moved a bit, so he did record some data even though he hasn't been able to upload it until now - but there were lots of times when he didn't appear to move, which may mean that his tracker isn't recording that well any more - or just mean that it can only remember so much, and he hasn't been near a cell tower.

From what I could see, it looks as if he reached his home territory (where the heaviest green tracks are) on February 19 and stayed there until September 22, when he moved further North, closer to where he is now.

It looks as if last year he headed south for his winter vacation in the Delta area around the beginning of January; I wonder what he'll do this year.