TERF02 (tracked 12/12/18-3/26/22)

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JudyB
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TERF02 (tracked 12/12/18-3/26/22)

Post by JudyB » Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:45 am

TERF02's Tracking Map

TERF02 was tagged and banded on December 12, 2018, at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, BC. He appeared to be male based on measurements taken at the time of banding and that was confirmed by a blood test; his USFW band number is 0709-01987 and he has a more readable black/yellow band on his left leg with the characters C over 7. TERF02 had full adult plumage so was likely more than five years old at the time of banding. There was concern that he might have something plastic stuck in his crop so he was taken for x-rays that showed there were two bones there, perhaps chicken bones; he was kept overnight, and they had passed by morning, so he was released.


BAEA18-23 - TERF02
Banding Date: Dec 12, 2018
USFW Band #: 0709-01987 (right leg)
Banded: Black/yellow marker C over 7 on its left leg
Captured: Vancouver Landfill in Delta
Age: 5+ years
Eye color: Pale Yellow
Sex: Male
Held overnight due to protrusions in crop that felt like plastic. Took to Dr. Dolphin who did xrays and showed two bones (chicken?) in crop that appeared impacted. Held overnight and passed by next morning and released.



Here's a picture of David with TERF02:
TERF02.jpg

Added March 9, 2023
In case you've ever wondered how an eagle gets an xray, here's apparently one method they use to keep the patient from moving while they get their picture:
TERF02_20181212_162929.jpg

And here's a picture of the xray showing the bones in the crop - truly amazing that an eagle can digest something like that enough to get it out again!
TERF02_20181212_163616.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:04 pm

Summary of Travels (last updated February 2, 2023)
  • Received tracker December 12 2018 at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, BC
  • Stayed in that area until February 20 2019, possibly based at the Deas Island Regional Park nearby
  • By the morning of February 21 he was heading north, and by March 1st, he was close to Prince Rupert (750 km or 450 miles from Delta)
  • He reached the area around Kupreanof Island and Minkof Island off the Alaskan Panhandle on March 5 and stayed in that general area through October 14, not checking in very often because the trackers originally only connected to Canadian cell towers (or hot spots on Canadian boats).
  • TERF02 checked in on November 21, and we learned he had begun heading south on October 14 and crossed the border into BC on November 20th. I'm not sure what the river or inlet is between Gingolx and Aiyansh - but apparently he knows, and I think it has salmon because he stayed there from November 26 through January 11 2020.
  • He then headed south, and by January 17 was at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, where he had been tagged the previous winter; he stayed there through February 29 (so he arrived later and left later than the previous year)
  • He headed north on March 1st, visiting Squirrel Cove (across from Campbell River) on March 3rd, and almost up to Prine Rupert by March 5th; he stayed in that area for about 10 days, moving slowly north, and had crossed into Alaska by the 16th, reaching his home territory by March 17th.
  • He stayed in that basic area until November 17, perhaps raising a family, and making some little excursions to explore nearby areas where he hadn't been, at least since he got his tracker.
  • TERF02 crossed the border into BC by November 19, and went back to the area where he spent November 26 through January 11 the previous year, which I now think may be the Nass River Valley.
  • He stayed there through January 21 2021, then headed out to the coast near Hogan Island (a bit north of Prince Rupert) and did some exploring in that area for about 10 days, before heading back towards the Nass River Valley and arriving back near Nass Camp (at the northeast end of the valley, or at least the part of it he explored) on February 4.
  • He stayed there for a couple of days, then went south to an area just north of Kitimat on February 8, then out towards the coast near Hawkesbury Island for about 10 days, then back above Kitimat for a couple of days, then over to Digby Island beside Prince Rupert on February 24th. What I find is interesting is that this is generally the coldest part of the year, and he's nowhere near Delta.
  • TERF02 stayed in the Prince Rupert area through March 1st, and then headed north, reaching the coast of the Alaskan Panhandle on March 2nd, and continuing north until he was at the edge of his territory on March 8; he stayed there a couple of days, then headed south, exploring the area half way between his home territory and the Nass River Valley until April 3rd
  • He then spent about a week near Gingolx at the southwest end of his Nass River Valley vacation spot, before heading back to his territory on April 12, where he stayed through August 11
  • On August 12 he headed north a bit, and spent the next 6 weeks across the Frederic Sound, on the coast of the Panhandle, mostly south of Port Houghton, though he did spend some time on the north side of it; he headed back to what appears to be his home territory on September 24.
  • He stayed there through November 2nd, then headed south, arriving at the Nass River Valley on November 8, and stayed in that area through December 23rd.
  • TERF02 then headed south, arriving at the landfill in Delta on December 29, 2021, which is where he is as of January 10, 2022.
  • TERF02 stayed near the landfill through the end of January, then began heading north, crossing into Alaska around February 14; by February 22, he was back in his home territory.
  • His final data upload was about 9 am on March 26, 2022, from the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness, which I think is considered part of the panhandle, and is on the eastern edge of his "territory" on and around Kupreanof Island. We don't know what happened - but he'd had the tracker for over three years, so it seems likely that it wore out.
20230118_TERF02_map.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:08 pm

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 TERF02 spent a couple of days in Washington State before heading to Delta, where he or she spent a couple of months.
20190301_026.jpg
20190301_027.jpg

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 TERF02 was more interested in the Deas Island Regional Park.
20190301_028.jpg

This is the same map in satellite view:
20190301_029.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:24 pm

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!).
20190301_030.jpg

And here's where he is now (March 1) - all the way up to Prince Rupert!
20190301_031.jpg

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!
20190301_032.jpg

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.

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:24 am

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)
20190925_004.jpg

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.
20190925_005.jpg

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....

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:51 pm

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.
20191007_001.jpg
20191007_002.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:21 am

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!
20191010_008.jpg
20191010_009.jpg
20191010_010.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Thu Nov 21, 2019 8:49 am

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)
20191121_001.jpg

And here's the most recent upload - just over the border into BC
20191121_002.jpg

And this is a closer look at the area where TERF02 lives until it freezes over:
20191121_003.jpg

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).

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:37 pm

November 26, 2019

TERF02 has been exploring a little river in the same general area just south of the Alaskan Panhandle.
20191126_002.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Wed Jan 15, 2020 1:15 pm

January 15, 2020

TERF02 has checked in again - and is getting closer to Vancouver!
20200115_016.jpg

It looks as if s/he may have stayed in the area of the November 26 post through January 11 before moving further south.
20200115_017.jpg

Here's a closer look at that area, switched to the Map option and showing Terrain
20200115_018.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Wed Jan 15, 2020 1:37 pm

And here's where we're seeing her today:
20200115_019.jpg

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!

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Fri Jan 17, 2020 3:30 pm

January 17, 2020

TERF02 is continuing her journey south.
20200117_017.jpg

Here's where she was yesterday, a bit south of Powell River, near Earl's Cove (where the pink dot is)
20200117_019.jpg

And it looks as if she's now arrived in the area where she spent time last year, the landfill in Delta.
20200117_018.jpg

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Tue Mar 03, 2020 2:05 pm

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).
20200303_008.jpg

And zooming in and switching to map view, it looks as if he was in Squirrel Cove.
20200303_009.jpg

Using the little calendar icon to see where he's been, it looks as if he was also there March 1 when he uploaded data - and was still in Delta on February 29:
20200303_010.jpg

Looking back to posts from last year, it looks as if he 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.

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:09 pm

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:
20200324_014.jpg
20200324_015.jpg
20200324_016.jpg

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.

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Re: Tracking TERF02

Post by JudyB » Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:14 pm

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!
20200324_017.jpg

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.
20200324_018.jpg

On the 16th, s/he was moving up the Alaskan panhandle.
20200324_019.jpg

And by the 17th, TERF02 was home.
20200324_020.jpg

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

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