Tracking BACA02

[JudyB]

BACA02 is an adult male captured on the 11 February 2018 at Vancouver landfill, about 20kms east of Vancouver as the eagle flies. He was banded by Myles Lamont and David Hancock has a blue auxiliary marker N over 2 on its left leg.

Link to BACA02's Tracking Map

[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.

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.

[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!

(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:

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.

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!

[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.

[IrishEyes]

Thanks You Judy! this is so exciting !

[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.

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.

[JudyB]

January 10, 2020

BACA02 is getting closer to the Delta/Vancouver area!

[IrishEyes]

Way to go BACAO2

Thanks Judy for the updates

[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.

[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!

[IrishEyes]

Way to go BACOA2 !

Thank You so much Judy!

[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!

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).

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

[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:

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):

So I checked the weather there - and it's warmer than I expected:

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

Have a safe journey, BACA02!

[IrishEyes]

Thank you Judy for update and have a safe journey BACAO2

[JudyB]

Sunday, November 29, 2020

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

Here's a bit of a closer look.

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.

[IrishEyes]

Thank You Judy .. Good Luck BACA02

[JudyB]

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

BACA02 checked last night! The green dot shows where he is now, and it looks as if he may be on his way to Delta!

Here's a closer look, in map view as it's easier to read the place names. As you may remember, he was up near Yakutat at the northern part of the Alaskan panhandle when he uploaded data in late November - and he's now partway down the panhandle.

Uploads may be a bit scarce until he gets back into BC, since his tracker isn't picked up by most Alaskan cell towers (though some do use the BC frequencies) - but if he's heading south, he may be in a hurry.

[IrishEyes]

Thanks Judy ! Way to go BACA 02