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Eagle watchers succeed in banding birds
 | | Libby Mojica (right), a biologist with the Center of Conservation Biology at William and Mary, takes measurements, while Patti holds the golden eagle they prepare to release at Bear Mountain Farm March 13. (Photo courtesy Tom Brody) |
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MONTEREY - The idea of holding a spring birding marathon to raise money for golden eagle research in Highland County was hatched in the minds of Patti Reum of Hightown, chairperson, and Kurt Gaskill, event consultant, of Northern Virginia, in January 2007.
Research on large raptors such as golden eagles usually involves banding the birds and placing telemetry (tracking) units on them, but this type of research is costly. So having a birdathon, such as the famous World Series of Birding in Cape May, N.J., to raise money seemed appropriate. What a great way to discover the resident and migratory birds in Highland County in May, plus earn money for a worthy cause.
Teams of birders would count the birds they saw one spring day, backed by pledges of support for the number of species they counted. The Virginia Society of Ornithology and the Bath/Highland Bird Club became project partners, with Dr. Mitchell Byrd and Dr. Bryan Watts from the Center of Conservation Biology at William and Mary serving as advisors. The event was held May 19, 2007 and hosted by Bear Mountain Farm and Wilderness Retreat of Hightown. Three officialteams participated: the "Wandering Siskins" of Northern Virginia, the "Migrants" of Roanoke and a team consisting of several members of the bird club. About 130 species were totaled, and, much to the coordinators' surprise, the event raised more than $7,800. So phase I - raising the money - was completed. The next phase was to make the banding and telemetry project a reality.
 | | The eagle sports a hood typically worn by peregrine falcons. (Photo courtesy Fletcher Smith) |
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A different eagle research project had started in Highland County in 2006. Residents and statewide visiting birders knew both golden and bald eagles frequented the county, but there were no officialrecords of their sightings. There was also talk of bald eagle nests, but none had been documented. So a team of four women - Brenda Tekin of Charlottesville, plus Sandy Bratton, Sandy Hevener, and Patti Reum of Highland - took on the challenge.
 | | Fletcher Smith, a biologist with the Center of Conservation Biology at William and Mary, sets up capture nets. Eagles were "baited" with carcasses at two locations, and captured on film. Once caught, they were banded with a tracking device and will now be monitored for up to three years. (Photo courtesy Libby Mojica) |
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In 2006, they documented two bald eagle nests. Due to other commitments, two members discontinued their direct work with the project and Reum and Hevener decided to continue.
All sightings of both eagle species were sent to Hevener, who compiled the data. The thousands of sightings revealed some interesting discoveries. First, both immature and adult bald and golden eagles were seen in all months of the year. Second, sightings formed clusters of hot eagle activity, with most bald eagle activity near the rivers in central and southern parts of the county and most golden eagle activity clustered in the northwestern region of the county near Snowy and Lantz mountains and the Laurel Fork/Allegheny Mountain region. Clusters pointed to possible nesting areas.
On April 21, 2007 the first eagle nest scouting day was held. The 12 participants saw many eagles but did not finda new nest.
This month, a new bald eagle nest was found near the Bath/Highland county line and another was found in the Meadowdale region of Highland. Given the cluster data and sightings of adults and hatch year birds, the birders suspect there are several other bald eagle nests yet to be found. A possible golden eagle nest turned out to be a raven nest after Watts conducted a field search.
Phase II - trying to catch a golden eagle in Highland County - was begun. Originally, two teams of biologists were involved in this project - staff at the National Aviary and Powdermill Nature Reserve in Pittsburgh, Pa., and staff at the Center of Conservation Biology in Williamsburg. Last October, Patti met with Watts and Byrd to finalize their commitment to the banding and telemetry project and simplify the project by having the Virginia-based team take over the effort.
In the spring of 2007, the Highland eagle survey team placed a motion triggered camera in the Snowy Mountain area where records show high level of golden eagle activity. This winter, they added a second camera in the Bear Mountain/Laurel Fork area.
During the months of January, February and early March, the cameras shot photos of bald eagles, golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, ravens and crows, coyote, bear, bobcat, raccoons, and even white-tailed deer, cattle and sheep. By early March, the remote camera in the Laurel Fork area had taken photos of all age groups of golden eagles and a smaller number of golden eagles in the Snowy Mountain region. Golden eagles were finally coming to the bait stations with regularity.
On March 12 and 13, the team of Libby Mojica and Fletcher Smith sat in a blind near the bait station, waiting for the right moment to capture a golden eagle. And they were successful, against all odds. They trapped a hatch-year bald and a third year male golden in one net. The bald eagle was banded and released. The golden was measured and weighed and a few feathers were collected for genetic analysis. Then, he was banded and fitted with a solarpowered telemetry harness, and carefully released at Bear Mountain Farm just before the sunset, giving him time to finda suitable roost for the night.
His movements are tracked by satellite. In the first week since his release, he has stayed primarily within the northwest regions of the county. The money raised was sufficientto pay for the telemetry unit and two years of satellite tracking. The team will still need to raise about $2,000 more to cover the third year of data collection.
Phase III of the project is tracking the movements of this bird. Will he stay year-round in Highland County and perhaps eventually nest here? No one knows, but now there is the potential to scientifically confirmsome key facts on golden eagle biology.
This Saturday and Sunday, March 29-30, there will be an opportunity to look for eagle nests in the area. Call Reum at 468-2700 to participate.
Reum and Hevener note this project could not have happened without the assistance of Watts, Byrd, Mojica, Fletcher Smith, Gaskill, the Virginia Society of Ornithology, Dr. John Spahr (VSO advisor), the Bath/Highland Bird Club, The Virginia Department of Transportation, Sandy Bratton, Brenda Tekin, Pen Goodall, Dr. Todd Katzner, Todd Frey, Clarkson & Wallace Realty, which donated brunch for the Golden Chase, and the many eagle spotters and hawk watchers that have submitted data and allowed access to their private property.
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