|
Highland's eagle makes big trek to New England
By James Jacenich • staff writer
MONTEREY - On March 17, the staff at the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary placed a radio-transmitter tracking device on a three-year-old female golden eagle that was trapped near Tamarack Ridge in Highland County. This was the first time such a device has ever been used on a golden eagle (or a bald eagle) from Highland County. Through satellite transmissions, the movements of this bird have been closely watched.
"I named the bird "Virgil Caine," says Patti Reum of the Highland County Eagle Survey. Originally, it was thought the eagle was a male, but soon it was confirmed to be female. The name Virgil Caine stuck anyway.
Upon release of the eagle at Bear Mountain Farm and a night of rest, Virgil quickly flew north, over Red Oak Knob toward Sapling Ridge into the Laurel Fork region of the county. She then headed south along the same path and spent time on the ridges just south of Bear Mountain Farm. In mid-March, she ventured to the south, then east toward Jack Mountain, only to return to Lantz Mountain a few days later.
On March 20 she flew across U.S. 220 in the area just south of Mustoe and remained for about four days, making jaunts through the Meadowdale region and south of Route 84. The bird then headed east and spent several days in the Trimble region, east of Mustoe near Route 607. At the end of March, Virgil flew to the area south of Vanderpool, then headed due east toward Route 678 south of McDowell.
For a brief time in early April, Virgil moved into Augusta County, but quickly returned to Highland. She moved to the state border with West Virginia near Pendleton County, then into the panhandle of West Virginia. On April 8, she moved to Hardy County, just east of Moorefield, W.Va., passed through Hampshire County into Maryland, then on to Fulton County, Pa., west of Scranton.
From April 13-23, she remained in Pennsylvania. Then she headed east into the mountains and into New York toward Albany. After a week's jaunt to a dammed lake in western Connecticut, she made a false start north, returned to the same lake, then headed north again on a slightly more easterly path.
"On May 5, she moved through western Massachusetts very close to the region where I was born and raised," says Reum. "I wanted to alert my family to be on the lookout for a beautiful golden eagle with a little transmitter harness and band on its leg!"
Virgil then moved into Vermont, New Hampshire and into the center of Maine. By May 8, she was near the Bay of Fundy, close to the ocean. She moved briefly into New Brunswick, and then headed back to the Maine interior on May 12. She stayed in this remote mountainous region on the border of Maine and Quebec throughout the month of June. From June 21-28, she was based on a peninsula in Quebec in the mountain range called "Mont Chic-Chocs," which is just south of the St. Lawrence River.
You can see the path of migration on the map accompanying this article, which was prepared by Libby Mojica, eagle biologist from the Center of Conservation Biology.
"It is very exciting to think that our Highland County golden eagle is now in Canada, enjoying the summer and perhaps the company of other golden eagles in that region," says Reum. "We would never have achieved this important ornithological project if it weren't for the reports of sightings on eagles to the Highland County Eagle Survey from citizens of Highland County and visiting birders. At this point, there is sighting data of eagles from 2006 through the present. It is now more critical than ever that you report your sightings. The eagles are here, but their presence cannot be documented unless people report that they see them.
"We hope the bird will return to Highland County, but obviously we have no idea," says Reum. "It could be considered normal behavior to return, since they are usually quite faithful to sites they know and can find food. The beauty of telemetry is that we can find out for sure where this eagle will go."
|
)