Bird Watching: Bald Eagle - Our National Symbol - Vol. #8, 1 by linthicum

linthicum wrote:
Thanks, duc .....

One component of the activity at Conowingo is to find and photograph Bald Eagles with leg bands and/or GPS monitors. For years wildlife biologists have studied and tagged Bald Eagle along the east coast. A federal (silver) band is placed on the left leg and a state color coded band is placed on the right leg. The band on the right leg has alpha-numeric digits identifying that particular eagle. I have referenced this before but several years ago I photographed an immature Bald Eagle with a Blue tag and the digits of S-47. I didn't know who to contact but I quickly was put in touch with the right people. This particular program is managed by the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. I soon found out that this was a Bald Eagle that was banded in 2007 in the State of New York and given the name of "Hudson". For the last two years, I have followed the trail of "Hudson". Unfortunately, he has never returned to the Conowingo Dam. During the summer months he travels to the far reaches of northern Quebec, CN. He seems to have found another place to his liking where the states of Pennsylvania, New York & New Jersey meet. He is now 4 1/2 years old as he is reaching adulthood. His appearance, I'm sure, has changed and he may have met a girlfriend. My photos of "Hudson" were eventually included in a CCB article about the Conowingo Dam Bald Eagles. If interested, this link will take you to that article. There is some interesting information in the article.

http://www.ccb-wm.org/news/2009_SeptDec/eagles_at_ConowingoD...

I return to Conowingo each Fall hoping for a repeat performance. To capture the tag number in flight is rather rare. In most cases, they are seen when the eagle is sitting on a tree branch. Here is a photo of an adult with the GPS showing on his back. Who is he ? I wish I knew.

Many of the GPS units have died out. Hudson's solar operated GPS has been functioning for nearly 1,400 days. That may be nearing its useful life.