The adult eagle is at the nest site

The adult SSE fitted last year with PTT(0)82163 has reached its nest site after some ice-hopping. It was evidently traveling along the open water clearly visible in the MODIS satellite image above. It travelled the length of the Sea of Okhotsk in 4 days!

Youngser went North

After a minor problem with Argos data flow the missing data have been received. It looks like the youngster (PTT5629) left Hokkaido on 4 April 2010 and is now on Sakhalin Island.

The adult female is ice-hopping sowewhat North of Shantar Island.

More data to follow. Fingers crossed.

Eugene

First eagles at the Balagannoe

Meanwhile the first adult Steller's have arrived at Balagannoe in our study area on 6 April 2010. Photos by Olga Mochalova

Adult eagle is ice hopping

Since 18 March our adult eagle has been living on the ice, ice hopping at least until 22 March. Meanwhile, the Argos system started adding a "0" in front of the PTT numbers. Hope our automatic system will not loose any data.

The youngster PTT62629 is not sending good signals. The battery probably is approaching the end of its life. There are some fairly low quality signals indicating that the bird started its migration on 18 March, but no more reliable GPS fixes... The last doppler fix was on 23 March.

Spring migration has started

On 9 March our adult eagle went along the foothills of the Hokkaido, and on 12  March has crossed La Perouse strait and after staying one day at the Cape Crillon, Sakhalin she continued to fly along the Sakhalin Island.

Interestingly her path is not quite following the coastline, was one could expect. She certainly preffer to stay at the foothills of the mountains. The Doppler locations suggest that she is still on the move.

Intrigued, Eugene

Wintering updates

At the end of February - beginning of March our eagles moved a bit.

The youngster  (Ptt 62629) moved from the Kunashir Island to Hokkaido, crossing to the Shiretoko peninsula, then evidently staying at ice in view of Hokkaido for couple of days moved to the Abashiri-shi Lake, where it remains now.

The adult female (PTT 82163) turned into a specialized highliander. It wend into a concealed valley of the Akan National Park, Hokkaido.

Eugene

Adult is on the move again

The adult female was re-tracked her route throug the mountains of Hokkaido, tending to stay at the edges of the forests overlooking fields.