May 03, 2005
Going to the Green State
As many of you know, last month the nest was inspected and the cam repositioned by Craig Koppie -- an endangered species specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At that time, he recommended that our third eaglet be chosen to take part in the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative. The Initiative is a special project that hopes to reestablish nesting bald eagles in Vermont. You can see the original log post here.
We have just heard that our third eaglet has been chosen to be part of the program. We are now planning a date when Craig can go up to retrieve the eaglet. When he does remove the eaglet, he will do so with the utmost care to ensure the whole family is safe during the operation. Craig is an expert at relocating birds of prey, so he will take all the necessary precautions while going up.
While he is there, he plans to band the eaglets. Banding is when an anklet or similar device is placed on the bird so that they can later be identified; banding does not hurt the bird and it helps scientists track them and learn more about their habits.
Our third eaglet is a good candidate for this program because he's in a large family and appears to be very healthy according to Craig. In Vermont, our eaglet will be well taken care of by humans -- but they will minimize contact so that the eaglet keeps a healthy fear of people. He will be fed and given a home with other eaglets until he is ready to strike out on his own. It is hoped that he will survive to the breeding age, and then return to Vermont to start his own family.
At this time, we plan to operate the cam during the banding and retrieving of the eaglet so our cam watchers can see as much of the process as possible. When the Refuge staff has reached an agreement as to a good date for going up the tree, we will announce it on the cam page.
We are working with our ISP to iron out the problems that they have had with our website server. According to them, our difficulties should end in the next day. We plan to be fully operational when the eaglet move takes place, but even if we have problems, remember that you can still follow the action on WildCam.com as well.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
