May 06, 2005
Mystery Solved
Eaglet #2 went to Vermont. Craig Koppie wrote back to explain:
"The eaglet that was hatched 2nd was the one taken for the Vermont project. The larger bird was a bit further developed than the other eaglets I already collected. I felt it best for the release, in Vermont, that the group was of the same age."
"The younger chick was not as developed and would have resulted in a longer period of time that the group would have to stay in the hack box. "
Apparently this change in plans had been discussed at HQ a few days ago, but not everyone at the Refuge knew about it; that's why Craig didn't say anything in the field, because he thought everyone knew.
Much thanks to Craig for his timely response and for his care in relocating the best candidate for the Vermont project.
This afternoon on the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative website, we saw eaglets put into the hacking tower on camera #2. We assume that one of the eaglets in the box is ours; we'll try to find out for sure. Here is a photo from this afternoon.
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Note that we will announce the winner of the "Name the Eaglets Competition" shortly. The Refuge staff has selected a winner, but they are working out the final details before making an announcement.
Thanks to everyone for their patience while we sorted out the mystery,
Lisa - webmaster