BACA02 (tracked 2/11/18 - 1/5/21) - Hancock Wildlife Foundation

BACA02 (tracked 2/11/18 – 1/5/21)

BACA02 is an adult male captured on February 11, 2018, at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, BC, about 20kms east of Vancouver as the eagle flies. He was banded by Myles Lamont and David Hancock with USFW Band #629-28666 (right leg) and a blue auxiliary marker N over 2 on his left leg. Keep an eye out for him!

Please visit our Hancock Wildlife Forum thread to see all the places HWF tracked bald eagle BACA02 visited during the almost three years his tracker was transmitting, and for a few more pictures from when he was banded. It looks as if he may have a nest in Alaska, and spend his winter break “down south” in the Delta BC area; there’s a summary of his travels further down on this page.

The photo shows Myles Lamont holding BACA02.

Summary of Recorded Travels

Received tracker February 11 2018 after being trapped at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta BC
began heading north March 11 2018 and crossed into the Alaskan Panhandle March 14
by March 18 he was on the coast roughly across from Haines, Alaska, and stayed in that general area until April 27, ranging up and down the coast
April 28 he went inland, to a spot on an inlet(?) halfway between Haines and Juneau; on April 29 he visited Haines, and April 30 he was a little south of Juneau; he spent a few days back near the midpoint between the two towns, then went back to the coast near Elfin Cove on May 7, then back up north to the coastal area across from Haines
May 13-31 he made another circuit though he didn’t go as far south as Juneau
June 1 – July 15 2018 he spent along the coast in the same general area sort of west of Haines; it looks sort of like maybe a 30 kilometer/20-mile stretch of the coast where he spent most of his time up north
July 15-August 2, he appeared to be on the west shore of Glacier Bay, sort of across from Gustavus, but it’s possible part of that time he wasn’t uploading data; the rest of August he seemed to be wandering around the edges of the bay. By September 3rd he was back near Elfin Cove and then headed North to what I’m considering his primary territory
He went further up the coast, and was near Yakutat from around September 15 to October 12, then spent more time in his primary territory through November 26 – and then he headed south, stopping here and there along the panhandle through December 10.
Crossed into BC on December 11, following a leisurely route until he was below Bella Bella on December 20, then straight to Delta, arriving December 21, 2018.
Stayed in the Delta/Surrey area until February 9 2019, then apparently moved a bit northwest to Richmond for a few days (there aren’t a lot of signals; his tag may be having issues), and headed north around February 25
Reached the Alaskan panhandle March 1 2019
Checked in January 2 2020 from a bit south of Port Rupert (not a lot of data points from the previous 10 months, again suggesting issues with his tag)
January 7 from the mainland across from the north end of Vancouver Island
January 10 from the Sechelt area
posted frequently January 14-30 from Delta
headed north February 3 and crossed into the Alaska panhandle February 9
February 10 from the south tip of Etolin Island Alaska
November 28 2020 from way up the Alaskan panhandle (not seeing many data points but it looks as if he reached his home territory around February 19 and stayed there until September 22 when he moved further north)
January 5 2021 from partway down the Alaskan panhandle (probably heading back to Delta)
No additional signals – his tracker tag is probably worn out after 3 years