NEWS
Posted 9-9-2010
Turner,
our young male, has dispersed (left his nesting territory). His dispersal
has taken him 285 miles north into northern Illinois! On August 2, 2010, he
made his first trip away from Ballard WMA- to northwestern McCracken County,
KY, along the Ohio River. Then, between August 5 and August 9, 2010, he flew
245 miles, from the Ohio River to Chillicothe, IL (north of Peoria, along
the Illinois River). Since then, he has continued north along the Illinois
River and seems to have settled into an area near DePue, IL (Figure 1).
Ironically, he has been wandering in the area of Turner Lake, southeast of
Depue, IL since late August! Turner was named after Turner Lake in Ballard
County, KY.
Figure 1. Turner’s locations during late
August and early September, 2010. Locations are denoted by eagle symbols.
Kelly has yet to leave Ballard
WMA for any length of time. She has ventured across the river a few times,
but seems to spend most of her time visiting the various fishing areas
available on the WMA. In the past week, her locations plot further away
from where she has generally ventured since she fledged (Figure 2). We are
very anxious to see if she soon leaves the WMA area.
Figure 2.
Kelly’s locations during the first week of September, 2010.
Posted 9-22-2010
Kelly
has dispersed! On 9-15-2010, she started
making her way to south-central Illinois. Since then she has travelled over
250 miles to the Illinois River in near Hopewell, IL. Surprisingly, her
route is similar to Turner’s (Figure 3). She is currently just 20 miles
south of Turner on the Illinois River (Figure 4).
Figure 3. Kelly and Turner’s locations
on 9-22-2010.
Figure 4. Kelly and Turner’s locations,
along the Illinois River, on 9-22-2010.
Posted 1-11-2011
Turner,
our young male, has returned to
Kentucky! Remember that in August he had dispersed to northern Illinois and
spent much time along the Illinois River near DePue, IL and Turner Lake, IL
(Figure 1). However, on September 26, 2010 he started to move southwest to
see what the Mississippi River had to offer. Over about 3 days, he worked
his way south along the Mississippi River, briefly entering into Iowa on
September 27 and Missouri on September 28 (Figure 5). He then began heading
back along the Illinois River and returned to the same area near DePue, IL
and Turner Lake, IL (Figure 6). There he stayed on several locations along
the Illinois River and nearby lakes for October and most of November, until
around Thanksgiving, when he started to journey south again. This time he
followed the Illinois River for over 100 miles over the course of a week or
so. He lingered for the first two weeks of December north of Beardstown,
IL, presumably to fish the many lakes at Sanganois and Anderson Lake State
Fish and Wildlife Areas. Then on December 13, he flew over 100 miles south
to an area south of Carlyle Reservoir on the Kaskaskia River, where he
stayed until New Year’s Day. To start off the new year, he flew over 50
miles southeast to an area south of Thompsonville, KY to rest for the
evening (Figure 6). Finally on January 2, 2011, he flew approximately 70
miles and crossed the Ohio River back into Livingston County, Kentucky- near
Smithland Locks and Dam (Figure 7). Since then, he has worked his way
further south to the Tennessee River, north of Kentucky Dam, where he has
been in the area of Calvert City ever since (Figure 8).
Figure 5. Turner’s
visit to the Mississippi River in the last few days of September, 2010.
Figure 6. Turner’s locations in Kentucky and Illinois since late
September, 2010.
Figure 7. Turner's path back into Kentucky on
1-02-2011.
Figure 8. Turner’s
movements since returning to Kentucky, 1-02-2011-1-09-2011.
Kelly,
has not ventured far from
where she dispersed to in September, 2010 (Figure 9). Remember that Kelly,
dispersed to northern Illinois, not far from where Turner was spending time in
early-mid September (Figure 3). Interestingly, on one day (November 11, 2010)
the two young eagles were within 3 miles of each other on the Illinois River,
near Henry, IL (Figure 10). Turner stuck around the nearby Senachwine Lake,
while Kelly explored the nearby Billsbach Lake. Since September, Kelly has
been spending time in Marshall County, IL, between Henry and Chillicothe,
staying close to the Illinois River and nearby lakes.
Figure 9. Kelly’s
locations October 1, 2010- January 9, 2011.
Figure 10. Turner and Kelly, less than 3 miles from each other on
November 11, 2010, near Henry, IL.
