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Latest fascinating news about our SE27
Pēdājās jaunākās ziņas par se27
Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc
21 min ·
The further adventures of SE 27, December 2022
We left SE27 exploring the Wallis Creek area on the outskirts of Maitland at the end of November. Her exploration of the open swamplands and waterways around the Maitland area continued through the first week of December. She ranged from Richmond Vale in the south, to Webber's Creek Road in the north, then moved north-east through Glen William on the way to her favourite areas around the Karuah river near Booral and Stroud, where she spent the next week. While previously she's stayed close to the river banks when visiting this area, this time she spent more time touring the properties further away from the river - we've noted there are numerous chicken farms in this area.
On the 14th December SE27 followed the Karuah River south to one of her other favourite places - the Swan Bay area near the Batehaven property and nearby yabby farm. She often visits this area for several days at a time before continuing her adventures; our friends in the area report that this is a popular place for sea eagles.
On 17th December we noted the tracker had stopped moving. Thanks to a wonderful network of friends and collaborators, the tracker was found in the best circumstances....
Not attached to SE27!!!
It's always a nervous wait when we go out looking for a stationary tracker - is the animal hurt, or worse? Or has the tracker fallen off with the moulting tail feathers as expected?
We mount these satellite trackers to the feathers of the tail, to avoid using straps or backpacks that may impede or injure birds that are released after rehabilitation or care. Because the trackers are secured to the base of the tail feathers, we expect the tracker to fall off when the feathers fall out and regrow as part of the bird's natural moulting cycle. This means that depending on the stage of the moult cycle at the time of the bird's release, we can expect the tracker to stay on for up to 12 months.
At the time SE27 was released, she was about 8 months old. Now she is about 17 months old and she will be going through a partial moult of wing and tail feathers.
The tracker was found still attached to one of the central tail feathers. The base of the feather is undamaged and appears to have moulted out naturally. The adhesive and suture holding the other tail feather is still present - we assume the other tail feather moulted not long ago and fell away or was removed by SE27 while preening. She will be regrowing beautiful new feathers now!
Now SE27 starts the new year afresh - while we can no longer follow her adventures, we have a wealth of information to analyse and share! We are happy that she has found her way in the world after such a rocky start. She is familiar with a wide expanse of the Hunter Region of NSW, and has established travel corridors, roosting and feeding areas. We hope that in the next few years she'll be able to find a territory, mate and nesting site, and one day produce chicks of her own to continue the journey.
SE27 was banded by Taronga Zoo before release as well, so even without the tracker, we'll be able to identify her if she ever crosses our paths again!
We wish her all the all the best in her future, and thank her for being a wonderful collaborator and for sharing her adventures to date with us!
Janurary-Feburary is the normal dispersal time for young sea eagles to leave their parents' territories. As SE27's younger sibling, SE30, gains strength in care, we hope he or she will be ready for release in the next month or so, and we can track the release progress once more. We hope the results are as interesting, validating and rewarding as SE 27's have been.
We thank Dr Steve Debus as always for his help with moulting matters and so much else!
We thank Cathy Cook for sharing her beautiful images of SE 27 that appear in this post.
We thank Rachel Groom for retrieving the tracker and delivering it back to Dr Charlie Carter's office. We followed it all the way down the highway Rachel!
The property owner where the tracker was found could not have been more helpful - thankyou.
Dr Ellen Rasidi - I thank you for your patience and expertise with this post and the maps. Your fledgling is paying attention!
Bet prieks par S30 atveseļošanos!❤
