Nacote

The nest on Nacote Creek is difficult to monitor, so the eagle banding crew was walking into the site without knowing the chick's age with certainty. Mick Valent climbed the 70' tall pine tree, and just as he was going over the rim of the nest, the eagle nestling decided to jump rather than wait to see what happened.

He was about 8.5 weeks of age, and his wings were adequate to float him to a soft landing on the salt marsh, where he was easily picked up by Dr. Erica Miller. He was fine, and we proceeded to take the standard measurements before attaching the transmitter. "Nacote" was back in the nest in short order.

That was on May 6, 2014 and according to the transmitter data, he first moved away from the nest tree on May 22, but he remained within about 1/4 mile for more than one week as he learned flying and landing skills. He made a bold northern movement in late July, and as of mid-September that year, was in Canada.