57109: 23 November - 10 December 2012

At the beginning of the period 57109 was located just up the road from Pitlochry.  It then flew a circular route to the south of Kenmore, then west and finally north into the Cairngorm National Park.  It then looped around and ended the period only abour12 km from where it started on 23 November.

32867: 30 November - 9 December 2012

32867 spent the period in familiar areas.  On 30 November it was located just east of Loch Langaghat, and by the end of the period it was on the coast east of Eisgean.

57109: 9 - 26 November 2012

57109 spent the period in an area it has been frequenting for some months.  Locations were concentrated, and even "excursions" were not to very distant locations.  Locations at the beginning and end of the period were < 1 km apart.

32867: 9 - 28 November 2012

Nothing much to report.  32867 spent the period wandering along a vaguely circular route, which began and ended on the east coast of the island.

57109: 12 October - 4 November 2012

On 12 October 57109 was located about 15 km north of Calvine, where it ranged until 21 October.  On that date it crossed the A9 road and stayed for three days in an area SW of Dalwhinnie and E of Loch Ericht. On 24 October it moved back east over the A9 to upper elevations SW of Gaick Lodge, then moved SE back to the area where it was first located at the beginning of the period covered by the map above.  The pattern of movement seen in this map is very similar to what we have seen since at least August 2012.

32867: 21-30 October 2012

Throughout the entire period 32867 has stayed in an area just north of Tarbert, moving on both sides of the A859 road, which runs north through the middle of the island.  The movements of this eagle always included this part of the island, especially so since about July 2012.

57109: 22 Sept - 1 Oct 2012

For much of the early part of this period 57109 was located in areas around the southern border of the Cairngorm National Park, east of Dalwhinnie and the A9.  On the morning of the 30th it moved to the west of the A9 north of Loch Rannoch, where it was located until 1 October.

32867: 19 -30 Sept 2012

At the beginning of the period 32867 was located about 5 km west of Tarbert, then spent the rest of the period mostly north of and within about 15 of Tarbert, an area in which it has been located often in the past (See earlier blogs).

57109: 8 - 24 September 2012

57109 continued to move around the near the southern border of the Cairngorms National Park between Braemar and Dalwhinnie. It started off the period a few km SE of Gaick Lodge and Loch an t-seilich, and by the end of the period was back near the same place.  Although this one is moving around, its not always the case:  http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/325140-conservationists-appalled-by-eagle-death

32867: 9 - 18 September 2012

During the period 32867 continued to wander around Lewis north of Tarbert, generally staying away from the coast.  Not all eagle satellite tagged eagles are moving around freely:  http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/325140-conservationists-appalled-by-eagle-death

57109: 19 August - 3 September 2012

57109 started out the period east of Loch Ericht.  It moved east during the last two weeks of  August, and by 3 September was located NE of Blair Atholl.  Looking closely at the locations during this time reveals a number of roost sites used by this bird including some on the southern border of the Cairngorms National Park, both inside and outside the Park.

32867: 20 - 29 August 2012

32867 started out the period just NE of Tolmachan.  It then moved southeast-ish, then east on 24 August to a location across the loch and south of Eisgean.  By 29 August it was moving around west and southwest of Loch Langabhat.

57109: 1 - 9 July 2012

57109 continued to stay in and around the Monadhliaths.  During the first part of the period, 1-6 July, it was located in an area with signs of extensive burning of heather.  On the 6th it flew 15-20 km WSW, and has been wandering in that area ever since.

32867: 1 - 10 July 2012

Nothing much to report... 32867 spent the period mooching around in a limited area on the east coast of Lewis, around Eisgen.  Nestlings from this year should be fledging about now.

57109: 16 - 23 June 2012

57109 spent yet another 10 day period in the Monadhliaths.  A number of locations were visited repeatedly.  The June 16 location shown on the map was visited by this bird during three different days.  The tight cluster of locations at the centre of the map was visited on at least three different days, and has been a location visited frequently by this bird in the past (Look at previous postings).

32867: 20 - 30 June 2012

32867 seemed to spend all of the period in a limited area (~ 50 sq km) north of Eisgean on the east coast of Lewis.

57109: 27 May - 11 June 2012

During this time period 57109 spent its time in the Monadhliaths, where it has spent so much time over the past months.

32867: 31 May - 9 June 2012

At the beginning of the period, end of May, 32867 was located on the peninsula NW of Northton.  It then moved north eventually spending a couple of days around Loch Shiphoirt before moveing south again.  It was located on 8 and 9 June at a location about 4 km E of Losgaintir.

57109: 19 - 28 May 2012

As in previous periods, 57109 spent much of its time in the Monadhliaths.  It did make an excursion  between morning of 21 May and morning of 22 May, first heading north then circling around to the SW, S, then back to the Monadhliaths,  Its location at the end of this tracking period was only about 900 m from its location at the beginning of the tracking period.

32867: 21 - 30 May 2012

32867 started off the period in the north of the island about 8 km south of Port Ness.  It then headed south and between 26 and 29 May it bounced between essentially two locations west of Manish.  By 30 May it was very close to Rhenigidale.

32857: 11-28 May 2012

This bird was last heard on 11 May.  This is a battery powered GPS tag that was put out in summer of 2010.

57109:10-21 May 2012

During 10-11 May this bird was about 15 km E of Spean Bridge, it then flew up to the Monadhliaths, where it has spent much of its time this past winter (look back at earlier posts).

32867: 11-20 May 2012

On 11 May 32867 was NNW of Quidinish, after which it traveled north to locations around Eisgen on 13-14 May, then spent 17-19 May east of Loch Reasort.  By 20 May it was about 1.5 km south of Cuidhaseadair.

32857: 1 - 10 May 2012

32857:  On 1 May this eagle was just north of Strathrannoch, crossed the Moray Firth on 4 or 5 May, then hit the Highland Whiskey trail and was located at the end of the period east of Tomnavoulin.

57109: 1 - 7 May 2012

57109:  On 1 May this bird started the day just north of Loch Rannoch, by the end of the day it was in the Monadhliaths (again! See earlier posts), where it stayed, except for a quick jaunt north of Loch Ness on the 6th, until the 7th.

32867: 1 -10 May 2012

32867:  At the beginning of the period this bird was located near Loch Seaforth, where it mooched around for a few days before moving north to a location about 12 km north of Stornoway on 8 May, then shot down south again to a location about 5 km NW of Manish.

32857: 21-30 April 2012

32857 seems to be on a pendulum.  During the period it moved from locations east of Dalnessie, south to the Monadhliaths then north again to areas north of Strathrannoch.  If you look at past posts for this bird (see 24 April and 12 April posts) you will see that it has made this geographical swing before.  Taken together with other birds we have tracked (e.g. 57109 See other posts) the importance of the Monadhliaths is highlighted.

57109: 21 -30 April 2012

57109 spent the period around Newtonmore, starting out west of the town, then crossing the valley to the east of Loch Ericht and then circling through the Monadhliaths and ending the period SE of Loch Ericht.  On at least four occasions it flew over the A9.

32867: 21-30 April 2012

32867 stayed in the same general area it has been in this entire spring.  It did make a trip to the west coast of the island on 26 April, but by the 30th it was back near Loch Seaforth.

32857: 11 - 20 April 2012

At the beginning of this period 32857 was located a bit south of Bonar Bridge.  It then moved south and spent 14-15 April in the Monadhliaths, before moving north again, and being located on 20 April about 20 km west of Helmsdale. This wide movement both north and south of Inverness is similar to what this bird did in early April.  Have a look at the earlier post for this bird.

57109: 07 - 23 April 2012

57109 spent the period first in the hills south of Newtonmore (See early April post), and then in the Monadhliaths.  The Monadhliaths have been used by many of the eagles tracked by us over the years.  You can see that 32867 also visited this area in mid April 2012.

32867: 11 - 20 April 2012

During this period 32867 was located within a circle with a radius of about 12 km, and did not stray far from where it was in early April (See earlier post).

32867: 01 - 10 April 2012

32867 is still using the same area it was in March 2012.  Look at earlier postings to this blog if you are interested.  Movements were restricted to an area of about 40 sq km.

57109: 1 April - 9 April 2012

57109 moved within a fairly limited area during this time period (about 50 sq km).  During 4 April at 20:00 and 7 April at 04:00 it stayed in an area of about 300 sq m.  Maybe it had found a carcass?  These locations are a bit north of where it was located in March 2012, but in the area used in February 2012.  Look back at earlier postings if you are interested.

32857: 01 -10 April 2012

During 1 - 10 April 2012 This bird moved from areas south of Inverness to upland areas north of Dingwall.  In doing so, this eagle more or less reversed its movements of early March 2012.

32867: 01 - 10 March 2012

32867:  This bird is new to our blog, but was fitted with a satellite transmitter as a chick in July 2010 by the North Harris Trust and Natural Research.  Click here http://www.north-harris.org/2011/02/golden-eagle-tracking-map/ to find out more about the trust and what this bird has been doing since it fledged.  During this 10 day period the bird moved in a limited area near to the coast northeast of Tarbert.

57109: 8 - 19 March 2012

At the beginning of this period 57109 was located north of Loch Rannoch.  Over the period it moved north to upland areas east of Fort Augustus, then wandered down to areas southwest of Loch Rannoch.  The distance between the most northerly and most southerly locations during this period was about 80 km.

32857: 12 - 20 March 2012

This is a new bird to our blog.  During this 8 day span it wandered south from a location north of Helmsdale to upland areas east of Tomatin.

57109: 16-26 Feb 2012

57109: During these 10 days in late February 2010, this bird used open, upland areas north of Pitlochry.

57115: 10-21 Feb 2012

57115: During the period, this bird, that was marked as a nestling in 2010, used a limited are NW of Alford.

Background for 57109, 32857, and 32867

Natural Research has been tracking juvenile golden eagles since 2004 to better understand dispersal of juveniles and their use of areas prior to becoming breeders.  In this blog we show the movements of three of the birds we are currently tracking.  At the moment (Feb 2012) we are tracking a total of 12 golden eagles via satellite.  The data will be used by Ewan Weston for his Natural Research supported PhD study.

57109 was tagged in June 2010 as part of our research into the dispersal and habitat selection of juvenile golden eagles in Scotland. We have teamed up with the RSPB, the Highland Foundation for Wildlife and SNH to pool some of our resources to concentrate our tagging effort in the Cairngorms; a region of outstanding beauty, where the conservation of young golden eagles is very important. Justin Grant and Ewan Weston visited this nest site in Upper Deeside in an old Scots pine tree, where Ewan carefully lowered the chick to the ground, measured it and fitted the transmitter. He was a male chick in great condition. He left his parent’s territory on 26 September 2010, and since then has sent most of his time roaming the Donside hills, hunting in the high mountains in the south of the Cairngorms and spent his first winter on the south side of Loch Tay – an area frequented by many tagged eagles.

32857 was tagged in June 2010 as part of our research into the dispersal and habitat selection of juvenile golden eagles in Scotland. The natal site was in Easter Ross. We were led into the site by Bob Swann and the local crofter, whose land is full of wildlife and the perfect place for these eagles to nest. The nest contained several fox cubs that the eagles had recently brought in to feed the youngster, a very healthy male. He left his parent’s territory on 26 January 2011, and explored much of Sutherland very swiftly. This area was obviously not to his liking and he continued south to the Monadhliath, where he has remained ever since, making flights over into the Cairngorms in Angus and Donside.

32867 was tagged in July 2010 as part of our research into the dispersal and habitat selection of juvenile golden eagles in Scotland. The natal site was on the isle of North Harris. North Harris Trust ranger Robin Reid had located the nest some months earlier, and (unusually for the region) it held 2 nestlings, one of which we fitted with a satellite transmitter. This bird was intermediate in size and we are unsure if it is a male or female. Since departing the natal territory on 11 January 2011 this bird has remained exclusively on the Isle of Lewis, in an area renowned for its high density of golden eagles.

57115: 07-24 Jan 2012

57115: During 7 - 24 January 2012, 57115 made limited movements.  The to-ing and fro-ing that this map seems to show appears to be movements between roost sites in forested areas and open ground, where it may be foraging

57109: 13- 23 Jan 2012

57109: During 13 -23 January 2012, 57109 moved from areas it was using in the north east of Scotland into the central Highlands, SW of Braemar.

57115: 30 Dec 2011- 9 Jan 2012

Much like the other eagle tagged on this blog, this eagle has carried out short flights over the festive season.

57109: 30 Dec 2011- 6 Jan 2012

This eagle has made short flights around the north east of Scotland over the festive season.