Capt. Brian Rhodes
Well-known member
So I was at my of my 'secret' spots the other day taking pics of eider, when I notice this hen. She appeared to have grass or something stuck to her or sticking out. She dove and came up and it was still there, then I looked closer!:
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A radio transmitter!!!!!!!!! So freakin' cool! She fed in front of me and put on an awesome show. I could also tell she was sporting TWO leg irons! Needless to say I burned a card on her in about 10 minutes!
I immediately got on the phone and with some help from some very good friends and contacts I have made over the years I was able to be into contact with two gentlemen from up in Québec, Canada. I sent them the pics and they were able to inform me that they infact were the ones who banded her. He is a part of the email they sent me:
we had only one female with two bands. It is a female that was captured on 5 June 2006 on Gros Pot Island just in front of Rivière du Loup in the St. Lawrence estuary. This female spent the summer and fall of 2006 near Rivière du Loup and molted there. She flew then overland to Maine and then to Rhodes Island where she wintered. She spent all the winter there mostly in two areas (see the map) and then undertook her spring migration passing by Martha's Vineyard and again crossing overland to the St. Lawrence , returning to the same island where she had been captured. She again likely spent the summer at the same place as she did the year before. and then the radio stopped transmitting.
They also attached a map showing her movements over the year. I was unaware they flew so far over land! Look at the dates, she went from St. Lawrence to Cape Cod in what appears to be a day!
So here is the map, and a few pics to go along with it as well!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A radio transmitter!!!!!!!!! So freakin' cool! She fed in front of me and put on an awesome show. I could also tell she was sporting TWO leg irons! Needless to say I burned a card on her in about 10 minutes!
I immediately got on the phone and with some help from some very good friends and contacts I have made over the years I was able to be into contact with two gentlemen from up in Québec, Canada. I sent them the pics and they were able to inform me that they infact were the ones who banded her. He is a part of the email they sent me:
we had only one female with two bands. It is a female that was captured on 5 June 2006 on Gros Pot Island just in front of Rivière du Loup in the St. Lawrence estuary. This female spent the summer and fall of 2006 near Rivière du Loup and molted there. She flew then overland to Maine and then to Rhodes Island where she wintered. She spent all the winter there mostly in two areas (see the map) and then undertook her spring migration passing by Martha's Vineyard and again crossing overland to the St. Lawrence , returning to the same island where she had been captured. She again likely spent the summer at the same place as she did the year before. and then the radio stopped transmitting.
They also attached a map showing her movements over the year. I was unaware they flew so far over land! Look at the dates, she went from St. Lawrence to Cape Cod in what appears to be a day!
So here is the map, and a few pics to go along with it as well!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
