EagleTrak Blog

Grace at NC Catfish Farm 2/21/2016

Grace has returned to a familiar location – the NC Agriculture Research Station and private catfish farm just east of Plymouth, NC. On Feb 13 (YELLOW arrow) Grace was along the North Landing River in Virginia Beach, VA. She wandered south along the North Landing to the mouth of the river (GREEN pointer) still in Va Beach. By Noon Feb 17 (BLUE pointer) she was at Moyock, NC. and at 4:00pm Feb 17 Grace arrived at the private catfish farm in Washington County, NC (ORANGE pointer). As of this satellite map Feb 21 at 8:00pm (WHITE arrow) Grace is still there. Click on maps to enlarge.

Grace – Loop – West Neck to West Neck 2/13/16

Grace has made a long loop from the junction of West Neck Creek and the North Landing River to Isle of Wight County and back to West Neck. Grace began her journey at West Neck Creek Feb 8 (YELLOW arrow) leaving the morning of Feb 9 flying east to Back Bay, turning north and flying to Cavalier Park on Linkhorn Bay (DARK BLUE pointer), then west flying across Norfolk Botanical Garden and Lake Whitehurst between 2:00 and 3:00pm (Pink pointer). She then turned south and spent the night on the A&C Canal in Chesapeake. Early on the morning of Feb 10 she flew east into Virginia Beach where she reversed course and flew west to Portsmouth (GREEN pointer) then spent the night along the James River in Isle of Wight County. Grace then flew to Smithfield, VA (LIGHT BLUE pointer) by 1:00pm Feb 11, reversed course again flying east to Great Bridge in Chesapeake (ORANGE pointer) then back to West Neck Creek and the North Landing River to roost over night. As of this satellite map Grace is spending the night along the North Landing River just south of West Neck Creek (WHITE arrow Feb 13 at 8:00pm). The blue line on the map is an old flight line of Camellia that I can’t figure out how to remove. Click on maps to enlarge.

Grace Flies to Virginia Beach Feb 7 2016

After spending a couple weeks in North Carolina, Grace has flown to Virginia Beach, VA. On the afternoon of Jan 30 Grace flew north across the Albemarle Sound into Pasquotank County, NC. She stayed in that area until late morning on Feb 6 when she began moving north and crossed into Chesapeake, Virginia just before 5:00pm  where she spent the night along the Northwest River. On the morning of Feb 7 she flew to the junction of the North Landing River and West Neck Creek in Virginia Beach and that is where this satellite map finds Grace as of 5:00pm on Feb 7 – WHITE arrow. This is the first visit to this area for Grace. Click on maps to enlarge.

Grace Remains in North Carolina 1/29/2016

Grace seems to be getting familiar with the area west of Manns Harbor, NC just as she did in 2015. The GREEN LINES are her 2015 travels and the ORANGE LINES are 2016. She is returning to the night-time roost each night (YELLOW arrow). During the day Grace is visiting flooded farm fields. The ditches around these fields probably contain fish, an easy place to forage. The WHITE arrow is her location as of this satellite map at 5:00pm Jan 29. Click on maps to enlarge.

Grace at Alligator River NWR Jan 22 2016

As expected by me (and NC Pat), Grace did fly to the North Carolina Agriculture Research Station and private Catfish farm east of Plymouth, NC (DARK BLUE pointer Jan 18 1pm). However, she did not stay there. After just one day she flew east to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare County, NC.

What is incredible is that Grace flew into North Carolina on Jan 13, 2015 and did the same thing on Jan 13, 2016. Even more remarkable is that Grace has returned to the same exact place in the middle of Alligator River NWR. The GREEN lines are in 2015 and the ORANGE lines are 2016. The WHITE arrow is the location of Grace as of this satellite map on Jan 22, 2016 at 8:00pm. Click on maps to enlarge.