I'm a bald eaglet born at Dan Nicholas Park. I was moved from a public exhibit in Salisbury in the spring of 2016 by US Fish and Wildlife and sent to live with a pair of awesome eagle foster parents at the Carolina Raptor Center, where I learned to hunt, fly and fend for myself. I also got my very own sponsor, Duke Energy, who has partnered with the Carolina Raptor Center to help raise awareness of eagle conservation, and with Queens University of Charlotte to develop an Eagle Migration curriculum unit. When I grew big enough to head out on my own, I got a little tracking backpack, and in May 2016, I hit the open skies. Click around on the map to follow my recent adventures, and download the Animal Tracker app to keep tabs on where I am now.
Hi, I'm Freedom!
I'm a bald eaglet born at Dan Nicholas Park. I was moved from a public exhibit in Salisbury in the spring of 2016 by US Fish and Wildlife and sent to live with a pair of awesome eagle foster parents at the Carolina Raptor Center, where I learned to hunt, fly and fend for myself. I also got my very own sponsor, Duke Energy, who has partnered with the Carolina Raptor Center to help raise awareness of eagle conservation, and with Queens University of Charlotte to develop an Eagle Migration curriculum unit. When I grew big enough to head out on my own, I got a little tracking backpack, and in May 2016, I hit the open skies. Click around on the map to follow my recent adventures, and download the Animal Tracker app to keep tabs on where I am now.
Got a nifty little transmitter as a baby, and sat tight in a nesting tower while these wings got ready to fly. Took a few loops, tested my wings. Fifty-two days in that nest and I was off! Ready to see the world. Like other eagle fledglings, I flew the coop before my folks. No one knows how young eagles know when and where to migrate.
Flying. Is. Awesome. I might be the best flyer in the world. They say eagles fly at about 30 mph, but I'm sure I've been pushing 80. I took off yesterday and I just couldn't stop. Floating over the Blue Ridge Parkway and keeping on going.
Phew! By the time I hit the Great Lakes, I was ready for a rest. Shoutout to my sponsor, Duke Energy, as I camped out here for a month at FirstEnergy's Perry Nuclear Plant. (Energy is my jam.) Took in the Fourth of July fireworks over Lake Erie, did a patriotic flyby of the Republican National Convention. My passport finally arrived, so I'm heading north, youse guys.
Upstate New York is the bomb diggity. Great fishing. Except I didn’t even have to catch my own. These other critters just kept catching them for me. Swoop, grab, gnosh, repeat. That's really me in the picture, btw. I'm a bald eagle, but my feathers won't turn white until I'm about 5 years old.
Le Canada est magnifique. Really, though. What a beautiful, weird place to spend the summer. Montreal was all hipster and cool, but after I’d stuffed my face with poutine, it was off the Parc regional du Lac-Taureau. Tres bien.
It’s September. Schools are starting. The Southern heat is breaking, and I thought I’d fly back down to the land I love. And what a beautiful place to fly! Like other eagles, I often laze around a bit in the mornings and do my migrating mid-day when the thermals are good for soaring.
I won’t be settling down with a mate until I'm four or five years old. But when I do, I'm going to furnish my place here at the furniture capital of the world.
Myrrrrtle!!! I won’t choose a mate for at least a few more years. So why not live it up? Lots of water, lots of fish ... I tried to chill at the beach but this crazy dude kept throwing french fries at me. Decided I’m more of a forest kind of cat. I mean bird.
After a quick fishing trip on Lake Marion, I hightailed it to Hilton Head's Baroney Course at Port Royal Golf. (I'm classier than you thought.) Met an old gull with stories to tell. Did you know that both Confederate and Union soldiers spent time here during the Civil War?
This lake is my happy place. A little fishing here. A little fishing there. Spent a couple weeks here, floating on the wind and chilling on my favorite tree. This is how an eagle should live.
Big Reed Island Creek
Howdy, y'all. Decided to lay low for a week on a little creek just outside of Hillsville, Va. Literally going off the grid for a while – my transmitter doesn't work here.
Found my new favorite river. Soaring, fishing and swimming near the NC/VA border. (That's right, folks. Eagles can swim. In fact, we can swim even before we can fly.)
I’ll stick around this area through the end of 2016. Want to see where I go in 2017 and beyond? Download the Animal Tracker app. And don't forget to check out all the great work happening at the Carolina Raptor Center.
