The last time we had eye’s on Wadase Zhabwe, she was circling high above the north end of the aviary pasture on June 23 before the CPN Festival. She had been in the area 11 days and we hoped she would stay through the weekend. However, after downloading her telemetry, we know that she headed north again that same afternoon.
Just west of a little town named White Eagle near the Ponca Nation in northern Oklahoma, she has found a spot, that at least for now, she has claimed as her own. She spends her days hunting around a horseshoe bend in the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River.
As we studied her telemetry over the past several months we noticed a significant pattern emerging. She has ventured away from the area several times to visit the aviary and to explore the region around her as far west as the Great Salt Plains Lake. Each time though, she has returned to that same area on the Salt Fork River. If this area on the river continues to be an ample food source there is a strong possibility that she has chosen a summer territory and that will stay. We are hopeful that she continues to follow her previous patterns and will return for a visit to the aviary in the coming month.
Until then we will continue to monitor her telemetry and learn from her daily movements. As we transition into fall and winter we are anxious to see if she moves south or if she will stay year round in that area. Wadase’s GPS telemetry has been an invaluable tool as she spends more time away from the aviary. As we continue to analyze the data over longer periods of time we have the unique opportunity to observe her growth and habits change from those of a curious juvenile to an independent sub-adult who continues to thrive in the wild. To view an online map of her telemetry data compiled since her release you can visit www.arcgis.com/home and search for “Potawatomi” or “eagle”.
For more information or to read previous updates please visit https://www.potawatomi.org and search the site for Wadase or visit https://www.potawatomi.org/about-wadase