Azalea has not wandered far since our last satellite map on Jan 12th. She is still in the northern part of Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge near South Lake and Route 64. On Jan 14 in the afternoon she explored to the southeast of Rt 64, then returned to South Lake. On the morning of Jan 15 she flew over East Lake which is north of where she has been staying. There was a long period of cloudy weather and the satellite transmitter did not send signals for most of Jan 12 and 13, so we do not know about her movements during that time. One very consistent aspect of her behavior is that she is spending every night in the same general location. In the words of the Alligator River NWR Visitor Services Manager, Bonnie Strawser, “If the eagles are roosting at the location posted, they certainly know what they are doing… There’s no “people” access at all anywhere near the site – the entire peninsula is totally isolated – so good for them!!”
A few times during this map period Azalea flew across Rt 64 to the farm fields south of the highway. That is where Azalea was as of 5pm Jan 18. I suspect she returned to “the Roost” to spend the night. We’ll find out on the next satellite map update on Jan 21.
Tags: 'Azalea' (HH), Alligator River NWR, communal roost, map, North Carolina, Rt-64, South Lake
