BACA03/Croydon Sr (tracked since 12/4/2018)

BACA03 was originally banded in 2009; he fell from his nest in June of that year and was hand reared at the OWL (Orphaned Wildlife) Rehabilitation Society facility in Delta, BC, receiving his USFW band before his release in August 2009. He was recaptured on December 4, 2018, near 164th Street and 16th Avenue, Surrey, and received his tracking tag and a black/yellow band on his left leg with the characters C over 6. He hatched in the spring of 2009.

Please visit our Hancock Wildlife Forum thread for more information about what HWF tracked bald eagle BACA03 has been doing since then.

Updates –

BACA03 and his mate raised 2 chicks in 2020. They had two chicks again in 2021, both of which ended up on the ground before they were quite ready to fledge. We think one was seen flying afterwards, and the other was rescued by OWL and was released with a tracker – see TERF15’s page for more details.

Added October 2021 – Before establishing his current nest, BACA03 and his mate had a nest near Croydon Drive and 20 Avenue in Surrey – a large nest in a large tree where they lived for at least 8 years, successfully producing offspring. In the summer of 2018, it was discovered that someone had intentionally cut into the tree on both sides, killing the tree and putting it at risk of blowing over (more info and pictures here). The tree had to be taken down – and the eagles had to make a new nest. And that is how BACA03 and his mate came to their current location – and why we are giving him the nickname Croydon Sr. (Offspring TERF15 is Croydon Jr)

The pair raised two chicks again in 2022. There’s a summary of BACA03’s travels through the end of 2022 further down on this page.

The photo shows David Hancock with BACA03.

Summary of Travels (last updated January 20, 2023)

Received tracker December 4 2018 after being captured near 164th Street and 16th Avenue in Surrey BC
he nested in Surrey and made frequent visits to the landfill in Delta during the 2019 nesting season (I don’t know if he raised chicks that year)
headed north on August 19 2019 and was out of touch until around September 21; he spent most of the time away along the Squamish River, about 20 km (12 miles) north of Squamish
he visited the area near his nest on September 21 – and on the 22nd he was headed north again; he only went about halfway to Squamish, and spent a week or so at the end of an inlet called Indian Arm, where it joins a river known as Indian River before returning to his home territory on September 29
BACA03 and his mate successfully raised two eaglets at their nest in Surrey in 2020
he headed north on August 19 2020; his first stop was near Upper Squamish, where he spent quite a bit of time the previous year along the Squamish River – but this year he headed further north the next day to Jervis Inlet near the town of Malibu and stayed there until August 25, when he headed back towards Upper Squamish
he stayed there for a few days, then moved down to the area above Iron Bay for a couple of days, and ended up back in his home territory on September 2nd.
he headed north again on September 5th, reached the area above Squamish on the 7th, then was out of touch for a couple of weeks; when he uploaded data around September 24 we found he’d been in some deep river valleys north of Upper Squamish, sort of where he’d been in 2019 but with some variations
by September 28 he was back in his home territory in preparation for the 2021 nesting season
he and his mate raised 2 eaglets in 2021; both ended up on the ground and one got his/her own tracker after being rescued, becoming TERF15 (I think the other one managed to get back into the air eventually but I don’t have details)
BACA03 headed north on August 9 and was “off the grid” until September 21 when he returned to Surrey; he did upload data that showed he was in the same general area above Upper Squamish as in previous years
he was in Surrey on September 23; no new signals since then (it’s now September 28), so I suspect he’s back at his vacation river for a little longer
as we suspected, BACA03/Croydon Sr left for the area around Iron Bay on September 24 and stayed there until the end of the month
he made a quick visit back to his territory, leaving Iron Bay October 1st, arriving in Surrey on the 3rd, then heading back on the 4th and arriving above Iron Bay by October 5th. He stayed there until October 8, and was back in Surrey on October 9th.
He stayed in the Surrey area until August 5, 2022, and he and his mate fledged two chicks.
He took a quick break to the Squamish area August 6-13, returned to his territory, then headed further north around August 15, and spent about three weeks along the Kitimat River – the farthest north we’ve seen him in over three years of travels. He started heading south on September 17, pausing for a few days here and there, and ended up back in his territory on October 10.
As of January 18, 2023, he’s pretty much stayed in his territory, with an occasional little excursion beyond his home area.

Big thanks to forum member and Topic Assistant Lynne who has documented much of this – please see his page on the forum – https://forum.hancockwildlife.org/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=366&p=153363#p153355 – for much more information.