White-Bellied Sea Eagle
Se30
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From NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service:
"Good news for a Sea Eagle Chick that fledged from its nest in Newington Nature Reserve mid October 2022 and was taken into care, after being found on the ground in a construction site. Recently, SE30 was released back into the wild outside her neo-natal area.
On release SE30 flew off very strongly and quickly joined another Sea Eagle, with both soaring in the sky. Local National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff are keeping a watchful eye on its progress. Like its older sister SE27, SE30 has been fitted with a tracking device and has been banded to gather important information on the life of these amazing birds.”
It takes a community to raise and rehabilitate birds of prey. The dedicated people who have been responsible for the care of SE30 over the past 6 months include the staff at Taronga Wildlife Hospital, Raptor Recovery Australia, Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc, WIRES, Wildlife A.R.C Society Inc, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and volunteers from BirdLife Australia.
The Sea Eagle Nest is monitored by EagleCAM operated by Birdlife Australia and has a world-wide following. Check it out here: https://www.sea-eaglecam.org/video.html
SE30
Like her big brothers and sisters before her, the White-bellied sea eagle named SE30 hatched in her parents' nest at Sydney Olympic Park watched by thousands on EagleCAM. However, the urban environment does pose some challenges for a fledgling youngster, and SE30 ended up in care with Taronga Zoo Sydney and then Raptor Recovery Australia, until she was ready for release towards the end of March 2023. Once again, ARCC Inc is proud to be satellite tracking another of the Sydney Olympic Park juveniles - last year SE27 had us all enthralled with her exploration of NSW's central coast for 9 months, until her tail mounted tracker was moulted along with her tail feathers around the New Year.
SE30 was banded and her tracker attached at the Southern Highlands Veterinary Centre just before release, and was released at the same site as her older sister, SE27, in the Ku-ring-gai National Park, to begin her adventures!
Like SE27, SE30 headed north in the week after her release. However, she showed a preference for inland rather than coastal areas, specing only a short period of time around Lake Tuggerah and Macquarie. SE30 showed a greater preference for the inland lakes in the Swamp Creek area south of Maitland, coming back to this familiar area repeatedly over the next six months. She also became familiar with the marshes of the Hunter Wetlands National Park, an area known to be frequently visited by sea eagles, along with at least one resident pair.
SE30 followed some of the same paths as her older sibling, following the course of smaller rivers and creeks, but showed far greater preference for a regular homebase, overall keeping to a smaller home range in her first six months in the wild.
When her tracker stopped moving in early September, we were able to pinpoint the location in the middle of her home range. Due to the depth of the vegetation in this area, we were unable to retrieve the tracker despite extensive and thorough systematic searching. Again, there was no evidence of any adverse events, and only a few shed feathers were found.
We wish SE30 all the best in her future journeys, she has certainly managed to establish herself as a resident in a beautiful part of the world!
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ARCC Inc’s satellite tracking projects aim to monitor birds of prey after release from rehabilitation, to collect data on post-rehabilitation dispersal, behaviour and survival, which can then feedback to and inform rehabilitation processes and protocols. The rehabilitation story does not end at release – we need to know if our rehabilitation techniques ensure these birds not only survive, but thrive.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. We recognise and appreciate the traditional significance and cultural roles birds of prey play in the lives of our First Nations people.