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Harper the Great Blue Heron's Migration Path

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Amazing. We have lots of Great Blue Herons here on the Ohio River. I had never considered how far south they migrate. Very interesting.
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Harper Wows Us Again!
Harper, an adult female great blue heron outfitted with a solar-powered GPS unit, has just flown nonstop for 68 hours on her southward migration! She spent the summer in New Brunswick, Canada, and the post-breeding season on Chaleur Bay on the border of QC and NB. At around 7pm on October 8th she left this rich feeding area and flew continuously crossing over Nova Scotia and then out over open ocean. She came within 165 miles of Bermuda but turned westward toward the US mainland. At 3:15pm on October 11th, she finally made landfall on the southern tip of Cumberland Island on the Georgia coast. She has since gradually made her way to the Everglades in Florida. Last year she impressed the world by flying nonstop over open ocean for 38 hours. She nearly doubled that duration this year! We will be watching to see if she
returns to last year's wintering area in Guajaca Uno, Cuba.

For more information on the tracking project, including how to download the data to explore on your own, visit: https://www1.maine.gov/wordpress/ifwheron/tracking-project/.
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
That's a long, long way over open water. I'm impressed. I was always under the impression that their migration routes were predominately over land.

Thanks for posting Doc.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I assumed the same Frank. I had no idea they could fly that long. Maybe he got lost and had to fly until you found land. LOL

They did say last year he followed the shore line very closely and still flew 38 hours straight. They also tracked her altitude. Average was 475ft Max was 4100. :wow:
 
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