The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Project Track-'em 2002-2003 Season

 

 

 

HORUS

 

 

 

Horus's transmitter fully sponsored by an American Friend of the CPF, Linda E. Boutwell.

Horus was hatched in captivity at a breeding facility in May 2002, and was brought to the Charleston Lake hack box in Leeds County for release.  Along with his elder brothers Aedin and Talon, Horus was released on July 17.  He quickly displayed good flight skills to the observers, and was recaptured three days later to have a satellite transmitter attached for participation in Project Track-'em.  His transmitter is a lightweight 18-gram solar-powered model, which should provide us with data on his location several times per week for a period of one year or more.  Reports will be posted in the "Traveler's Diary" below on a regular basis, and will be summarized on maps once Horus begins to make any significant travels.

 

Click here for Horus's Photo Gallery

Nov 16, 2002:  location unknown.  After a promising start, it appeared by the end of August that there was a problem either with Horus himself, or with his transmitter.  Further probing of the data indicated that his transmitter became stationary in August, which means that either Horus died near the hack box, or managed to get the harness and transmitter off him while in the area.  I spent nearly 40 hours searching for Horus using a handheld receiver, but was not able to get a strong enough signal to track down the location of the transmitter.  It appears that the solar-powered transmitter ended up in a location or position where it was not being exposed to sunlight regularly, and without being recharged, stopped operating.  Recovery has therefore proved virtually impossible - only if someone comes across the unit by pure chance will it be located.  Having found evidence of both Great Horned Owl and Goshawk activity in the areas where I searched, it seems that predation may be an explanation of what happened to Horus, but without finding him, we can never be certain.

Aug 31, 2002:  location unknown.  Horus's transmitter has not been in communication for a full week; we will be checking with the transmitter manufacturer and our satellite communication company for further input when business resumes after the Labour Day weekend.

Aug 24, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake, near hack box).  A strong signal from early this morning positioned Horus just northeast of the hack box.

Aug 21, 2002:  44.6N, 75.9W (east of Charleston Lake).  There have been few clear readings from Horus's transmitter since the satellite communication problems were resolved; today's lone report comes from somewhat east of the hack box, but has a high level of error associated with it.

Aug 11, 2002:  44.6N, 76.1W (west of Charleston Lake).  Signals have been relatively unclear over the past few days, but those that have come through are generally from the area north and west of the hack box at Charleston Lake.

Aug 7, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake).  A particularly strong report from his transmitter today places Horus only 100 - 200 metres west of the hack box.

Aug 6, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake).  Once again, Horus reported in from very close to home.  His signal from early in the morning (before sunrise) put him just northwest of the hack box.

Aug 4, 2002:  Charleston Lake?  No clear signal from Horus's transmitter today, as sometimes happens.  Tomorrow there will likely be no signals at all due to the way his transmission cycle happens to fall, so we will have to wait until the evening of August 6 for the next update.

Aug 3, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake).  The 8:30 am report from his transmitter indicated that Horus was right at the hack box!  Accounting for the possibility of some error as always, it could be that he wasn't quite at the box itself, but at any rate was within the immediate vicinity.

Aug 2, 2002:  44.6N, 76.1W (Charleston Lake).  The only report from Horus today came during the middle of the night, confirming that he was roughly 1.5 kilometres inland from the hack box.

Aug 1, 2002:  44.6N, 76.1W (Charleston Lake).  Again Horus is relatively near the release site, but this time a bit inland to the northwest.

July 31, 2002:  44.5N, 76.1W (Charleston Lake).  Horus remains at Charleston Lake, with today's clearest signal coming from the shore of the lake, roughly 1.5 kilometres southwest of the hack box.

July 30, 2002:  44.5N, 76.1W (Charleston Lake)Today's only reports came in the early morning - at which time Horus was not surprisingly still in the same place as last night.

July 29, 2002:  44.5N, 76.1W (Charleston Lake)Today Horus moved just a bit to the southwest, and as of late evening is on the west side of Charleston Lake.

July 28, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake)Nothing like home!  After exploring for a few days, Horus has returned home tonight, with the clearest report from his transmitter coming from just several hundred metres east of the hack box.

July 27, 2002:  44.8N, 76.3W (Pike Lake, between Westport and Perth)Atmospheric conditions seem to have played havoc with satellite readings for a couple of days, but tonight a very precise report came through from the area of Pike Lake, roughly midway between Westport and Perth, northwest of Big Rideau Lake.  This location is approximately 30 kilometres northwest of the hack box at Charleston Lake.

July 24, 2002:  44.6N, 76.2W (SE of Newboro)Today's report from Horus puts him roughly 15 km northwest of the hack box on Charleston Lake, a few kilometres southeast of Newboro.  However, the quality of today's reading was quite poor, so it's possible that he's actually still within a few kilometres of home.

July 23, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake)Two strong signals were received from Horus' transmitter between 8 and 10 am this morning, both of which suggested he was just a bit northeast of the hack box, perhaps viewing it from across the channel on Little Deer Island, where one of his brothers perched for a while on Saturday afternoon.

July 22, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake)Back home again!  As of around 8 pm this evening, Horus was approximately 500 metres north of the hack box according to the latest data from his transmitter.  Given that there is some degree of error associated with all reports, it's possible in fact that he was right at the box when this signal was sent.

July 21, 2002:  44.5N, 76.2W (Dog Lake)Just one day after receiving his transmitter, Horus is already moving around quite a bit!  Two transmissions from late this afternoon placed him at the north end of Dog Lake, roughly 15 kilometres west of the hack box.  For a peregrine this of course isn't a great distance, but it's still impressive to see just four days post-release, and reaffirms the sightings of observers on site who have noted that Horus and his two brothers already have strong flight skills.

July 20, 2002:  44.6N, 76.0W (Charleston Lake)Today Horus received his satellite transmitter, as described on the Leeds County home page under the July 20 entry.  

 

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Click here to go to the 2001-2002 Project Track'em page

Click here to go to the 2002-2003 Project Track'em page

Click here to go to the 2003-2004 Project Track'em page


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