On January 6, Marj Rines saw an immature Bald Eagle at Horn Pond in Woburn at 11:00AM. At 11:45 Paul Roberts reports seeing one in similar plumage on Mystic Lake in Medford . On January 7 Brooke Stevens reported one in similar plumage at Fresh Pond in Cambridge. On January 8 Renee LaFontaine called me to tell me that it was posing for photos on Mystic Lake, and that it was banded.



It gave me excellent looks and I watched for about 20 minutes, but I couldn't see any bands, but then it started preening.

The preening lifted its "skirts" and exposed a silver band on the right leg.

It then turned around, exposing a yellow band on the left leg.


A close-up of the silver band didn't yield much, but . . .

A close-up of the yellow band showed a number ending in "V3."
I called Tom French at Mass Wildlife, and he told me that Bob Mayer had reported an eagle in similar plumage at Jamaica Pond in Boston on December 20, and he was able to photograph the first and last numbers on the yellow band, but that the middle one was missing. Tom feels sure that this is the same bird, and with the center letter in place it identifies the band as "WV3," a bird banded on June 6, 2006 at North Watuppa Lake in Fall River. It is kind of exciting to discover the movements of this bird and its origins.