Eagle Obsession 2007...

... has begun and heaven help us all.



Ya know, I thought it was bad enough last year but this year it's begun already. Let me give you a little bit of history on how eagles became my obsession. It all started so innocently.

Those of you that hadn't witnessed it, had certainly heard me talking about it. There was a cam put up on a bald eagle's nest on Hornby Island, British Columbia last year. It was amazing. An up close and personal view of the day to day operations of a breeding pair of bald eagles. I watched them diligently turning those eggs and taking turns, giving each other breaks. What a beautiful pair they were. I was saddened when we reached around the 40th day and no little 'lets hatched. It turns out they were an older breeding pair and the eggs were infertile, hence the no hatching, there was nothing in them to hatch.

Sad days for a bit but thankfully, David Hancock and his team got a camera up and running on a nest that had two eaglets in Saanich, BC. As sad as it was for the Hornby pair, these guys turned surrogate for me and helped me see what I otherwise would have missed with the elder eagles, the raising to fledglings. Those two little 'lets were quite the characters to watch. At different points they were; marbly looking, looked like they were about to explode due to tumours (turned out to be crops), resembled Mini Don Kings and later developed personalities. I never would have thought that possible.

They affectionately became, "Big," (older of the two an most likely female) and, "Lil," (total underdog and likely male) to me and forever will be. Real original, eh? Lil probably wouldn't have made it if a few fellow viewers who lived in the area, hadn't gone out and left food for them. There were many tears, tantrums, laughs and heart stopping moments to be had. I watched those 'lets do everything from pooping to taking their maiden voyage and falling from branch to branch on some rough landings. I also got to see the day to day struggle of survival of the fittest, even though it was hard by times particularly when the Lil one was clearly not the fittest. Nature can be a cruel force.

On this day that I write this, it looks like we've got the first egg of '07 in the nest bowl. Three or four eggs are generally laid 3 days apart. They'll be incubated for about 35 days. So for the next couple of weeks you can tune in and expect to see Ma (or Pa, as they share incubation) in this position. This is Ma on the wide angle camera...



The easiest way to tell them apart is by their size, number one. The females are much larger than the males. Sometimes when it's only one in the nest though, this can be tough. I tend to go by their heads. This'll take more of a trained eye but Ma's head is much broader from eye to eye and front to back. Her beak is also much thicker and with a more pronounced hook.

If you click on the close up camera, this might be what you'll see. Ma loves to keep her eye on the camera. This picture really shows how broad her head is...



This next pic gives you an idea of what her beak's like. It could snap your finger off in the blink of an eye. These guys can have wing spans up to six feet...



The egg is placed wayyy down deep within the nest, so deep that the cameras haven't picked up on them yet. The nest is about 5' across. The parents seldom leave the nest unattended and if they do, it's usually no longer than 15min. Here they are on the close up cam, looking down on the eggs in what's known as the, "bowl..."



Even though things have been quiet with all the incubating, something exciting always happens when you go to the bathroom, even though you just had your arse plunked there for an hour with nothing going on. I got to see Pa come in, bringing Ma a fish, watched her mantle over it, driving him off and even got to hear her tearing apart the fish. All the while, the both of them screeching at each other. Now that's reality TV at it's finest...



Look at that wingspan...



There's also been past eaglets stopping in to visit the nest. This was likely one of the previous year's baby's coming in for a visit. Looks too mature for last year's (too much white, takes them about 5yrs.) but cool just the same...





If anybody's interested in checking it out, feel free to follow this link to go to the webcam. Scroll down. You're going to see a video loop of the two adults until you click on a choice on the right. One's the close-up camera and the other's the wide angle camera, same views that the above pictures are taken from. Feel free to click the advertisements you see as they're currently seeking sponsors (donate if you can) but also take in money for each hit the ads take in. You don't have to buy. Hey, any little bit helps when this is being offered for free.

Also, if anything I've said has left you a little confused, feel free to follow this link and you'll see our nest map and also a vocabulary of what things are called, no not all of them are technical terms, lots of slang we came up with on our own. This is also a website I go to. Observations are kept on nest happenings, with times, that'll help you catch up on what you've missed and also helps out with research.

No, not mating, just a changing of the guards...




Right about the time I was just figuring out we had an egg, I went out for a smoke break. While out on the step (which faces the river) I saw an eagle soar from one end of the neighbourhood to the other. It appears they're back around here too. That's cool, I haven't seen any in over two months. Now, if the snow'll go away it'll be much easier for me to chase them.

Hopefully I've been able to educate you a little on the life of an eagle. I knew nothing before I joined this website. Heck, I didn't even know we had any around here! It's opened my eyes to a whole new world and if I can get someone else as hooked on this crazy thing as I am, my job is done.

'Til next time...