Browning Rd/Paul Beach Bald Eagles, Sunshine Coast BC - 2019-2022 seasons

[heatherj]

Welcome to the Browning Rd/Paul Beach nest thread.

If you visit the Browning Rd nest in Wilson Creek on the Sunshine Coast BC you are welcome to post comments and pictures here.

This nest was new to the forum in July 2016 though the nest is has been in this location since at least 1992. The nest is on private property but can be viewed from the beach and from the trail to the beach. To view the nest, find the Paul Beach entrance about half way along Browning and follow the trail to the beach. Its a little rocky in places but not too bad. Turn right at the end of the trail and go down over the rocks to the pebble beach then look back to the left of the yellow house. You can also get a side view of the nest from about halfway along the trail down to the beach. Just look to the right over the yellow house.... though from this angle you are looking directly over the house so please respect the occupants privacy

2014/15 - Nest collapsed near the end of the season but the lone eaglet was seen alive and well in the area after this, so we hope that the eaglet survived
2015/16 - 2 eaglets Big Browning and Little Browning. BB fledged on or before July 27, LB a week or so later
2016/17 - 2 successful fledges. First around July 23, second around Aug 5
2017/18 - Adult spotted brooding in nest on Mar 28 but sadly no eaglets seen
2018/19 - 1 eaglet. Fledged on or before Aug 8.
2019/20 - 2 eaglets seen in the nest July 16. Presumed fledged on or before July 30
2020/21 - 2 eaglets seen in the nest July 6. 1 remained near nest on Aug 5, other presumed fledged on or before that date
2021/22. Nesting activity seen in March but no fledges this season

[heatherj]

Some images from previous seasons

Ma and Pa in Feb 2017

2 eaglets in the nest from July 2017

One of the fledged eaglets from Aug 2017

[heatherj]

Extract from a report prepared for the BC Government on eagle nest site locations in SW BC in 1994 detailing what they knew then of this nest.

Full report here https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... _Strategy

[heatherj]

I visited the nest today and saw 1 eagle. Not sure yet if it was Ma or Pa - hopefully once I upload the pics I will be able to tell

I was walking back to the car and heard an eagle calling right above me. I walked back along the path a bit and got a better view of the adult.s Then from further along the beach I looked back to get a different view of I think the same adult.

And then one of the nest from the same day

[heatherj]

I am very late posting this but I did get to the nest on Mar 26 and all was quiet. I could just see a teeny bit of a white head peeking out over the top of the nest so looks like an adult was sitting.

I hope to get there over the long weekend so hoping to see some evidence of eaglets by now.

[stim]

Nicely caught Heather. I love finding a white head low in the nest like you did.

[heatherj]

Thanks Sandra! This nest is always a bit tricky as it seems to be really deep and so its quite easy to lose even an adult eagle in it, never mind any eaglets

I visited the nest on May 28 and saw nobody in the nest but both adults were in the area, one adult was sitting at the top of the nest tree while I was there. Then when I was further along the beach heading towards the Olave nest an adult flew in to land in a favourite hunting tree and immediately started some feather maintenance.

Nothing visible in the nest

One adult perched on top of the nest tree, perhaps Ma?

Further along the beach one adult flies past me .....

.... to land in a dead tree and begin some feather maintenance ...

A little while later I see one adult perched on guard at the other end of the beach near the nest

[heatherj]

I visited on June 4 and again saw no-one in the nest. I waited for a while but no activity so headed off further down the beach to check the rest of the Browning territory.

Of course as soon as I got to the other end of the beach I saw a dispute with 3 adult eagles near the nest, right where I had been 10 mins before From a distance it seemed to be the Browning/Wilson Creek boundary. But the dispute seemed to be over quite quickly

One Browning adult, I think Ma, was perched on a favourite hunting tree at my end of the beach and she started calling out perhaps to help in the dispute.

[heatherj]

A few minutes later I saw an adult I think Pa further down the beach. He had obviously spotted something in the water. He flew down and though my pics are a bit hazy I'm pretty sure he got something that looks like a fish! He headed off in the direction of the nest

Of course I was at the far end of the beach when this happened so it would have taken at least 30 mins for me to get back to check the nest again. So I didn't have time to go back on this visit but I'm hopeful that the fish drop off means that there is at least one eaglet after all. Hopefully I will have better luck at seeing activity in the nest on my next visit.

[heatherj]

I visited this morning and saw 2 eaglets in the nest!

Both eaglets looked pretty content and in fact didn't look that interested when Pa stopped off with what looked like a food drop so they must have already had their breakfast.

Further along the beach I saw Pa catch some kind of fish and head back down to the nest to drop it off. A bit later it also looked like Pa was maybe testing the boundaries with the neighbours the Olaves but he had to rush back down the beach when a juvenile flew too close to the nest at the other end of the beach.

An exciting visit!

Eaglets in nest

Pa coming in with a drop off

Pa leaving after drop off

Pa goes right back to hunting...

.... and catches a nice fish!

A nice flyby just before I leave

[gemini]

2020 Cam Maintenance
Matching Drive

It's hard to believe that the fluffy little eaglets we first met in April are already flying around - and at least one of them is already half-way up the coast of British Columbia, feasting on salmon at one of the rivers with early salmon runs. The rest will be heading out soon, which will give us a brief window to clean the cameras, check the wiring and do any additional projects near the nests. Only one of our nests is currently sponsored (big thanks to Russ Cmolik for donating a new close-up cam for White Rock!) so we are asking those who enjoy the cams to help us get them ready for next year. We know life this year is different for many of us - but if you can help, we would really appreciate it.

We have some big plans - two new cams for White Rock, replacement domes at Surrey Reserve and Delta 2, and hopefully getting to the bottom of the connectivity issue that keeps taking the South cam at Harrison Mills offline - and there will be some large expenses if we're going to do it all. We'll need a lift to get people up to the cams at White Rock and possibly at Delta, and the tree at Harrison Mills is very tall, requiring a professional climbing team if we are to do any work on the cams themselves.

If we can raise $10,000, we should be able to do the most essential work at most of the nests. And happily some friends of the eagles have pledged to match the first $1250 raised in the next three days - so if you adopt Delta 2, Harrison Mills, Surrey Reserve or White Rock for next year for $250, Hancock Wildlife will get $500!

The easiest way to adopt a nest is to

• go to the "Donations" page on our website (https://hancockwildlife.org/donations/ - or click the button below)
• click the "Donate via CanadaHelps Now!" link
• enter the amount of your donation ($250 to adopt the nest of your choice for the coming year)
• pick "Adopt a Nest" from the Fund list
• use the message box to say which nest you are adopting and how you would like your name to be listed
• fill in your contact information and credit card details, and
• click "Complete Donation Now"

And if this isn't a good time for adopting a nest, you can also make a donation of any amount to the "Eagle Cams/General Repairs" fund or you can make a monthly donation by changing the highlighted box at the top of the page from "Donate Now" to "Donate Monthly" (the first month's donation is eligible to be matched). Many of the funds have a suggested amount - but that is just a suggestion. The amount you put in the Amount box is what you'll donate.

You don't need to be in Canada to use CanadaHelps - and the rate of exchange right now is favorable to those of us in the United States - a donation of $250 Canadian dollars is currently less than $200 US dollars, so if you give $250 through CanadaHelps (or PayPal), HWF gets $250 Canadian dollars, and the cost to you is based on the current rate of exchange.

You can also use the other methods on the Donations page, but it's not as easy to provide all the information, so if you're sending a check or planning to give a donation directly to someone at HWF, please let me ([email protected]) or gemini ([email protected]) know a donation is coming so it gets included in the matching drive.

And if you have any questions about any of this, please do contact me or gemini and we'll be happy to help.

Thank You!

[heatherj]

I visited again on July 16 and was initially worried as it looked as though the nest had partially collapsed. But very soon I saw the 2 eaglets when an adult dropped off some food. After the adult left some vigorous wingercising which was probably why the nest had partly collapsed. After the food drop off, the adult went right back down the beach for more hunting

Partially collapsed nest when I arrived with an eaglets back just visible

Adult arrives with food

Adult leaves and eaglets start wingercising

Adult straight back down the beach to hunt again

[heatherj]

I visited again on July 30 and no-one was around. No adults or juveniles in the area. The eaglets looked happy and healthy on July 16 my previous visit so I will presume that they fledged. I will look out in the Fall to see if 2 juveniles return with the adults.

[heatherj]

2020/2021 season begins here

[heatherj]

I visited the nest yesterday and saw one adult sitting on top of the nest tree and 1 adult nearby along the shore. So the Brownings are definitely back!

Looks like they haven't started rebuilding the nest yet as it was still collapsed

One adult from the Browning nest on the right and 2 from the WIlson Creek nest on the left

Nest still seems collapsed

One adult on top of the nest tree

One adult now a few trees away from the nest tree