Surrey Reserve 2018-2019 Observation and Discussion

[gemini]

Sorry this is so late. Youtube wasn't accepting uploads for awhile and I forgot to go back and try again until now!

1:07 am Earlier today at 4:00 pm Sur arrived with a good sized fish (I think-you be the judge.) Both eaglets got fed some although Ess wasn't happy with Dad when the food was all gone and he let Sur know it wasn't enough. Sur ignored him and left! And no one has been back since! (at least I couldn't find any more visits.)

Final feed of the day (3:25)

Kids are fast asleep.

[IrishEyes]

Good Morning everyone and thanks nightowl for starting the day here and great video gemini

Weather Report

3:18a
Both cams are streaming and and Dee and Ess are sleeping

I checked the DVR and back to your post gemini and no nest visits that I saw !

[IrishEyes]

3:26p
The two sleeping beauties ! I think that is Ess on the right .I see a bit df white on tips of her tail feathers
'

[JudyB]

Good morning, everyone!

I saw a very brief visit at 6:30 am - will see if I can find it (which I agree is hard even if you have the time!)

OK - it lasted all of 2 seconds - maybe Sur based on this smudge on the head

And the chick on the right has something - probably one of the little fish that are common on this nest.

I'll see if I can find it on the North cam, though that's pixelating so I have my doubts.

Well, no picture to share, but I think Dee may have got it - I'm not seeing white tips on the tail of the eaglet who is eating but the tail is mostly pixelated; the tail of the eaglet watching is easier to see - but s/he is sitting on the white gull feathers, so the white is trickier.

Maybe I'll just say that one of the eaglets is doing a good job on the little break-fish and leave it at that. Off to check back before rebooting the cam.


It's now 7:48 am. I didn't find any additional visits and I rebooted the North cam.

[JudyB]

There was a visit by Res at 8:29 am with a small mammal - maybe squirrel or chipmunk?

Dee claimed it, and Dee had strong feelings about Mom being near his/her meal!

I think Dee is finding it slow going, and Ess has sort of been wandering around in case Dee abandons it, but as of 9:01 am, Dee is still working on it.


I have a video coming - but also have a cat who is reminding me that she has been very patient, but it's already 2 minutes past noon in Maine - which is a long time to wait for lunch in cat years!


It's Mine, All Mine! (90 seconds)

The video starts on the North cam then switches to the South cam - I don't do advanced video editing, so it's a bit choppy but provides a better overview of a quick visit.

As an aside, Chelsea Girl is being very patient - I think she gets some extra treats with her lunch!


And Ess continued moving closer - but I think Dee ate the whole thing. Hopefully the next delivery will land closer to Ess.

[BETHINB.C.]

Morning all, that was another wonderful video but I couldn't see what it was either. I went back and couldn't find a visit either. Judy, love your comment " Break-fish "..lol.

[JudyB]

Thanks, Beth - break-fish isn't my term - it's one someone invented ages ago and we've come to use on occasion. "Nestovers" is another word we use, for leftovers on the nest.

There was another quick food drop at 10:49 am. I think this was Sur (thought I saw the splotches on his tail though they don't show up in the screenshots) - and Dee made a great leap right over Ess who was lying down to claim what looked to me to be another small fish. And while I applaud Dee's great leap - I was sort of hoping that Ess would get this one. Ess did lurk about - but as far as I could tell, Dee got it all.

And I realized that when I rebooted the North cam, it didn't reset the dvr - so I'm going to reboot the North cam again.


It's now 11:34 am, and I haven't seen any other deliveries.

[BETHINB.C.]

Hi again, gosh, I have yet to see a landing outside of watching the videos. I have gone back but somehow I am missing them. lol.

Thanks, Judy on letting me know what the terms mean. we talk a different language when it comes to eagles.

Did you poor deprived kitty get fed?...lol... I have a Yorkie and she is spoiled also..lol. Can't help but love them..lol.

[JudyB]

1:58 pm
Another small fish delivery, again very fast.

I think this may have been Sur, mostly because of the neckline - definitely no time to see anything else on either cam.

He landed right in front of Dee - and right beside Ess, but Ess had to turn to face the food, and by then Dee had it. This appears to be a different kind of fish - any idea what kind, Beth?

I'll have a video in a minute - and it will be under 60 seconds even with both cams.


Added -

Quick Fish Delivery (54 seconds)

[Marg]

Just tuned in and saw one picking at some nestovers with the other eaglet watching. Maybe someone can identify who is eating and who is watching?

[JudyB]

Ah-ha! This fish seemed to be harder to access. Dee was working on it - and moved it around to different parts of the nest a couple of times, perhaps to see if it would be easier to eat in another location? And as all that was going on, Ess was quietly moving closer - and when Dee picked up the fish for I think the third or maybe fourth time - snatch!

The picture doesn't really show this - I'll have a 45-second video soon.

Dee watched for a minute after Ess grabbed the fish, them moved over to the other side of the nest for some quality perching on the edge of the nest time.


I think Ess finished the fish - and then struck a pose that I managed to capture!

Though Ess seems to be finding a few more random bits of fish.


Added -

Snatch! (46 seconds)

[BETHINB.C.]

Ahhh good snatch Ess...lol..Dee seems to be the grabby one...so glad Ess got some too..lol.

[BETHINB.C.]

Okay, looking at the video it looks much like a white fish " that is the name " some people eat them but I threw them back. They sure aren't giving me a good look at it...lol.

[JudyB]

Just tuned in and saw one picking at some nestovers with the other eaglet watching. Maybe someone can identify who is eating and who is watching?

I think this is Ess eating the fish he or she just snatched from Dee, Marg - and that's fair, because Dee has already had 2 or 3 little meals today. It would be nice to see something bigger come in - but a parade of little deliveries also works!

[BETHINB.C.]

I took another look and it seems like it is a flatfish of some sorts (Flounder?) I don't remember seeing them in the river, I always saw them in salt water.

[BETHINB.C.]

Here again, looking at the "Snatch " video I would say that definitely is a flounder. Can anyone else see it? I am so surprised its in fresh water. Is there salt water nearby Judy, or anyone?

[JudyB]

Okay, looking at the video it looks much like a white fish " that is the name " some people eat them but I threw them back. They sure aren't giving me a good look at it...lol.

Thanks, Beth! My impression was that it was fairly tall (or wide in some dimension) and skinny or narrow in the other. The pictures of whitefish I found looked like a cross-section would be sort of oval, and this looked thinner and taller than that (if you can figure out what I mean).

These are from my original video, which is higher res than what's on YouTube:

Fish looking skinny from one perspective:

Fish looking tall from the other perspective (I think it's being held by the head):

Thoughts?

[JudyB]

Just saw your post, Beth, and flounder seems likely if it's found close to shore - and there's a lot of salt water nearby.

The nest is approximately where the red x is down by the Canada-US border, so there's almost certainly more salt water than fresh water in their territory.




Added -
I should also mention that the first few posts in this thread (starting here - viewtopic.php?f=114&t=333) have general information about the nest and the area, and a picture of the nest from the ground, giving an idea how high it is.

[SueD]

Here again, looking at the "Snatch " video I would say that definitely is a flounder. Can anyone else see it? I am so surprised its in fresh water. Is there salt water nearby Judy, or anyone?

According to this http://www.fishnbc.com/species/starry_flounder.html:

Starry flounders are inshore fish, ranging up estuaries well into the freshwater zone, to the first riffles, with young found as much as 120 km inland.

The attached map shows how the Fraser River flows past Surrey. So is it possible that the river could carry flounders in to Surrey?

[JudyB]

3:18 pm
Another very fast delivery - and this time it was Ess who was in the right location!

It took the adult a moment to get his/her foot back - Ess was very eager.

The prize appeared to be one of the more common fish we see, though Ess did not give us a very good look.

Dee remained perched on the side of the nest through all the activity - and I'm really glad we also have the South cam because there really doesn't seem a good way to aim the North cam to show all the places the eaglets can be now that they are practicing branching on the edges of the nest.

[JudyB]

Continuing the story, Ess brought his/her fish over to the edge, almost pushing poor Dee out of the nest (not really - Dee had a good grip - but almost went out of sight from the North cam).

Dee decided it was a good time to move to the other side of the nest! I did slip into the North cam quickly to confirm who is who - and this shows Ess's tail - and shows that there's more nest on the side nearer the cam than we're seeing.

Ess finished the fish quickly, then moved over to perch beside Dee.


Here's a picture of the delivery from the South cam - not sure whose wings are whose as Ess works to remove the food item from the adult's talons.

And I'm not sure which adult, though I'm leaning towards Sur because I might have seen the dark markings on the upper tail in all that flapping. Maybe.

[JudyB]

Thanks for your post and map, Sue. The nest is within sight of Semiahmoo Bay (at least through the leaves - harder to see now than it was in the winter) - and quite a ways from the Fraser - but it's hard to say where the fish might go.

[IrishEyes]

Hi everyone Dad on the Halifax Osprey nest , east coast , brought in another headless flounder this evening and Mom is taKing it .. this what they look like .., and their bellies are white

I goggled it and this what they look like whole

screenshot_39.jpg (56.89 KiB) Viewed 1007 times

Please feel free to delete this Judy!

[BETHINB.C.]

Thank you all for confirming this for me, I have never seen one in fresh water..but I was pretty sure it was a flounder. amazing what we can learn watching an eagle nest Love all the video's and the pictures of the fish for me to see.

[gemini]

9:20 pm I checked back to JudyB's last post and didn't find any visits from Sur or Res. The kids alternated between wingercising, cruising for nestovers, sleeping and watching for some sign of food being delivered.


I will check back later.

12:02 am Checked back again and found nothing. The only thing I did find was at 8:21 pm both chicks jumped up in expectation calling out quite vociferously. I thought I heard an adult cry in the background but it/they didn't come to the nest much to the distress of our two young friends! I think they could see at least one parent.

Why aren't you bringing us something to eat?

[BETHINB.C.]

Thanks Bev, I am off to bed. See you a; tomorrow.

[nightowl]

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2019

[IrishEyes]

Good Morning everyone and thanks nightowl for starting the day here

Weather Report

2:32a
'Windy ...both cams are streaming and Dee and Ess are sleeping

I also check the DVR and no nest visits !

[Marg]

Good morning.

They are both awake now!

[JudyB]

Good morning, everyone! I observed two visits this morning before I got to the computer so I'll report those first then look to see if I find anything else.

The first was at 5:49 am.

On the basis of this stripe, I'm going to guess this is Res making the delivery.

I'm pretty sure it was Ess that got it, and it looked like part of a fish though I'm not sure about that.

Here's a better look at the food item - and I'm thinking it may be similar to what I've thought is a fish head possibly left behind by someone fishing in the bay, since I've been seeing similar sized chunks come in at about this time now and then for quite a while.

I looked at the visit on the South cam, and it appeared that the adult was putting weight on the right leg, though on the left leg more - so if this is Res, she's doing very well.

And since I still have the North cam playing while I'm typing, I noticed Ess carrying the food item around at 6:12 - suggesting it's not something fast to eat, though s/he has been working on it.