Surrey Reserve 2021-2022 Observation and Discussion

[CC398]

rollback from last night

2003 - the NM lands, grabs a stick with his beak and put it back down. He does some light digging in the bowl

2005 - the NF drops in

The NM holds the bowl for now and both Eagles are focused on sticks

[CC398]

2005 - A quick glare and beak - they get testy about the bowl

2006 - The NM picks up and moves a small stick to his right

The NM leaves the bowl and heads over to the east perch

[CC398]

The NF nipped at this tail when he was leaving, but he did get in her way a little

2007 - She's focused on something in the dirt

After moving that dirt around and watching something in the dirt, she does some standing and looking

[CC398]

2017 - the NF left

The NM stayed and snoozed on the East perch

That's all from last evening. This morning is busy on the nest already but I cannot stay as I said.

Today is my Friday and the beginning of my 5-day long weekend. I won't be able to check-in today but will be on for the evening watch later.

[CC398]

0636 - An adult Eagle landed in the nest, a big adult, possibly female and was chased out quickly. I couldn't get close fast enough but here is the scuffle. I hear war cries right now at 0639

I realize this would be out of sequence as we had a visit early this morning.

0637 - It looks like the NF might have taken a hit from above and then her mate landed not long after and both were vocalizing

They are defending their territory

[JudyB]

0636 - An adult Eagle landed in the nest, a big adult, possibly female, landed in the nest and was chased out quickly. I couldn't get close fast enough but here is the scuffle. I hear war cries right now at 0639

I realize this would be out of sequence as we had a visit early this morning.

0637 - It looks like the NF might have taken a hit from above and then her mate landed not long after and both were vocalizing

They are defending their territory

I caught that out of the corner of my eye while I was catching up on emails and pm's - will try to get a video a little later.

Out of sequence is fine as long as folks note the time and mention it is out of sequence (which you do - I'm adding that for others who might be reading). I'd much rather see posts out of order than miss something altogether.

And wow - the wind is crazy this morning!

Special Weather Statement
Issued at 04:27 Wednesday 18 May 2022

Strong winds beginning early this morning for the South Coast.

Locations: Port Alberni, Lake Cowichan, Howe Sound, Whistler, Metro Vancouver, and the Fraser Valley.

Wind: Strong southeasterly winds of 40 km/h gusting to 70 are expected this morning. Winds will switch to gusty southwesterlies with speeds of 40 km/h gusting 70 this morning for inland Vancouver Island and near noon for the mainland coast.

Other hazards: 40 to 60 mm of precipitation over the higher terrain of Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound, and the North Shore Mountains.

Time span: This morning through late this afternoon.

Remarks: An unseasonably strong low pressure system will make landfall on Vancouver Island early this morning bringing strong southeasterly winds and a burst of heavy precipitation to much of the South Coast. The storm will be accompanied by freezing levels of 1100 to 1500 m which means precipitation will fall as heavy snow in the mountains. As the cold front passes, winds will shift to strong and gusty westerlies or southwesterlies later this morning for the island or near noon for the mainland, impacting Port Alberni, Lake Cowichan, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Strong southerlies will also funnel up Howe Sound and Whistler Valley.

We continue to monitor conditions and may upgrade to warnings as the storm nears.

[CC398]

0713 - sub in the nest - black on tail and head but not much. This one is looking for a nest. Picking up and moving materials if you can believe it. wow

The wind is making the s'cap quality a little blurry.

[CC398]

I'd say she's almost a legal eagle and she might mean business. I have to go!

[JudyB]

11:30 am
A quick check of the dvr and I'm not seeing any visits after the two from this morning so I'll hop out of sequence a bit to add a video and a few s'caps.

Almost forgot - lovely closeup pics from last night, CC - what a handsome eagle!

The video is a bit of a hodge-podge with bits of both visits from the South cam perspective first and then highlights from the North cam, including head and tail pics for ID purposes (though I know CC had a nice zoom on the tail and I don't think I included that in the video - will have to grab a s'cap of that as well.

Young Female Visits the Nest (7:48)

From the video (they click quite a bit bigger):

"Barely Legal" on the left getting out of the way as NF drops down from higher in the tree.

I don't think the youngster wants a fight - hard to be sure, but it looks more as if she's just trying to get away.

Even here, I don't think she's putting her feet out to attack - maybe trying to fly backward?

[JudyB]

Continuing....

I think she was still around because NF was doing some calling and NM showed up quickly to assist with that.

I'm not sure I have a clear picture of it, but it looks as if NM has some dirt on his head - I'll have to look back, but I think I noticed that one of them looked a bit dirty on top yesterday.

The visitor was back at 7:11 am, showing off her lovely upper tail on arrival.

It looked to me as if she spent some quality time toting around that bit of old fish carcass that's on the nest and also digging up some other old thing to see if it was food - I'm thinking she might be scouting out future nest locations, but may also be interested in a free meal.

[JudyB]

Continuing....

By the way, I agree that the visitor is a large eagle and also suspect she is indeed female, but that's at least partly because it was NF who chased her off. I'm noticing that she appears to have an inverted U neckline, as opposed to the more rounded necklines our resident pair have. Necklines do change with the wind and the angle they hold their heads, but it's another way we may be able to recognize her if we see her again.

She flew off at 7:25 am.

Moving to the North cam and jumping back in time to shortly after her initial arrival at 6:34 am, I liked the motion and intensity in the image as she sees NF coming in. (Also looks like a female beak!)

[JudyB]

Continuing....

Visitor backing away on the right as NF lands.

Perhaps the visitor is saying "chill out - I was just leaving"?

NM (on left) arrives to help defend the nest.

[JudyB]

Continuing....

A few images of the visitor from her second visit.

Shading in the area above the beak.

[JudyB]

Continuing....

It's now 1:30 pm and I just quickly checked the dvr back to my previous check and didn't see any visits.

[CC398]

WOW, Judy, such amazing coverage and wonderful scaps. Thanks so much!