Surrey Reserve 2022-2023 Observation and Discussion

[JudyB]

Hi everyone! More details about the plans for the necropsy for have been coming out over the last week or so - which of course is also when some of our new cams have begun to have eagles appear, and when I've had some personal and family commitments, so I'm trying to catch up now.

I will ask Jack Evans to take a look at all of these to make sure I am identifying people accurately, and not sharing anything that's not ready to be public.


October 19 email from Laurie Wilson, ECCC:

We have a plan!

Date: Nov 2nd (not Oct 26)

NEW Location: Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC. Ildiko has graciously offered to host. We had to change venue because the Westham Island Bridge will have long closures for the first couple weeks of November meaning access to our ECCC office is limited. Ildiko will send a follow-up email later to confirm address, parking, accessing Beaty etc.

Time: Ildiko will let us know… I’m assuming a morning start & wrapping up by lunch.

Tony has requested 15 carcasses – so we will necropsy Tyr, 10 other bald eagles & 4 seabirds. We’ll collect most (but not all) of the usual information/samples. Sandi, Jim & Ildiko will have everything organized so you just have to show-up. Ildiko says we will have some counter space but not as much as usual (fish group need some counter space). Please confirm your attendance so she’s aware of numbers.

Jack – 10 bald eagle carcasses (not Tyr) are for FN distribution… will you be able to take them back with you to your office? Tyr & the seabirds will remain with Ildiko.

Carcasses will have been tested & confirmed negative for Avian Influenza before the event.

Jack – can you also please provide lat/long of where Tyr was found? (We need coordinates to submit AI swab to the lab)

Thanks & again sorry for the delay emailing.

~~~~~

My notes:

ECCC = Environment and Climate Change Canada

UBC = University of British Columbia; Ildiko Szabo is the Collections Curator of the Cowan Tetrapod Collection at the University of British Columbia Beaty Biodiversity Museum (Canada).

I believe FN is First Nations

[JudyB]

October 25 email from Ildiko Szabo:

Jack, David, Myles and the rest of the Eagle Nest Watchers:

My role having switched from guest to Host - - - changes a lot. When it was scheduled at ECCC, photography of every specimen and some other aspects of the necropsy were dropped. Happy to say that we are now doing the full slate - but this have lead to extra email - some of which are contradictory. Apologies

It has been decide to have a 3 arrival times for the different groups: Eagle Nest Watchers are Group 2. Could you please arrive between 9:20- 9:30 am.

Here is the program;

Group 1: 8:00 am arrival (only ECCC, Beaty Museum Staff and Jack Evans)
unloading of birds, photography and measuring wingspan, etc.

Group 2: 9:20-9:30 arrival (Eagle Nest Watchers)

Group 3: 9:30-10:00 BC Ministry of Agriculture Pathologist
Set up and ready for a 10:00 start of the actually Necropsy

- - -
FYI- Normally Necropsies held at the museum do not happen before the Fish Course Labs are over (i.e. no go for 10 weeks of the year). Due to the Westham island Bridge - we are violating this. We do not have the whole lab plus the birds are bigger than usual. Please do not come early. If you do for commuting/ tunnel problems purposes, I will ask you to stay in the hall or walk around campus. We need the floor for measuring and photography so there will be literally no place for you to stand in the lab. Thanks for understanding.

I have arranged for someone to give you a Front of House + Back of House tour of the Museum. Looking forward to meeting or remeeting you all.
Best. ildiko

PS I know you would love to help, but for efficiency reasons CTC staff/CTC Grad Students/those that have done many many necropsies in the BBM VertLab doing tasks is best.

~~~~~

My notes:
I don't know what CTC is
I do have more complete instructions for how to get to the site, where to park, how to find the room, etc, as well as contact info for Ildiko
It sounded from another email as if there may be some results within a week or so of the necropsy - I will share whatever information I receive on this thread.

[CC398]

Good morning Surrey Reserve friends.

I have some preliminary results from Tyr's necropsy yesterday. My story is long but hopefully, it will give you a good perspective about what happened yesterday.

Yesterday was one of the most incredible experiences I've had so far since my Eagle obsession began. You know how much I love Rey (Brit too!) and how special we knew Tyr was. Turns out, a large group of scientists thought Tyr was very important too. Tyr was referred to as the 'Important Eagle", but I'll start from the beginning.

It was a 3-hour drive in from Chilliwack to UBC (thanks to traffic gremlins and weather) then another 30 mins of me running around campus begging for change for the parking metre - I had taken my credit card out of my wallet the night before and they only accept change or credit cards. Anyhow, I was feeling desperate because it was almost 1030 and I was supposed to be in the lab by 0930 - I thought I had blown my chance to observe and was disappointed in myself but I was going to sneak in if I had to. I bought a 5.00 cookie and the coffee girl hooked me up with some parking money.

Turns out, I hadn't missed anything at all as the group had not gone in yet. Woohoo!

I entered the room and saw numerous full specimens waiting for the team. I scanned the bodies of multiple Eagles (adults, subs, and fledglings) plus a variety of other birds of interest, and was immediately drawn to Tyr's tiny flat body. I confirmed it was Tyr when I saw the ID information which included the date of admission to OWL and then Tyr's date of death (July 22, 2023) . Included on that ID card (wrapped around her giant clown feet) was confirmation that Tyr was a FEMALE! I think only Jean referred to her that way. I myself was convinced Tyr was a male due to his size. (We were quite sure that Lof was a female due to her size, so the first time parents had two females!!)

Jack Evans said a few words about Tyr - as it turns out Jack had been watching this nest since both Tyr and Lof were born and knew just as much about her and Lof as we here did.

The pathologist (I do not have his name yet because I missed introductions) was gracious enough to let me hang out over his shoulder while he did his thing - I was permitted to take photos and video. The actual post-mortem was over very quickly and the preliminary results were as follows:

-Cause of death was emaciation - "the most emaciated Eagle I have ever seen" (David said the same thing the day he picked up Tyr)
-fractured shoulder (we know this happened early, while she was still downy and in the nest bowl) (update - next post clarifies that the shoulder injury was recent, likely a result of the fall from the tree)
-Aspergellis or black mold was found inside of Tyr - Jack will provide a better explanation of this later on
-reduced pectoral muscles due to lack of strength training (there were many "wows" and "look at this" in this regard) We know that Tyr was not flapping her wings or building strength.

Her organs were removed along with additional samples - many of them. The 4 organs that were removed were in the expected condition, with evidence of "not eating" - We know that food was never an issue, and Lof even shared hers with her tiny sibling.

Next, a team of specialists began removing the rest of Tyr's insides and getting her ready for the immortalization (in form anyway) process. This wasn't my favorite part, but it was the important next step. It was fascinating and a bit emotional for myself and Jack. Being so close to Rey and Brit's possible first-born (or at least second-born) was an honor I won't soon forget.

Lastly, a scientist named Bruce gave me a tour of where Tyr will be immortalized - the Beaty Biodiversity Lab at UBC which was in the same building. It was an incredible place that everyone needs to go and check out as it is open to the public. Tyr will join other "Important" specimens on display, forever! I'll be taking my family there once she makes her debut (it will take a few days for the taxidermy process and then longer for other specimen results.) The debut date is not yet known.

Jack told me that everything we learned yesterday is making sense about what happened to Tyr and he plans to write a paper on it!

That's all I know for now, but I'm sure there will be more soon.

Sweet Tyr, it was so wonderful to meet her and I know none of us will ever forget her thanks to the dedicated team telling her story.

[JudyB]

November 15, 2023

I have a couple of follow-ups on Tyr's necropsy to add to the record here. The necropsy was originally going to take place at ECCC's lab in Delta, BC, before being moved to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC, so I suspect that while Ildiko hosted the project at the museum, Laurie has some oversight responsibilities for the project.

Email from Laurie Wilson from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC):

Hi All

We recently examined this eaglet at Beaty (OWL23-299) – thought I’d send an update for those of you who couldn’t attend the session in-person.

History: A fledgling eaglet got kicked out by siblings, starving, shoulder smashed; retarded during time in nest - delayed development compared to siblings

Diagnosis: Emaciation, Trauma - fracture, Aspergillosis.

Necropsy: Body wt 1.62 kg, juvenile - bursa present, female, very emaciated, fractured top of humerus, female, liver dark & greenish colour - possibly reduced in size; gallbladder dilated & filled with bile; white nodules in lungs & airsacs (aspergillosis); Additional tests: Negative. No Influenza A virus detected by NAT (no BCCDC ID #)

Carcass now with Ildiko at Beaty.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Laurie


Reply from David Hancock to the group email:

Laurie -- so wonderful to have this report to ' kind of close' the file.

If I remember correctly, it is aspergillus that is carried in grass and perhaps this pair used it to line the nest cup. I try to put out clumps or dumps of lichen or mosses, which I think do not carry aspir as a prevention for many of the nests in peoples yards. For many such nests we also provide each spring a bundle of extra sticks for a nearby lawn -- for easy pick up. It is almost always well received by the eagles and the landowners love it.

In case you have not followed -- at the WR-040 nest where we built the nest and have cams, we also outlined how Russ Cmolik might build an eagle bath -- and the adults use it regularly. The kids make it there on the first fledgling flight -- almost every year. Sure builds landowner devotion.

Thanks for your efforts on this and keeping me informed.

Stay safe.
david


My reply to Laurie (and the group) with additional questions:

Thanks for sending us this update, Laurie, and thank you all for your work on this.

I have a few followup questions if you don't mind - and I do understand that you're busy, and apologize if I'm asking things that are inappropriate or if you are the wrong person to ask. I've been a online volunteer with Hancock Wildlife for a long time, but do not know the protocol involved in all of this.

1) Which shoulder/upper wing was damaged? I'd like to look back through our notes on her time on the nest to see if we observed something that turned out to be more serious than the usual bumping into each other that happens on nests.

2) Could you tell when the damage to the shoulder occurred? Tyr was about 11-1/2 weeks old when she died, and I'm wondering how far back in the records of her time on the nest I should be looking.

3) Would/could the Aspergillosis have affected her ability to absorb the nutrients from the food she ate? I'm afraid I don't really know how to ask the question - but as we were watching, we didn't have a sense that there was a lack of food. She was well behind her sibling in the ability to self-feed, but the parents were still feeding both of them some of the time, and her sibling was allowing her to share in the food the sibling had opened - which I must admit I found surprising. The two siblings hatched about 16 hours apart - and she was clearly much smaller and behind in development, but my impression was that she had a reasonably plump crop nearly as often as her sibling. (And that's my subjective impression - as I go through our notes, I'll be trying to quantify that.)

Thank you for your consideration - and for all that you do.

Judy


Laurie's reply to my email and David's email:

Hi Judy

Brief answers to your questions.

We didn’t note which humerus had the fracture, but Dr. Redford, the avian pathologist, is almost certain it was the left humerus, right at the head of the humerus, by the shoulder. He thought it was pretty acute, likely right around time of death.

Dr Redford also provided insights re: Aspergillosis – Aspergillosis is a condition that takes away a lot of nutrients/calories from the affected animals because the inflammatory response is so robust. Nearly all animals affected that he has necropsied were either emaciated or in poor body condition. As for David’s question, the Aspergillus spores are basically everywhere in the environment, so it doesn’t necessarily matter what components are in the nest, although some are more prone to the growth of the fungus; straw bedding tends to be bad, which is why we encourage poultry growers not to use it. But he doesn’t think moss, lichen or sticks “can’t” have Aspergillus spores. I’ve also attached some additional information on Aspergillosis, in case of interest.

Thanks

Laurie


Notes:

The information Laurie attached on Aspergillosis is from the USGS Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases, chapter 13. I couldn't quickly find it online and am not comfortable posting it without permission, but will be happy to email the 5-page pdf document to anyone who is interested in it.

[JudyB]

December 30, 2023

I am in the process of updating the Live Cams page for Surrey Reserve on our website, and want to save the updates we posted there last year, since there are links that may be useful. The data is all here, mostly in the opening posts, but the format's a bit different.

Updates
Surrey Male (SM) arrived back on the nest the evening of October 9; as it began to get light on the morning of October 11, a second eagle was perched beside him on a branch we call the Night Perch – and it did turn out to be Surrey Female (SF); she may have arrived the previous evening.

March 9 – our eagles have names! Our beautiful and powerful female is now Brit – short for British Columbia, and our handsome and dedicated male is now Rey – named for Surrey Reserve.

March 24 – there’s an egg! We think this is the first egg ever for our young pair, laid by Brit at 4:22 pm. Rey didn’t get a peek until the next morning, and (humanizing a little) it seemed to take him a while to realize what it was and what he should do, but he has now begun to share in the incubation duties. Lots more details and pictures on our forum starting here – viewtopic.php?f=114&t=640&start=3510#p657194.

March 27 – Brit lays egg #2 at 3:01 pm – pictures and videos on the forum start here – viewtopic.php?f=114&t=640&start=3645#p658112

May 1 – eaglet SR7 hatches at 6:50 pm – you can see the little one working hard to get out of the shell in pictures here – viewtopic.php?f=114&t=640&start=4590#p669358. This is the first chick for our new parents Brit and Rey, and is also the 7th chick to hatch in this territory since this nest was built and we started watching, so it is SR7.

May 2 – eaglet SR8 hatches at 10:58 am, about 16 hours after the first chick. Pictures of the chicks being fed by first time mom Brit here – viewtopic.php?f=114&t=640&start=4710#p669723 (and on the previous page, and following pages – lots of screenshots and videos on the forum).

June 3 – younger eaglet SR8 appeared to be having trouble moving about on the nest; we think his or her right leg was injured, possibly stepped on by one of the adults while landing or moving around the nest; lots more info and links on the forum here – viewtopic.php?f=114&t=640#p607972

June 28 – our eaglets have names! Older SR7 is named Lof (an old Norse word for praise or glory) and younger SR8 is named Tyr (for the Norse god of courage).

As of July 4, younger eaglet Tyr seems to be a bit behind in size and development, possibly because he/she missed some feedings during the early days after the leg injury, but is getting stronger and moving better day by day. Tyr was the dominant chick on the nest for the first month, even though Lof was somewhat larger, and Tyr still does not back down when challenged by the older, larger sibling – and Lof sometimes steps back when they do get into one of the face-offs that is quite common as the eaglets get larger.

July 19 – older eaglet Lof accidentally bumped into Tyr while flapping around the nest, and knocked the smaller eaglet off the nest; happily Tyr was rescued quickly and was taken to OWL (the Orphaned WildLife Rehab facility nearby). Tyr has continued to be feisty, but seemed to not have much energy recently, and the initial observation at OWL was that he/she was very thin; keeping fingers crossed for the little one, and happy that he/she is now in the best possible place to recover from whatever has been going on.

July 22 – Sad news – Rob from OWL let us know that Tyr passed away during the night; he would have been 81 days old later that morning. Some additional details here.

Lof fledged at 7:48 am on July 31st; she was 91 days (13 weeks) old. As of August 6, she hasn’t returned to the nest. A juvenile eagle was seen in the area where Rey and Brit hunt – and after one initial visit, the adults haven’t been back to the nest either, so I suspect they are together in an area with more food, and a bit less construction noise. Wishing you a long happy life with lots of fish, Lof, and looking forward to seeing you in the fall, Rey and Brit.