French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022-2024 Seasons

Camera is offline, but we do get occasional updates for the French Creek Estuary nest on Vancouver Island, BC, from local observers

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JudyB
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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2021-2022

Post by JudyB » Sat Aug 20, 2022 10:17 am

2022 Cam Maintenance
Matching Drive

Thanks to all who have donated - we are already up to $3000! And that doesn't include the $1000 matching pledge, which should arrive in a day or so. And I've heard of at least three more nest adoptions that are in the works. :D

We already have 12 adoptions for 2023 - 3 for Delta 2, 3 for White Rock, 2 for Surrey Reserve, one each for Harrison Mills and French Creek, and two for the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam. (The SWFEC donations are towards the expenses of maintaining the forum where screenshots, observations, and video links are stored; we are not involved with the maintenance of the cams there.)


As you may know, the camera at French Creek stopped working in late December; we are hoping to get it streaming again - and hoping that this pair or another pair will use the nest.

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They are a handsome pair of eagles in a beautiful area - if you can, please help.

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We've tried to answer some of the common questions about donating here - All About Donating - and please feel free to PM me if you have other questions or concerns.

Thank You!

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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2021-2022

Post by nightowl » Sat Aug 20, 2022 11:58 pm

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2022

:bye 1:
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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2021-2022

Post by JudyB » Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:41 am

~~
2022 Cam Maintenance
Fund Drive Update
Hi everyone!

First, before I forget - if you've been meaning to send in a donation to help us get our cams ready for the coming season - you're in luck! We still have a ways to go - and here's a link to our donations page:

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If you have made a donation - thank you so much! We've raised almost $5000, which will be a big help as we rush to clean the cams and do routine (and some non-routine) maintenance at our nest sites.

If you're a bit curious what this is about - here's a quick summary:
  • one of the two straps holding the CloseUp cam over our White Rock nest has broken; we want to get a team with a lift to the nest to secure the cam and also clean it and the North cam in a neighboring tree
  • one of the cameras at our Harrison Mills nest has stopped working and the other has been going offline for weeks at a time; we want to repair or replace the cam that has stopped working, and possibly replace the cam that works intermittently, and also check the onsite wiring in case that's a factor in the outages
  • the cam at the French Creek nest stopped working in December; it's a new cam, so we're hoping it's something simple like a loose wire that could be fixed while the eagles are away
  • the Surrey Reserve cams need cleaning; we are very happy that it appears that is all they need this year - but we do want someone to check the cams to make sure nothing is beginning to give way
  • the tree holding our Delta 2 nest is dying and branches are beginning to fall off (including one that was holding one of the two cameras there); happily our GoFundMe campaign and a few private donations will cover the installation of a new sturdy nest on a pole and two new cameras, but there will almost certainly be a few things that were not included in the original estimate.
And - we're under a deadline. The eagles may begin to return as early as mid-September, so we want all the work to be completed by September 15th.

One way to help is to adopt one or more of our nests for next year with a donation of $250 or more per nest - and we are thrilled that we already have 19 nest adoptions for the 2022-2023 nesting season! Thank you!

Another thing that helps us all year long is our monthly donor program - those donations help with the monthly expenses for things like the server that hosts this forum, as well as a fairly substantial internet bill.

And if you're thinking that you'd like to donate, but really can't afford to do any of those right now - we have over 1000 members, and a lot more people who check in from time to time to see what's happening with their favorite eagles or osprey or other critters - and if even a small percent of them (of you!) could give $25 or $50 - we would be very close to our goal!

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We've tried to answer some of the common questions about donating here - All About Donating - and please feel free to PM me or email [email protected] if you have other questions or concerns.

And if you can - please help.

Thank You!

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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2021-2022

Post by nightowl » Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:00 am

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2022

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gemini
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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2021-2021 Season

Post by gemini » Wed Sep 28, 2022 3:04 pm

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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2021-2022 Season

Post by gemini » Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:01 am

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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022-2023 Season

Post by gemini » Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:57 am

...


This post marks the beginning of the 2022-2023 season.

For previous seasons go HERE
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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022-2023 Season

Post by gemini » Fri Oct 28, 2022 11:58 am

,

Welcome to the 2022-23 season of the French Creek Eagle pair.

We may not have a cam on the nest yet, but we have a wonderful ground crew who are set to keep us informed of the comings and goings of this eagle family. Once again, the French Creek pair have chosen to use the Marina nest and we are starting off the new season with a video of one of them bringing a branch to the nest to prepare for the coming nesting season.

Video courtesy of Denise Foster, Chair, Save Estuary Land Society

:vid: Adult flies in with branch to their Marina Nest (:46)

2022-10-19  French Creek.jpg
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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022 & 2023 Seasons

Post by nightowl » Fri Oct 28, 2022 11:58 pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022

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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022 & 2023 Seasons

Post by gemini » Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:48 am

The latest observations and video of the French Creek pair courtesy of Denise Foster, Chair, Save Estuary Land Society


......Our favourite 'island eagles' are actively renovating their nest and vigorously defending their territory. We now have 7 eagle nests within a 2 kilometer stretch of coastline at French Creek. Through my observations I'm convinced it's the same female and male reunited again.

Here's Mom doing some nest renovations while Dad decides to get out of her way and beats a hasty retreat (smart Dad). Despite Mom’s best efforts, and tackling the task every which way, the branch seems to have won this round!


Video taken December 2022

:vid: French Creek eagles working on their nest! (2:22)
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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022 & 2023 Seasons

Post by JudyB » Sun Jul 16, 2023 12:50 pm

We have an update on the French Creek eagles!

The cam we helped install there is still not working, and the eagles aren't using the nest where the cam is - but - with big thanks to Denise Foster, Chair, Save Estuary Land Society, and Wayne Duke, photographer extraordinaire - we know that they raised a chick, and their youngster fledged on June 28 - and Wayne got these spectacular pictures of the very determined youngster flying out of the nest:

20230628a-a_WayneDuke_N5Z9336 Fledged the Nest.jpg
20230628b-a_WayneDuke_N5Z9349 Flight Lessons.jpg

Two days later, June 30, Wayne found the fledgling hanging out with Mom:
20230630-a_WayneDuke_N5Z9664 Fledgling with Mom.jpg

(photos are copyright, Wayne Duke, used with permission, all rights reserved)

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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022 & 2023 Seasons

Post by JudyB » Sun Jul 16, 2023 12:50 pm

I wanted to start with the exciting news that the chick had fledged - and wanted to include this picture from June 16 of the eaglet watching while Mom flew off - it's also copyright, Wayne Duke, used with permission, all rights reserved. Thank you, Wayne and Denise, for sharing these with us!
20230616-a_WayneDuke_N5Z7276 Mom and chick in nest.jpg

Last but definitely not least are two videos from Denise. Here's her description for the first one:

-Mom flies in with fish: I was observing the nest and couldn't see the chick at all. Then Mom does a flyby, zooming right across the front of the nest and up popped the chick. Mom circles the tree then flies into the nest with a nice, big fish and begins tearing it for the chick.

:vid: French Creek Mom Flies in with Fish


Denise's description for the second video:

-Two parents, two fish: After watching Mom and the chick for about 30 mins Dad suddenly appears and flies into the nest with a 2nd (smaller) fish. The eagle family was still in the nest together when I left after 45 mins.

:vid: Two Parents, Two Fish at French Creek


Videos are courtesy of Denise Foster and the Save Estuary Land Society, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Thanks!

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Re: Blank Posts for "Just in case!"

Post by gemini » Sat Aug 26, 2023 5:05 pm

.


Summary of the French Creek Eagles' 2023 Nesting Season

October 11. 2023

We received the following update for the 2023 nesting season from Denise Foster: Chair, Save Estuary Land Society. Thank you Denise!

"The French Creek Marina parents (especially the Mom) were incredibly attentive to their chick from the moment it hatched, during its time in the nest and after it fledged. The adult female often spent 30-40 minutes with her chick in the nest eating and resting together. The chick was one of the first to hatch and fledge in the area. After fledging both parents were often seen perched together in one of their favourite perches along Viking Way with their youngster just above on a branch . When one or both parents flew off junior would follow, likely hoping to get in on any prey they might find.

Mom and her fledgling left the territory (likely on the same day) on their northern migration during the 3rd week in September joined by Dad the following week. The male was gone only three weeks when I observed him back along Viking Way. Two days later during a heavy rain I saw the pair perched so closely together they looked like one eagle - I like to think they missed each other!

Many local birders are reporting adult eagles returning to their territories but no juveniles seen as yet, including the French Creek Marina young eagle."
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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022 & 2023 Seasons

Post by nightowl » Mon Sep 11, 2023 11:45 pm

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

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Re: French Creek Estuary Eagles, Vancouver Island - 2022 - 2024 Seasons

Post by gemini » Wed Sep 27, 2023 12:51 am

...

This post marks the beginning of the 2023-2024 season.

For previous seasons go HERE
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