Boundary Bay Central 2023-2024 Observation and Discussion

[RoseA]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

[njannie]

It's so sad looking at Bowen's feathery remains. Wish they would blow away. Looking forward to a successful new season with no weather extremes and lots of food!

I agree.

There are never any guarantees, but one of David Hancock's top priorities for this brief period when he's allowed to work on the nests is make a visit to the nest with a lift and remove Bowen's remains, and add some new nesting material to give Mere and Pere a head start for next year. There are a few other things he and his team would like to check - the sound from the nest isn't as loud as at some of the other nests and the sound from the North cam sometimes has more static than most, though he won't know what can be done about that until he and the tech people get there.

The window for doing work at the nest is August 15 to September 15 - so we are hoping he'll find a way to get everything scheduled sometime during the next two weeks. We will post here if/when we get an update. If nothing else, I think all the planned electrical work nearby has been completed, so at the very least we'll be able to see the complete nesting season in 2025 - and hopefully watch a peaceful, successful season.

i will like to know if they’re planning to shut off the cams for few months or weeks? or is the cam 24/7 … 365 days?!

[RoseA]

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

It's so sad looking at Bowen's feathery remains. Wish they would blow away. Looking forward to a successful new season with no weather extremes and lots of food!

I agree.

There are never any guarantees, but one of David Hancock's top priorities for this brief period when he's allowed to work on the nests is make a visit to the nest with a lift and remove Bowen's remains, and add some new nesting material to give Mere and Pere a head start for next year. There are a few other things he and his team would like to check - the sound from the nest isn't as loud as at some of the other nests and the sound from the North cam sometimes has more static than most, though he won't know what can be done about that until he and the tech people get there.

The window for doing work at the nest is August 15 to September 15 - so we are hoping he'll find a way to get everything scheduled sometime during the next two weeks. We will post here if/when we get an update. If nothing else, I think all the planned electrical work nearby has been completed, so at the very least we'll be able to see the complete nesting season in 2025 - and hopefully watch a peaceful, successful season.

i will like to know if they’re planning to shut off the cams for few months or weeks? or is the cam 24/7 … 365 days?!

There are no plans to shut off the cams purposely. The cameras go 24/7 unless something has gone wrong outside our control or there is some kind of important (and hopefully short-lived adjustment that has to happen, e.g. a software update).

[RoseA]

11:49am Heron just flew out of the tree beside the pond.

[muneca1230]

It's so sad looking at Bowen's feathery remains. Wish they would blow away. Looking forward to a successful new season with no weather extremes and lots of food!

I agree.

There are never any guarantees, but one of David Hancock's top priorities for this brief period when he's allowed to work on the nests is make a visit to the nest with a lift and remove Bowen's remains, and add some new nesting material to give Mere and Pere a head start for next year. There are a few other things he and his team would like to check - the sound from the nest isn't as loud as at some of the other nests and the sound from the North cam sometimes has more static than most, though he won't know what can be done about that until he and the tech people get there.

The window for doing work at the nest is August 15 to September 15 - so we are hoping he'll find a way to get everything scheduled sometime during the next two weeks. We will post here if/when we get an update. If nothing else, I think all the planned electrical work nearby has been completed, so at the very least we'll be able to see the complete nesting season in 2025 - and hopefully watch a peaceful, successful season.

i will like to know if they’re planning to shut off the cams for few months or weeks? or is the cam 24/7 … 365 days?!

Are the regulations different in Canada? I thought is was against the law to touch an eagle's nest.

[JudyB]

Are the regulations different in Canada? I thought is was against the law to touch an eagle's nest.

My impression (as a long time volunteer who doesn't live in Canada) is that you can only touch an eagle's nest if you have the approval from the province, which David has. In the opening posts, there's a two minute video that discusses why we are installing nests on the shore of Boundary Bay, and it's my impression that the nests were installed to help the eagles survive in their traditional territories on the shore of Boundary Bay now that there are less trees where they can nest, and the cameras help document the lives of the eagles in that area. It's therefore in the public interest to keep the cameras streaming, and David was able to get the permission to check things out.

[muneca1230]

Thanks so much!

[RoseA]

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

[RoseA]

9:23am many geese and ducks enjoying themselves in/near the water with the eagles away.

[JudyB]

I am in the process of updating the Live Cams page (https://hancockwildlife.org/boundary-bay-central-cams/) as we get ready for next year, and while I usually add a brief summary for the year to the "historical" area on that page and then delete the "updates" at the top of the page so it's ready for the news from the upcoming year, this was our first year watching this nest live - and a lot of unusual things happened - so I'm going to copy the updates from the website here as well. Many of the events are mentioned in the timeline in the opening posts, but some may be unique. Most of the material below was written by me, and I'm solely responsible for typos and inconsistencies (and appreciate being told of things I can fix).

Updates

September 30, 2023 – we now have two cams live at the site, but need to set up an additional YouTube channel before we can stream the second one.

October 1, 2023 – both cams are live – now all we need are the eagles!

December 12, 2023 – we’re having some issues with the cams, so for right now, we are streaming the Boundary Bay South cam on the North channel and have one of the White Rock cams on the South channel; with a bit of luck, it will all be sorted out in the next day or so.

December 30, 2023 – good news and bad news. The good news is that the pair is very busy working on their nest, and it’s interesting to see how well they have adapted to the various perches and the sunscreen that does block access from one side. The bad news is that the North cam has stopped streaming. We’re hoping it’s something that can be fixed with a site visit, but unfortunately, there is a chance the problem is with the cam or the wiring at the top of the pole, and we won’t be able to access that until next summer. Happily, the remaining cam provides a good view of the nest, so even if we can’t get the second cam working, we should have a good view of any little chicks they produce.

March 1, 2024 – the adults are spending a lot of time preparing the nest, so the zoomers have given them names. Meet Mère and Père (mother and father in French, which is Canada’s other official language)! For simplicity in typing, the accent mark is optional.

March 19, 2024 – As the cam pans around, you may see a couple of light gray rectangles – those are privacy masks to ensure that we don’t accidentally disturb the privacy of the people living near the nest while we’re focused on the eagle we’re following with the cam. The eagles are spending a lot of time on their nest, so I would not be surprised to see eggs before too long.

March 21, 3:49 pm – First egg!! Forum posts with lots of pictures start here – viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&start=3600#p737078.

March 24, 6:40 pm – Second egg! Posts start here – viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&start=3780#p738026. We generally start watching for signs of a hatch 35 days after the first egg was laid, which would be April 25th; it seems first eggs are more likely to hatch on day 37 or 38, and can be anywhere from 35-40 days – and we often notice the adults listening to the eggs before we see the first pip, or tiny crack showing that the hatch is underway.

April 9 – With big thanks to Michael and the GLS team, Ken, and everyone else involved, the North cam is streaming again!

April 26, 8:56 pm – We have a chick! It will be designated BB1, as the first chick since we installed a cam, and will likely get a name once we get to know it. Posts are here – viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&start=4800#p745639.

April 28, 3:35 pm – Second chick BB2 hatched successfully! Posts are here – viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&start=4920#p746081.

May 31 – The chicks have names! The zoomer team announced that BB1 is now Bowen and BB2 is Blue. In keeping with the initials of the nest (BB), both eaglet names start with the letter B and are taken from place names in BC (Bowen Island, Blue River).

June 20 – Power to the site was turned off temporarily on June 6 as part of an ongoing update of the electrical equipment at the site; the work has proved to be more extensive than expected, but is proceeding well, and we are hoping the cams will be back online soon. We do have some reports from members who have visited the publicly accessible trail near the site, and there are pictures on the forum starting here.

June 25 – The cams are back – and the eaglets are huge! Pictures and observations start here - viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&p=756998#p757013.

July 3 – Sad news – older eaglet Bowen died at 10:39 pm, likely of a combination of reduced food deliveries and possibly the hot sunny days, though it’s possible something toxic was brought to the nest. The cams were offline for three weeks, and when they came back, we didn’t see a lot of food deliveries, but did see some, and had not noticed any shortages of food in the past so weren’t really keeping a detailed list of what came into the nest and which eaglet got it, until we noticed that the eaglets were not doing the wing-flapping we’d expect at that age. There were a couple of food deliveries today, but younger eaglet Blue managed to grab and eat most of the first one, and Bowen didn’t even try to fight for a share of the second one. Bowen was 68 days old.

July 6 – Remaining eaglet Blue has had a number of good food deliveries in the last couple of days, and is beginning to do some flapping to strength his/her wings, all of which is very promising. We may never know what went off track leading to the reduced food deliveries that likely led to Bowen’s death – but I am now cautiously optimistic that things are back on track and Blue is eating well and beginning to build up the wing muscles she or he will need to start flying in the next couple of weeks. Blue will be 10 weeks old tomorrow, July 7, and eaglets can fledge at any time after that, though it seems that the eaglets we watch on the cams in BC are more likely to starting flying when they are 11 or 12 weeks old, and Blue may take a bit longer than that to regain the strength and muscle mass most young eaglets have at that age. Good luck, Blue – you have a lot of people pulling for you! ~JudyB

August 6 – Blue fledged at 3:57 pm (100 days old) – posts on the forum start here – viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&start=7665#p763984

August 24 – Blue did not return to the nest after fledging; we last saw female Mere on the nest the morning of August 6, and there was an adult that may have been male Pere perched in a nearby tree for a little while on August 7. We haven’t seen any of the eagles since then. The instinct to migrate is strong in late summer, and watching Blue practice flapping for a couple of days before fledging, I think she (or maybe he) felt a strong urge to leave, and the adults waited just long enough to be sure Blue was on her way.

[RoseA]

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

[lilmel459]

I sure miss Blue! I hope he/she is off eating a lot of fish and doing eagle stuff
Thank you for keeping us posted on the nest for the upcoming season, looking forward to it!
Glenda

[RoseA]

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2024

[JudyB]

10 am
I am logging in on the cams.

[JudyB]

Breaking News!
Boundary Bay Nest to be Cleaned Today!

David Hancock and a team are planning to arrive at our Boundary Bay Central nest around 10:30 this morning, September 7. You can view the cams live at https://hancockwildlife.org/boundary-bay-central-cams/ - David is planning to be up in the lift while some of the work is being done, and we're hoping he'll be able to tell us what's happening.

I know one part of the plan is to remove Bowen's remains from the nest in the hopes we'll be able to learn more about why our older eaglet here died even though she seemed to be getting the larger share of the food during the days when food was scarce. David is also planning to "freshen" the nest by adding more moss and leaving some sticks for the eagles to rearrange once they return.

Photographer and forum member AP Hovasse got this picture of our Boundary Bay family on May 24, 2024 (clicks much bigger):

©AP Hovasse, used with permission, all rights reserved.

I feel a bit awkward mentioning our need for funds while we're remembering Bowen, preparing the nest for the return of Mere and Pere, and celebrating Blue's successful fledge - but I also know there are people who have been planning to adopt their favorite nest or join our monthly donor program or donate in other ways, and this update may reach some of those people.

So....

2024 Cam Maintenance (& More)
Fund Drive Update

We had hoped to be able to clean the cams at White Rock and Surrey Reserve as well, but the fact of the matter is that lifts like the one David will be using today are not cheap to rent - and both lifts and climbers are scarce this year.

We are very grateful to everyone who has contributed to our fund drive - thanks to you, we have raised $2,621 - which is great, and may cover the cost of the lift for today, but is well below what we hope to get from our annual drive. If you can help, that would be great!

Details about How to Donate

If you have questions, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]


A big
Thank You!
to all who have donated,
to our wonderful zoomer teams,
and to all who help in other ways,
posting observations, screenshots, videos, and so much more.