News From Our Nests

[JudyB]

Hi everyone! I wanted to let you know that we are on egg watch at Surrey Reserve, our newest HWF nest to watch - viewtopic.php?f=114&t=333

Those of us watching (and we'd love to have more people join us - it gets lonely there!) - we decided it was premature to call them Mom and Dad as they haven't laid any eggs yet, so with David's approval we named the male Sur (pronounced like sir) and the female Res - short for Surrey and Reserve.

Res has spent a couple of nights sleeping on the nest - which adults don't often do unless they are getting close to laying eggs - and Sur surprised us by spending most of one night sleeping on the nest - which is less common in my experience unless there are actually eggs there. All males in successful pairs spend time on the eggs - but some seem to enjoy it more than others (to use a human term - but some are up and out the minute the female returns and others need to be nudged off the eggs). I'm thinking Sur may be one of those males who likes spending time on the nest.

We are also on egg watch at Delta 2 - they usually have their first egg during the first week of March. I'm less sure what's up with the White Rock pair - they are spending a lot of time at their nest, but it doesn't look as ready as the nests at Delta and Surrey Reserve. The original Harrison Mills pair usually nested in late March or early April - not sure what this pair will do.

[gemini]

We have an egg at Surrey Reserve!
It arrived at 4:06 pm.

Come See!

[Jean]

FIRST EGG OF THE SEASON AT DELTA2! Congratulations to Ma and Trooper.....................egg laid at 3:18pm.

[Jean]

Tonight the names of the 2 eaglets on the Delta2 nest was decided after a vote from the viewers. The chosen names were to honor the local area.............the community of Bella Coola is on the W coast of BC and I'm sure there would be lots of eagles in that area.

Welcome to "Bella" and "Coola"............currently about 4 and a half weeks old.

[Philjo56France]

Sad News from Big Bear Ca, at 8h30 Nest time, this morning
After a last day in the rain and cold, the snow that fell all night, despite the return of good weather and a beautiful view, Cookie finally let go and went away this early morning (08h30) as quietly as he lived. Rest In Peace little Cookie, where you are now you will never suffer anymore.

[IrishEyes]

Sad News from Big Bear Ca, at 8h30 Nest time, this morning
After a last day in the rain and cold, the snow that fell all night, despite the return of good weather and a beautiful view, Cookie finally let go and went away this early morning (08h30) as quietly as he lived. Rest In Peace little Cookie, where you are now you will never suffer anymore.

Sorry to hear this Philjo .. RIP Cookie and to you Phijo and all who watched this nest!

[Philjo56France]

Sad News from Big Bear Ca, at 8h30 Nest time, this morning
After a last day in the rain and cold, the snow that fell all night, despite the return of good weather and a beautiful view, Cookie finally let go and went away this early morning (08h30) as quietly as he lived. Rest In Peace little Cookie, where you are now you will never suffer anymore.

Sorry to hear this Philjo .. RIP Cookie and to you Phijo and all who watched this nest!

I didn't know Cookie so much but was alrma the 2 or 3 last night with snow during las week and then the day before ful of rain and his last night with snow and frost, too much for a little one. I was there supporting him during his last moment but i ask my self if it wasn't him whos was supporting my bad being at this moment. now he knows ! Thanks Bev

[JudyB]

Some happy news - Dee, the older eaglet from the HWF Surrey Reserve nest, fledged at 8:03 am this morning.

Fledge! (1:04)


This is a very exciting moment for Hancock Wildlife Foundation and for supporters of eagles in BC - Dee hatched from the first egg laid in the nest built by HWF in the first Bald Eagle Reserve in British Columbia, and as she takes her first flight, she carries with her the hopes and dreams of those who have been working to find ways to save space for the eagles and other wildlife as more of the lower mainland of BC is developed. Dee is 82 days old today. You can read more about the Surrey Reserve here - https://hancockwildlife.org/surrey-rese ... agle-nest/.

[IrishEyes]

Sorry I thought I posted this earlier

Re H Mills .. Dad and Lady are back from their migration ..Sept. 20 at 4:46p

viewtopic.php?p=239601#p239601

[Philjo56France]

I Don't know if i can post here. if not, please delete it all !

From Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam FB page

BIG BEAR’S EAGLES COULD BE IN DANGER!! PLEASE HELP!
Jackie and Shadow need your help to keep them from being EVICTED from their home. A proposal for 50 luxury house sites with new roads, a huge private marina and parking area only ½ mile from their nest could destroy the future possibility of them continuing to nest in this area. The site of this proposed development can be seen from the nest cam! (yellow circle in the cam photo below). The decision will be made by County Supervisors on October 8.
This currently forested lakefront site (sunrise photo below) is used by eagles to feed themselves and their chicks. The marina, parking, roads and houses would destroy this key north shore foraging ground. And the monumental increase in disturbance in this quiet area would likely cause the eagles to abandon the nest. Even the County’s official environmental documents state that there would be significant detrimental impacts to bald eagles. County planning is recommending approval, in spite of these harmful impacts, saying that housing is more important. But we currently have over 600 houses for sale--150 more than a year ago--in our small valley!
The proposed project would also intensify fire danger in an area already plagued with high fire-risk and ranked in the top 1% as having the most hazardous, least adequate fire and emergency evacuation routes. Approval of this proposal would have major harmful impacts to the bald eagles, to our National Forest, to our residents and to our visitors.
WHAT YOU CAN DO—
-Please share this post with everyone.
-Please copy, sign and email or mail the letter posted below (or download it from our website), with whatever changes or additional comments you’d like to make (and cc each official listed on the letter).
-Ask your friends and family to send emails or letters, also.
-If you are anywhere nearby, please attend the hearing before the Supervisors on October 8 in San Bernardino (385 N. Arrowhead Ave.) at 10 a.m. (If you need a ride from Big Bear, email me at fobbvinfo@gmail.com ).
-If you have questions or are willing to be more involved to help with anything, please email me also.
For more information on all of this, please visit the “Environmental Watch/Action Needed” page of our website: https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/envi ... hqChrCYngE
Thank you thank you thank you for your assistance!!
Sandy

(sample letter)
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors
385 N. Arrowhead Ave., #2
San Bernardino, CA 92415
Clerk of the Board, COB@sbcounty.gov
Re: Proposed Moon Camp development, October 8 Supervisors’ hearing
Dear Supervisors:
I am asking you to DENY the detrimental zone change and project proposal for the Moon Camp development in Fawnskin. Increasing housing density in this area would cause major irreversible harm to the bald eagles that nest nearby and forage on the site.
The most recent Draft Environmental Impact Report (2011) concluded there would be significant adverse impacts to bald eagles. That analysis was based on bald eagles only wintering in the valley for a few months a year. Beginning in 2012, a pair of bald eagles began nesting within ½ mile of the project site. The much more significant impacts this project would cause based on this key change has never been evaluated. Project proponents have attempted to conceal the true impacts to bald eagles by creating what they call a ‘Long Term Management Plan.’ Without proper analysis, any management plan is invalid.
Planning staff cites the need for housing as more important than any harm caused to bald eagles. This area is in the heart of a National Forest, in a unique, rural area on the north side of the lake. The project site itself contains 3 species of plants and rare habitat that do not exist anywhere else in the world! Less than 1/3 of this special habitat is planned to be conserved. With over 600 homes currently for sale in this small valley (150 more than a year ago), there is no justification to declare that a need for housing overrides significant harmful impacts to bald eagles.
Any zone change, as this project requires, must be in the public interest. This area is already rated such a high fire risk that many local homeowners have had their insurance cancelled. A housing density increase along the National Forest boundary would escalate the fire risk. The area is already ranked in the top 1% as having the most hazardous, least adequate fire and emergency evacuation routes in the state. This zoning change would further aggravate that potentially dire evacuation deficiency.
To approve this project, County decision-makers would be saying they care more about adding luxury houses and a private marina than they care about preventing harmful impacts to the bald eagles, to our National Forest, to our residents and to our visitors. Please DENY the detrimental zone change and project proposal for the Moon Camp development in Fawnskin.
Most sincerely,
_________________
cc: Supervisor Robert A. Lovingood, Robert.Lovingood@bos.sbcounty.gov
Supervisor Janice Rutherford, Janice.Rutherford@bos.sbcounty.gov
Supervisor Dawn Rowe, Dawn.Rowe@bos.sbcounty.gov
Supervisor Curt Hagman, Curt.Hagman@bos.sbcounty.gov
Supervisor Josie Gonzalez, jgonzales@sbcounty.gov
County LUS Director, Terri Rahhal Terri.Rahhal@lus.sbcounty.gov
County Planner, Tom Nievez, tom.nievez@lus.sbcounty.gov

View proposed development site from the eagle's nest

Current view of the proposed Moon Camp site.

[Philjo56France]

Newly discovered virus infects bald eagles across America
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown virus infecting nearly a third of America's bald eagle population.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 080612.htm

[JudyB]

February 27, 2020

Mom Res just laid her first egg of the season at the Surrey Reserve nest in BC with Dad Sur looking on. This is only the second year we've been watching these eagles, but this is the earliest they've laid. Congratulations, Sur and Res. The egg was laid at 5:11 pm.

[JudyB]

I wrote this for our Hancock Wildlife Foundation Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Hancock-Wildli ... 4430480179 and wanted to post it here as well, since it does provide an overview of what's been happening at our nests this year.

Update on our eagle cam nests

Hi everyone! JudyB here (volunteer forum/website admin for Hancock Wildlife Foundation) with a report on what is turning out to be a challenging year for our eagles. We have five nests with cameras this year, and usually at least two or three of them produce chicks that successfully fledge and fly off to explore the world. One of our young eagles – Loki who fledged from our Surrey Reserve nest in 2020 – has a tracker and you can follow her travels here - https://hancockwildlife.org/our-project ... ge/beta04/

This year none of our cam nests will be sending young eagles out into the world, though we’ve just learned that the French Creek eagles on Vancouver Island are using an alternate nest and have two big, beautiful eaglets! Our camera at French Creek malfunctioned in December, so even if the eagles had used the nest, we wouldn’t have been able to watch them live.

Delta 2 has been our most reliable nest over the years, with 17 eaglets fledging since we started watching in 2011. This year male Trooper disappeared in early February, probably after a confrontation with another eagle hoping to take over the territory, and while other males arrived to court Ma Delta, she didn’t choose one in time to nest this year. There is a male we are tentatively calling DM for Delta Male who has been around fairly consistently, and I think they are becoming a pair. Unfortunately there are a few obstacles. Ma may have recently re-injured the leg she broke back in 2014 – and the tree holding their nest is dying and branches have been falling off, including one holding one of our cams. We can’t do anything about Ma’s injury other than send good thoughts and prayers – but we are working on a plan to replace the dying tree with a new nest on a sturdy pole near the trees where the eagles perch – please check out our GoFundMe drive – and if you can, please help us make this happen! The link is https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-new-home-f ... agles-nest.

We’ve had a pair of young eagles at our Harrison Mills nest since late summer 2018 – and this was the first year they produced eggs. Unfortunately, Dad Duffer was in a fight (probably with someone trying to take the territory) at about the same time young Mom Dimple was laying her very first eggs, and while Duffer recovered from his injuries and kept his territory, his focus had shifted away from nesting, and he didn’t share in the incubation. Dimple did an amazing job, but she needed to take breaks for eat and care for her needs, so the eggs were left alone at times, and didn’t hatch. And then the camera went offline, a little over a week after the last possible hatch date. The good news is that the pair is still together – and we are hoping to be able to install new cams later this summer – and hoping they will finally have a successful and productive year in 2023.

This is the fourth nesting season that we’ve had a camera at Surrey Reserve – and the beginning of the season was sad and stressful for those of us who had been watching since the cam was installed. Dad Sur was involved in a series of skirmishes with a younger male in mid-November and was not seen after that. Mom Res and the new male spent time at the nest afterwards, and did a bit of work on the nest – but Res flew off on December 23 and never returned (I like happy endings, so I’m choosing to believe that Sur flew by in the distance for a final farewell to the nest, and Res saw him and considered the challenges involved in training a new mate who tended to steal her food – and said “wait for me!” – and they flew off happily into the sunset; probably not likely – but maybe…). Anyway, a new young female arrived a week later, and they have slowly been becoming a pair, and are now busy working on the nest – so I am very optimistic that they will have eggs and hopefully chicks next year.

And that brings us to White Rock, and the saddest story for our eagle families this year. The White Rock pair built a new nest this winter and spring, fortunately visible from our cams, but at a distance and with an obstructed view. Mom and Dad White Rock laid at least two eggs, and after the usual time, we saw two tiny eaglets peek out. Eaglets at this nest are named from the aviation alphabet, so they became Sierra and Tango. And everything was going wonderfully until a few days ago, when they became less active – and then, on June 14, they died; they were 6-1/2 weeks old. We suspect avian flu, which means the adults are still at risk – though it could have been a contaminant or poison in something they ate. We are trying to arrange for a climber to recover the bodies for testing, but unfortunately demand for climbers is very high right now, so we don’t know if that will happen. We were so happy that at least one of our nests had little chicks – and now the are gone. We are hoping that Mom and Dad will survive, and that 2023 will be a much better year.

I’m going to end with a picture of the French Creek eaglets who are doing great, even though there is not a cam on their nest this year; this screenshot is courtesy of Denise Foster, Chair, Save Estuary Land Society.

Please send good thoughts for Mom and Dad White Rock and all our eagles, and if you can, please donate to our GoFundMe drive so Ma Delta and her new mate will have a safe nest for next year. Thank you!

Additional pictures added as a comment to the original post:
(all pictures click larger)


Here is a map of 2020 eaglet Loki's travels. View the map here - https://hancockwildlife.org/our-project ... ge/beta04/ - and read more about the places she's visited here - viewtopic.php?f=95&t=494




Ma Delta and her new mate; screenshot by forum member SueB.




Dad Duffer and Mom Dimple at Harrison Mills.




Our new pair at Surrey Reserve, having a bit of a discussion about where to place a stick.




The White Rock family in happier times, screenshot from June 8 by forum member Lynne. Eaglets Sierra and Tango are partly hidden - one is on the left of the central branch, and the other is visible through the branches on the right, while Mom and Dad sound an alarm.