Outreach and Fundraising for 2025 Nesting Season

[JudyB]

Posted on the six threads with streaming cams - Boundary Bay Central, Delta 2, Harrison Mills, Mission Harbour Dyke, Surrey Reserve and White Rock, August 20, 7:40 am

Hi everyone! The eagles are running a bit late this year, and so am I.

First -

Thank you
to all the zoomers, observers, folks who ask questions, folks who answer questions, and the people who mostly work behind the scene - none of this would work without all of you!

We have some really great cams (even though they occasionally have a blip or two), and thanks to your observations, we continue to learn more about eagles every year.

Next -

2024 Cam Maintenance
Matching Drive
Preview

For those of you new to the forum, we normally have a fundraising drive on the forum in the summer as the eaglets are getting ready to fledge, partly to help with the maintenance costs for the cams and partly to help with the internet and tech support expenses for the forum, the website, and the streaming of our cams.

If you've been waiting for the annual matching drive to make a donation or to adopt your favorite nest or nests, now's the time - thanks to a long-time supporter, the first $1000 will be matched - so if four people each donate $250 to adopt a nest for the 2024-2025 nesting season - HWF will get $2000!

There's more information about donating here - viewtopic.php?f=100&t=497 - and I'm happy to answer any questions via email ([email protected]) or personal message on the forum.

I'll be posting a bit more about our plans for cam maintenance and the expenses of maintaining the forum and the website - and how you can help. If you're ready to donate now, please click the button below to go to our donation page - and thank you for your support!

The photo on the button above is eaglet Blue from our new Boundary Bay Central nest, shortly before she (or maybe he) fledged; I love the way Blue is looking up to her future soaring high above the ground.

[JudyB]

This was a first draft - my current plan is to use the post above first, then finish/expand this one with more details. I also may use some of the buttons from last year - will think about that a bit more once I get started here.


Hi everyone! The eagles are running a bit late this year, and so am I.

2024 Cam Maintenance
Matching Drive
Preview

I apologize for the late start here - it's been a busy year!

For those of you new to the forum, we normally have a fundraising drive on the forum in the summer as the eaglets are getting ready to fledge, partly to help with the maintenance costs for the cams and partly to help with the internet and tech support expenses for the forum, the website, and the streaming of our cams.

I know that there's work we'd like to do at Boundary Bay, Delta 2, Surrey Reserve and White Rock - and am pretty sure we won't be able to do work on all of them. I think renting a lift or hiring a climber costs at least $1000 - $1500 per day or per job (not sure which and some locations are quite a bit more) and I don't know what the server space costs for over 700,000 posts with almost 1.4 million attachments, all of which are available to view at the click of a button, but I suspect it's not cheap.

As you may know, there are regulations protecting eagle nests from being disrupted, and while those regulations allow us to have cameras in the nests, they also say that any maintenance must be done between August 15 and September 15 (generally a time that eagles are away from their nests for a break after raising chicks, conveniently coinciding with the early salmon runs).

If you've been waiting for the annual matching drive to make a donation or to adopt your favorite nest or nests, now's the time - thanks to a long-time supporter, the first $1000 will be matched - so if four people each donate $250 to adopt a nest for the 2024-2025 nesting season - HWF will get $2000! I'll add the basic info about donating at the end of this post.

And while I'm focusing on camera maintenance because of the tight timeline, I need to mention another very important component - the greatest, cleanest cams in the world would be totally worthless if no one was watching them and reporting on what was happening!

We do need more people posting - our very dedicated core group is stretched pretty thin - and we'd love to have a few more people zooming (controlling the cams). If you have an interest in becoming a zoomer, the first step is to observe and post so you get used to the area and the eagles. Our observer team is always happy to help explain why they think it was the male who delivered the food, or how they use where an eagle sits as a clue to which one it is - or whatever is working for them. We all enjoy talking about our favorite eagles.


in progress

[JudyB]

Posting on the six threads for our cams that are streaming - August 25, 10:50 am

2024 Cam Maintenance
Matching Drive

First - big thanks to those who have donated! We have already raised $855 - which is great! We do need more than that to do at least some of the work we're hoping to do at the various nests, and to keep the forum running and the cams streaming.

I know that there's work we'd like to do at Boundary Bay, Delta 2, Surrey Reserve and White Rock - and am pretty sure we won't be able to do work on all of them. I think renting a lift or hiring a climber can cost $1000 - $1500 per day or per job (not sure which and some locations are quite a bit more) and I don't know what the server space costs for over 700,000 posts with almost 1.4 million attachments, all of which are available to view at the click of a button, but I suspect it's not cheap.

As you may know, there are regulations protecting eagle nests from being disrupted, and while those regulations allow us to have cameras in the nests, they also say that any maintenance on active nests must be done between August 15 and September 15 (generally a time that eagles are away from their nests for a break after raising chicks, conveniently coinciding with the early salmon runs).

A popular way of donating is adopting a nest - and with the matching drive, if you adopt Boundary Bay Central, Delta 2, Harrison Mills, Mission Harbour Dyke, Surrey Reserve or White Rock for next year for $250, Hancock Wildlife will get $500! Please note that adopting a nest is a sign of support for that nest, and we'll be using the funds where they are most needed - so feel free to adopt your favorite nest even if we're not likely to do maintenance there this year.

The easiest way to adopt a nest is to

• go to the "Donations" page on our website (https://hancockwildlife.org/donations/ - or click the button below)
• click the "Donate via CanadaHelps Now!" link
• enter the amount of your donation ($250 to adopt the nest of your choice for the coming year)
• pick "Adopt a Nest" from the Fund list
• use the message box to say which nest (or tagged eagle) you are adopting and how you would like your name to be listed
• fill in your contact information and credit card details, and
• click "Complete Donation Now"

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 me or gemini ([email protected] or [email protected]) if you have other questions or concerns.

THANK YOU!

[JudyB]

Posted on a whole lot of active threads - August 27 - thanks, gemini!

2024 Cam Maintenance (& More)
Annual Fund Drive
Update

Hi everyone - and thanks so much to those of you who have donated to kick off our annual fund drive! Thanks to you, we have raised $1,355! We do still have a long way to go - and we could use your help!

We generally do our annual fund drive in late summer/early fall because that's when we are allowed to go into the nests and clean the cameras and do other necessary maintenance. Here's a picture of David Hancock at White Rock a couple of years ago when we had to replace a broken strap:

It's easy to explain why we need some extra money now - lifts like the one David is using are not cheap to rent, and climbers are in high demand this time of year. However, we also need funds to maintain this forum and our website https://hancockwildlife.org/ and the computers and software that keep our cams streaming to the web. I don't know what the server space costs for over 700,000 posts with almost 1.4 million attachments, all of which are available to view at the click of a button, but I suspect it's not cheap.

Monthly donations are a great way to support the expenses of the forum and website, and they are easy to set up:

• go to the "Donations" page on our website (https://hancockwildlife.org/donations/)
• click the "Donate via CanadaHelps Now!" link
• change the highlighted box at the top of the page from "Donate Now" to "Donate Monthly."
• enter the amount of your monthly donation
• feel free to use the message box to say which nest(s) you follow or provide other feedback
• fill in your contact information and credit card details, and
• click "Complete Donation Now"

Monthly donations can be cancelled at any time, and by donating through CanadaHelps, those in Canada will automatically get the tax receipt they need at the end of the year - and even though I'm in the US, I normally use CanadaHelps because I find it simpler than PayPal, and like that the tiny fee that's subtracted either way is used to help non-profits like Hancock Wildlife receive online donations. That said - you can also set up monthly donations with PayPal.

I will also mention that while we focus on adopting our HWF nests with cams, you can adopt other nests we cover, with the understanding that the money goes to support the forum, not to maintenance of those cams.

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.

[JudyB]

Nest Adoptions for 2025 - list to help me keep track of everything.

Boundary Bay Central
~ RoseA and MurielAK ~
~ gemini ~
~ Charlie Ipcar ~
~ JudyB ~

Delta 2

Gleneagles
~ Charlie Ipcar ~

Harrison Mills
~ JudyB ~

Mission Harbour Dyke

Surrey Reserve
~ Sandy_W ~
~ gemini ~
~ JudyB ~

White Rock
~ In Memory of Rick from Sandy ~

other
tagged eagle Loki: ~ JudyB, in Memory of David Barrows ~


Bev will be adopting Harrison Mills, Surrey Reserve, White Rock and Boundary Bay Central after the holiday weekend as ~ Irish Eyes ~

I'm probably adopting Surrey Reserve, Harrison Mills, Boundary Bay Central and Loki (I made my matching donation September 2, but will wait a bit before adding my name, and am still slightly undecided about what to adopt).

Sandy Jo has adopted White Rock and can adopt another nest if she wishes.

[JudyB]

Posted at Boundary Bay, Surrey Reserve, and White Rock

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. We'll also be posting updates on the forum thread here - viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&p=766304#p766297

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.