Deep Cove Winery Eagles, North Saanich BC - 2019-2024 Seasons

[sassyk]

I visited the nest site with my birding partner on Wed. June 8th. We did not see or hear either of the adults in the area but did see both eaglets wandering around the nest, stretching & exercising their wings and even a poop!

[sassyk]

June 8th visit cont'd.

[sassyk]

June 8th visit cont'd.

Final 3 photos.

[sassyk]

I visited the nest site on July 8th but did not see or hear the eaglets or the adults. However, I did hear an eaglet calling a few times while I was there. I searched the trees and took photos but I did not see the eaglets. I spoke to one of the employees working on the road repairs; he said an eaglet flew over the road that morning and flew to the nest.

I have sent an email to Elyse at the winery to ask when the eaglets fledged and will post any additional info here.

Work on the sink hole in the road has begun and will continue for another couple of months.

[sassyk]

I received an update today from Elyse at the winery regarding the eaglets.

"I am happy to report that they first took real flight within the last week, 5-7days ago. They had some practice flying within the tree for around 2 or 3 weeks prior. They do still visit the nest very often, in fact one baby tried to make a landing on the nest and missed a bit and knocked down some big branches. The adults, or what I assume are the two parents (white heads) are around although we do not see them in the nest. We hear a lot of eagle sounds around from trees in the surrounding areas."

[sassyk]

I visited the nest site on July 14th. Just as I parked at the side of the road one of the fledgling eaglets flew from a tree across the road, circled around the winery property and headed for the trees at the back of the property. A couple of minutes later the 2nd fledgling eaglet flew from the same tree and headed for the nest tree. It decided to circle around and and landed in a tree near the nest tree. As I was chatting with a couple walking their dog, the eaglet flew to the nest. As it landed I saw another bing fly up in the nest; I didn't see the first eaglet land in the nest

Both eaglets seemed to be picking at food bits in the nest.

Repairs in progress to the sink hole in the road beside the winery property.

[sassyk]

July 14th cont'd.

One of the eaglets flapped up to a branch then jumped down into the nest.

[sassyk]

This is the opening post for the 2022-2023 nesting season.

I visited the nest site on Monday Nov. 14th. I did not see or hear any eagles in the area. I took photos of the nest & tree.

[sassyk]

I visited the winery nest site with my birding partner on April 12th and we were very pleased to see and hear both eagles in the area. One of the adults was in the nest and it appeared to be feeding an eaglet However, the eaglet must be very small because we didn't see a fuzzy head in the nest.

There was a juvenile eagle in the area and after chasing it away the adult flew to the nest.

[sassyk]

Apr. 12th cont'd.

Both adults flew out of the nest, circled around the area, then one went into the nest.

Looking very much like the adult is feeding a chick

The other adult flew to a nearby perch tree.

[sassyk]

I visited the nest site on May 26th and saw an adult hiding amongst the branches at the top of the nest tree. After approx. 10 minutes it flew off towards the back of the winery property. The eaglet is not visible in this first photo.

The other adult was in the nest and appeared to be feeding an eaglet

[sassyk]

May 26th cont'd.

A few more photos of the eaglet and adult.

[sassyk]

I visited the nest site with my birding partner on June 14th.

There was no adult eagles in the area during our visit; and for the first 20 minutes we wandered up and down the road in front of the winery but the eaglet didn't make an appearance. Finally just as we were thinking of leaving the eaglet popped up. It sat up in the nest and called several times but the adults didn't come to the nest.

The eaglet was calling and calling but no adults came to the nest.

The eaglet decided to do some preening.

[sassyk]

In late June I was alerted to a young immature eagle being picked up at the side of the road beside the winery property; it was injured and taken to WildARC and admitted. I enquired about the status of the eaglet's condition and was told it had an old fracture in its wing that didn't heal properly, making it difficult for the eaglet to fly. Sadly it was euthanized. I was not convinced the eaglet was this year's hatchling but thinking it was the eaglet from the winery nest we did not visit again.

I was surprised to received an email from Elyse at the winery on July 21st to tell me she saw an eaglet standing tall in the nest! This was very good news and convinced me the injured eaglet was from another nest and probably last year's hatchling.

[sassyk]

This is the opening post for the Deep Cove Winery Eagles for the 2023/2024 nesting season.

I visited the nest site on Oct. 12th with my birding partner but we did not see or hear any eagles in the area.
The nest looks intact but will need some work before the eagles decide to lay eggs!