Two Harbors - Santa Catalina Island - Seasons 2018-2023

[Farniente]

Hi,

from tchat, banding day for the eaglet.

[Farniente]

Hi,

all was fine at banding day.

It's a girl!

E17, E18 (SWFL) and Legacy (NEFL) have begun their journey, eaglets in the Island are still there for a few weeks.

[JudyB]

2021 Cam Maintenance
Matching Drive

A little over 17 weeks ago, we met Tiku from our Surrey Reserve nest; this is just before he or maybe she made it all the way out of the shell:

And now Tiku and Tucca from Surrey Reserve and Hope and Chase from Delta 2 have all set out to explore the world.

We do still have one young eagle to watch - this is Romeo from our White Rock nest, who hatched 6 weeks later than Tiku:

At 11 weeks, he (or maybe she) is practicing perching on the nest supports and exercising those big wings. Eaglets generally fledge (take their first flight) between 10 and 14 weeks, and it's my guess that will happen in the next week or so.

And you know - I haven't really thought about this before - but our little window to access the nests and clean the cams and do any other necessary work isn't always that much longer than the 35-40 days it takes an egg to hatch. Last year the Surrey Reserve adults didn't leave until August 14 (though they weren't visiting very often after Thor left in mid-July) - and Dad Sur was back on September 26. Different pairs have different schedules - and it can vary from year to year - so it would be great if we could get ready now.

With that in mind....

We will be posting more details about our Adopt-a-Nest program, the new option to adopt one of our eagles with a tracker (details soon), the Monthly Donor program - and the work we need to do on the 10 cameras we now have at five different nests.

The important thing to know is that at least the first $1000 in donations toward our cam maintenance fund drive will be matched by long-time supporters of Hancock Wildlife - so the time to donate is now!

Details about How to Donate

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

Thank You!

[JudyB]

Summary of 2020-2021 Nesting Season

Male K81/Chase and Female K82/Cholyn both hatched in 1998 as part of the program to bring bald eagles back to the Channel Islands - so they were 24 this year - and still definitely active!

They laid two eggs, but sadly one broke after about two weeks (I wasn't watching at the time, but couldn't see any evidence of a developing chick from the screenshots). Happily the second egg hatched on April 7 and became a feisty and demanding solo chick, getting lots of attention (and fish) from Chase and Cholyn. The eaglet was banded on May 4, with orange band 16/D; measurements at the time of banding suggested she was female. She fledged successfully on June 25 when she was 79 days old and returned to the nest a day or two later. She spent a lot of time coming and going and learning to be an eagle. Her last visit to the nest may have been August 18, when she was 19 weeks old.

Wishing you safe travels, a long life and lots of fish, Toyon!

[JudyB]

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2021-2022 Nesting Season Starts Here

[JudyB]

May 21, 2022

I've read on Facebook that they are planning to band the eaglet at the Two Harbors nest today.

Since there aren't any posts, I'll do a quick summary of the activity so far this season.

Mom Cholyn and Dad Chase laid two eggs that were seen on the camera, the first on February 23rd and the second on March 1st. It's quite unusual for eggs to be six days apart, so I do wonder if there was one in the middle that either broke while it was being laid or shortly afterwards - not that we'll ever know. One of the eggs broke during the night of March 4-5 (probably the first one laid based on the time of hatch for the remaining egg); the remaining egg hatched on April 6, early in the morning.

That chick had a bit of an adventure a few weeks later - the eaglet got caught on Mom's talon as she left the nest and was knocked over the edge on the afternoon of April 25, when the youngster was 19 days old. By the time Dr. Sharpe and his team were notified, it was too late for them to go out that night, but fortunately the chick hadn't fallen too far, and made it through the night. The team arrived in the morning and successfully rescued the chick - and they brought sticks to add some nest rails to the rocky nest, making it safer for the eaglet going forward.

The eaglet is now 6-1/2 weeks old - and will be banded later today!

Here's a look at the eaglet from earlier this morning.

And here's a look at the area from the Overlook cam - I don't remember where the nest is, but I think it's somewhere up there!

[Kitcat11848]

Thanks Judy for the update. I’m surprised no one is following and reporting.
From Chat: banding was done but Cam went down so no video
Drum roll and it’s a

[JudyB]

Thanks for stopping by, Marianne! It is hard now that there are so many nests.

Summary of 2021-2022 Nesting Season

Male K81/Chase and Female K82/Cholyn both hatched in 1998 as part of the program to bring bald eagles back to the Channel Islands - so they were 25 this year - and still definitely active!

Per IWS on Facebook, the nest was adopted by Dave and Gina Long with Catalina Falconry, and they allowed students at Avalon Schools to select and vote on a name for eaglet 11/D; they named her Lancer, which is the name of the school's mascot.

I initially thought that Lancer fledged June 22 at 1:14 pm (77 days) but apparently that wasn't considered a fledge, and the actual date is June 25 at 9:41 am (80 days).

[JudyB]

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2022-2023 Nesting Season Starts Here
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[Farniente]

Hello,

2 eggs laid in the nest by Cholyn.

2023 SEASON

2/28: First egg laid around 20:19
3/4: Second egg laid around 18:14

[Farniente]

Hello,

Congratulations to Cholyn and Chase!
Baby hatched yesterday 07 april 2023 at 14.16.


Pictures from this morning!.

The other egg broke some time ago.

[Farniente]

Daddy Chase and his little one.

[Farniente]

Mom Cholyn in the nest to take care of the eaglet.

[Farniente]

Dad in with a fish