Oak Bay Eagles, Oak Bay BC - 2018/2019 Season

[sassyk]

Welcome to the Oak Bay Eagles thread for the 2018/2019 season. There are 5 nests currently being monitored by locals within the Municipality of Oak Bay.

The Fire Hall eagles have a nest in a tree behind the Oak Bay Fire Hall on Monterey Avenue which they have used for many years, producing many offspring in that nest. The eagles have also used an old nest which is a short distance away on a private property at the end of York Place and have produced many offspring in that nest. It is always a guess as to which nest they will use for the current season. This past season two eaglets successfully fledged from the alternate nest on York Place.

The Golf Course eagles have had 3 nests in a tree in front of the club house on the Victoria Golf Course on Beach Drive and have produced many offspring in all 3 nests. This past season one eaglet successfully fledged from the lower nest.

The Anderson Hill eagles have had 2 nests which they have used in the past. One is in a tree on private property near Anderson Hill Park and their second nest is also on private property on a private road near Anderson Hill Park. The eagles have not nested in either of these nest for the past few years.

The Uplands eagles have a nest in a Cottonwood tree on private property near the intersection of Beach Drive and Lansdowne Road. The nest has been there for many years but the eagles seemed to prefer an alternate nest on a private property in the Ten Mile Point area for a few years. Their alternate nest fell down a few years ago and the eagles used the Uplands nest this past season, successfully fledging one eaglet.

The eagle nest on Sylvan Lane has been there for many years according to the neighbours. For the past few years it has been used by a pair of eagles, one of the eagles thought to be one of the nesting pair previously using the nest on the private road near Anderson Hill Park. The eagles successfully fledged one eaglet this past season. The nest tree is situated on the side of the narrow lane and it is not known if it is actually on private property.

Please feel welcome to post your observations and photos of the eagles that inhabit these nests if you visit their nest area. Please be respectful of the owners and neighbours when visiting nests on private property.

Information, observations and photos from previous seasons can be found here

[sassyk]

A family member who lives a few houses down the road from the golf course has seen 2 adults and a juvenile near the golf course in the past couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get out to some of the nests soon

[elle]

This afternoon there was an adult eagle on top of the Golf Course nest tree. It was backlit so I did not take a photo . Instead we headed for Anderson Hill to try to take a photo of the top of the Golf course nest from there and on the way saw an adult in the Anderson Hill perch tree. By the time we climbed up the path from Transit Rd the Anderson Hill eagle had left the perch tree but we could hear crows cawing in the distance and headed in that direction expecting to see an eagle but instead saw a Great Horned Owl!
Took many photos of the owl ..............
By that time the eagle we had seen atop the Golf Course nest was gone but the Anderson Hill eagle was back on the perch and we got some snaps in lovely late afternoon autumn light. I think it was the female; but I could not get a look for a banded talon.
Back with pix.
Happy day. The eagles are returning and the weather is fine.

[sassyk]

elle sounds like you did have a wonderful day with a few eagle sightings and an owl Looking forward to seeing some photos

[elle]

Here are some photos. This is the banded female as you will see if you zoom in on her left foot. !!

[elle]

A few more prettier ones
From afar

And the nicest one

[sassyk]

elle I'm so glad to see you got a photo of the band And it's good to see one in the perch tree again! Great captures

[sassyk]

I received some info from Marie last night. She had seen the fire hall pair and one from the Lansdowne nest at least 10 days ago. Her contact at 10 Mile Pt. said both Lansdowne eagles are back now. She also saw 2 adults at Peddar Bay awhile ago.

[elle]

I am glad to hear the Fire Hall/ York Place eagles have been seen. We drove through that area this afternoon and still have not seen any evidence of them.

There was one adult on a rock on Trial Island this afternoon. I took a picture I have not viewed yet.

[elle]

Anderson Hill Bald eagle on Trial Island last weekend.

[elle]

There was an adult eagle perched next to the Fire Hall nest this afternoon.

[sassyk]

Good news I might take a tour tomorrow.

[elle]

I hope they nest at the Fire Hall ! I forgot my camera today..............I hope you get a snap tomorrow.

[sassyk]

I did a tour of most of the nests in Oak Bay today. I got sidetracked so I didn't have enough time to go to the Sylvan Lane nest.

There were no eagles seen or heard around the Lansdowne nest, the Fire Hall or York Pl. nests, Golf Course nest or anywhere around Anderson Hill Park and the surrounding area. The sun was glaring on Trial Island and I couldn't see if there was an eagle on the rocks or the post

On my way back from Anderson Hill I spotted a big dark blob in the Golf Course nest tree beside the upper nest. I had to go down the road to turn around so I could get a photo, even though the sun was so low and almost behind the nest tree. My last stop was the Fire Hall again before heading home. I got a nice surprise to see the female atop the big tree across the road from their nest on York Pl. I heard the male calling twice but couldn't see him anywhere. I'll post a few photos later.

[sassyk]

Here's the female perched near the top of the nest tree on the right of the upper nest at the golf course. Sorry for the poor quality; the sun was behind the nest and low in the sky.

The York Pl. nest, taken from Prospect Pl.

[sassyk]

The female in the tall perch tree across from the nest tree on York Pl. taken from the bleachers at the ball field beside the fire hall.

[sassyk]

Yesterday Marie saw a pair of adults on Trial Island, thinking they were the pair from the Sylvan Lane nest. She also saw the pair from the golf course perched together in one of their perch trees on the golf course.

[elle]

All three pairs accounted for. Wonderful!

[elle]

A white head was seen in the Landsdowne/Beach Drive Nest this afternoon.

2 eagles side by side on a small island off the Oak Bay Marina.

One eagle on the post on Trial Island.

[sassyk]

I was wandering around Dallas Rd. and Beach Dr. waterfront today looking for the brown pelican; again it was a no show
A fellow at Clover Pt. saw it through his spotting scope flying towards the area where the Chinese cemetery is. I went to McNeill Pt. before going to the cemetery area but didn't see it there.

While wandering around the cemetery area, I looked up and saw 2 eagles perched at the top of a tree near the Sylvan Lane nest. They were still there when I walked along the road by the Gonzales Hill parking lot then 1 flew off towards the nest tree. When I drove down the lane I saw both of them perched in the nest tree. I'll post some photos later.

[sassyk]

Sylvan Lane eagles, taken from the Chinese Cemetery. I had my zoom lens fully extended and the photo has been cropped.

These 2 photos were taken from Denison Rd., the road above Sylvan Lane.

[sassyk]

A few more taken from Denison Rd.

Whispering sweet nothings in her ear

One of the eagles had just flown off towards the nest tree.

[sassyk]

The nest.

Both eagles perched in the nest tree.

I think that is the female on the left, preening.

[sassyk]

I did a tour of the Oak Bay nests yesterday with a friend. When we arrived at the Lansdowne/Beach Dr. nest there were a lot of big trucks around the area. We viewed the nest from the street behind and I thought I could see some white between the branches around the nest. A few minutes later an eagle jumped up onto the branch beside the nest.

When we walked around to the front of the nest on Beach Dr. we saw the source of all the noise.
This is the lot on Lansdowne behind the nest property. More noise and disruption for the eagles

[sassyk]

Another view of the lot behind the nest tree property.

The male in the nest tree watching the trucks.

[sassyk]

Our next stop was the Marina where I spotted both eagles perched on top of their usual perch trees on York Pl. By the time we drove over to Prospect Pl. the eagle at the top of the Sequoia tree had disappeared.

The nest taken from Prospect Pl.

The eagle across York Pl. from the nest tree.

[sassyk]

The eagle was busy preening, watching us and looking in the direction of their nest behind the fire hall. We drove over there but did not see the 2nd eagle.

[sassyk]

Our next stop was the golf course nest. We didn't see or hear any eagles in the area so I stood across the road to take a few photos of the nests. The first 2 photos are the lower nest from different vantage points.

This is the original upper nest.

[sassyk]

I had said to my friend that I hadn't seen any eagles in the big Sequoia perch tree across the road for quite some time. I walked a few meters down the street, turned around and was surprised to see an eagle perched half hidden in the big tree.

[sassyk]

We did not see or hear any eagles around the Anderson Hill nests but did not go up to Anderson Hill to look at Trial Isl. I took a photo of their newer nest on the private road.

The nest on Sylvan Lane was our last stop yesterday. We did not see or hear any eagles in the area but they could have been out on Trial Isl. I took a couple of photos of the nest tree while I was there. I like the way the branches have grown above the nest.

We chatted with one of the neighbours down the road from the nest tree and he said he saw one of the eagles flying in with a young otter a few years ago