Carolina Raptor Ctr NC - Seasons 2018-2021

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Carolina Raptor Ctr NC - Seasons 2018-2021

Post by JudyB » Tue Feb 20, 2018 6:34 pm

Carolina Raptor Center, NC - 2017-18 - Bald Eagle Cam

Admin Note - I'm continuing this thread into 2019 as there aren't many posts. ~JudyB

Admin Note #2 - I'm continuing again into 2020 - I don't expect there to be a cam, but this will allow us to post updates on foster eaglet Freedom, who will be 4 this spring. ~JudyB

Admin Note #3 - Continuing again into Season 2021

Links to the start of the current and previous season's discussion in this thread:
  • 2020/2021 Season starts HERE
  • 2019/2020 Season starts HERE
  • 2018/2019 Season starts HERE
  • 2017/2018 Season starts HERE

2018 Cam Link: changes frequently - check https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC_tdT ... d4HiyELJeA for current link)

Thanks to the Carolina Raptor Center for bringing us this cam - an interesting look at two older, non-releasable eagles.

Carolina Raptor Center's Facebook page - they even answer questions there

Savannah Eagle's Facebook page - more focused on the eagles than the page above

The nest is located at the Carolina Raptor Center, near Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the first year we've watched Savannah and Luke - before that we had been watching Savannah and Derek, who had been a pair since 2004 and fledged 6 chicks (details in the next post), but had not had an egg that hatched since 2013. The Raptor Center switched Luke and Derek in November 2017, primarily because there had been some fighting and aggression in one of the other enclosures, and they felt Derek, a more passive eagle, could serve as a peacekeeper there. I'm not sure if Luke had been one of the more aggressive eagles - but the other enclosure wasn't big enough for all of them, so he was moved in with Savannah, and I believe Derek's new roommate is a male named Dante. The keepers also noted that in the wild, when a pair is not successful for several years in a row, they often split up (and we've seen this in the reports from the Institute for Wildlife Studies on the Channel Islands, where most adults have wing tags, so it's relatively easy to tell who the pairs are from lookout points with a spotting scope - they don't disturb the eagles).

Savannah and Luke seem to be comfortable sharing an enclosure - but at this point (February 2018) I don't believe anyone has seen them bonding or sitting side by side as we're used to seeing bonded pairs doing; Savannah has laid three eggs and is diligently tending them, but some of us suspect they aren't fertile (though of course we hope we're wrong about that). We also haven't seen Luke incubate the eggs (though he is often sitting nearby, perhaps guarding the nest as males often do while their mates incubate), and I don't think anyone has reported seeing him bring her food. So not only are we watching Savannah with her eggs - we may also have an opportunity to see if - and how - Savannah and Luke become a true pair.


20180221_007.jpg
Savannah incubates the eggs while a second camera shows Luke on a nearby perch, February 21, 2018

2018 Nesting Season
  • eggs laid: seen February 10; February 13, afternoon; February 17, 4:30-5 pm
  • sad news:: the eggs did not hatch, and were removed March 5 and found to be non-fertile


Links to the start of the current and previous season's discussion in this thread:
  • 2020/2021 Season starts HERE
  • 2019/2020 Season starts HERE
  • 2018/2019 Season starts HERE
  • 2017/2018 Season starts HERE


Link to the 2016-2018 Nesting Season on our former forum

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by JudyB » Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:01 am

History - 2004-2017

Derek and Savannah are non-releasable eagles who have been at the Carolina Raptor Center since 1998 (see next post for more details). They became a pair, and she laid her first eggs in 2004. They didn't hatch, but in 2006 two eggs hatched; the eaglets Len and Lola were taken to a hacking tower when they were 6 weeks old and subsequently fledged; they have GPS units and while we haven't seen recent data (tracking units do have a limited life) we know that Len arrived at the St. Lawrence River in Canada five weeks after leaving the hack tower and has migrated back and forth several times, and Lola appears to be nesting near Birmingham, Alabama. They had one egg hatch in 2008, and that chick Letha was also successfully fledged from a hacking tower, but not tracked. No eggs hatched in 2009; they think the unusually cold weather was responsible, and responded by insulating the pair's preferred nestbox (which is on the ground).

The pair laid three eggs in 2010; the first egg hatched, was named Noah (and later determined to be female), and successfully fledged; the second hatched but the chick was not strong enough to survive, and the third failed before hatching. Noah was tracked to Virginia, where they lost the signal from her transmitter; transmitters do fail, so we are hoping Noah is doing well. The pair laid two eggs in 2011 and both hatched successfully, but sadly the younger eaglet (who had seemed smaller and weaker) died when he/she was 26 days; a necropsy was conducted but didn't determine a cause of death; the older eaglet, named Kinsey, was moved to a hacking tower with two somewhat older eaglets who had been rescued after their nest collapsed; we think being with older eaglets encouraged Kinsey to "branch" on the perches in the tower at a fairly young age, and she fledged successfully, not long after her older tower-mates. The pair laid two eggs in 2012, one of which hatched, and the eaglet named Carolina successfully fledged from their hacking tower.

2013 was a sad year: the pair laid three eggs, one of which was removed by the adults (perhaps broken), another of which didn't hatch - and the third of which hatched, but the chick was killed by a predator when it was about 4 weeks old (perhaps a raccoon, though the culprit was never found). They installed more levels of protection before the 2014 nesting season, only returning the eagles to their area shortly before they laid their first egg; the pair produced two eggs in 2014, one of which was broken (perhaps because the new perches were closer to the nesting spot than before, or maybe it was non-fertile), and the other of which didn't hatch. The pair laid three eggs for the 2015 nesting season, with the first egg laid December 4th - almost a month earlier than they'd ever laid before; sadly none of the eggs hatched - one broke not long after the hatch window and the other two were removed about 10 days after the last possible hatch date and tests showed they were not viable, perhaps because they did not mate successfully, or because they are getting older.

They laid three eggs in 2016, again in December but six days later than the previous year; none of them hatched. And then, starting February 21, they laid a second clutch - which also didn't hatch. Natalie Childers Beck, the Curator of Birds and Programs at Carolina Raptor Center, had a theory as to why Savannah and Derek laid infertile eggs much earlier than usual in 2014-15 (and I haven't seen a report on the eggs from this year but the timing and outcome were the same) - she said on January 20 "My personal take is that they might not actually be breeding and are essentially skipping a step in the process. I'm currently working with my staff to come up with the optimum breeding situations for them but it will be a process for sure. We were hoping that by giving them quiet and shutting the aviary down earlier this year, that they would have the opportunity they needed." And while Savannah and Derek did not have a chance to raise chicks of their own in 2016 - they did become foster parents for an eaglet named Freedom! You can read his story here. add link

Savannah laid two clutches again in 2017, one in mid-December and the second towards the end of February; the eggs were removed for testing when it was passed the last possible hatch date and they reported that none of them were viable (meaning they hadn't started to develop) and they specifically said that there was no sign of fertilization in the second clutch.

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by JudyB » Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:01 am

Meet the Adults

We are not seeing Derek at present, but the folks at Carolina Raptor Center have said they'd like to switch a camera to him and his new roommate (or enclosure-mate) Dante from time to time when the nesting season is over, so I'm including his story here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to former forum member CAL04 for finding the information below - and to the Carolina Raptor Center for all they do for eagles and other raptors. We originally posted this in 2011, and I believe it was written after the successful fledge of Derek and Savannah's first eaglets, Len and Lola, in 2006.

"Carolina Raptor Center is located inside Latta Plantation Nature Preserve just 20 minutes north of Charlotte. Latta Plantation Nature Preserve is Mecklenburg County's largest nature preserve and protects over 1,290 acres."

Derek, per CRC: "Derek a male bald eagle, came to Carolina Raptor Center in August of 1998 from the South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey (now known as the International Center for Birds of Prey) in Charleston, SC. He was at least seven years old when he arrived. He had been found in December of 1995 with a gun shot injury that resulted in a broken left leg and a broken right wing. Although rehabilitators were able to treat his wing and his leg, Derek is not able to fly well enough to survive on his own in the wild. He lives on display at Carolina Raptor Center, where he acts as an ambassador for the 38,000 visitors that visit each year."

"Derek is named after a very special boy that visited Carolina Raptor Center on many occasions. Derek Hageman loved raptors and could name almost every raptor. He pointed them out to his parents and would tell his classmates stories about the birds. When Derek passed away at the age of nine, Carolina Raptor Center became a place of remembrance for his family. His mother volunteered at CRC as she was learning to deal with her loss. At a memorial service at Derek's school, Carolina Raptor Center released a rehabilitated hawk as symbolic of Derek's spirit beginning a new journey. Derek was a special boy and it was a wonderful tribute to name one of our resident eagles after him."

Savannah, per CRC: "Savannah came to CRC in 1998 from the South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey in Charleston, South Carolina. She was found in the wild with a fractured left wing, and although we are not sure exactly what caused her injury, it is most likely the result of a collision, whether with a vehicle or power line or something else we’ll never know. She has adjusted to life at CRC quite well, and has found a mate here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We don't know as much about Luke, or about Derek's new roommate Dante. I asked on the Savannah Eagle Facebook page, and Michelle Stiles, the Program Coordinator at Carolina Raptor Center, replied "Luke, Derek, and Dante (Derek’s new roommate) are all in their late 20s to early/mid 30s. All three came to CRC as mature adults (with their white heads and tails) and have wing injuries that make them non releasable. They’ve all been at CRC for a long time, but I’m not sure exactly how long they’ve been with us off the top of my head." I also mentioned that when they first added the little window showing where Luke often perches, I wasn't sure if I was seeing Luke or Derek, and Michelle said that they look quite similar, though Luke is a bit bigger - though still smaller than Savannah!

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by JudyB » Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:02 am

Meet Freedom, the Eagle

This may be a bit off-topic - but in 2016, Savannah and Derek became foster parents on April 11, when eaglet Freedom, hatched from an egg laid by a non-releasable pair at the Dan Nicholas Park in Rowan County, NC, was transferred to CRC because the Dan Nicholas Park didn't have facilities to keep the growing eaglet from being exposed to people; eaglet Freedom hatched March 10 and spent about a month with his parents, then almost a month with foster parents Derek and Savannah before being transferred to a hacking tower on May 3rd in preparation for his release.

20160412_crc_Freedom.jpg
Foster chick Freedom being fed by Derek and Savannah at the Carolina Raptor Center
April 12, 2016; photo courtesy of the Carolina Raptor Center

Freedom had a health check (we learned he's a male) and was equipped with a transmitter on May 13 in preparation for his release; I'm not sure when the tower doors were opened, but CRC reported on June 2 that Freedom had taken a few flights from the hack tower.

Freedom stayed in that area for another 3 weeks, then on June 23 he headed North, and three days later, he was about 300 miles north, 2/3 of the way through West Virginia. He reached the shore of Lake Erie, about 450 miles north, by June 29, averaging about 75 miles a day. We thought he might continue across the lake (over 50 miles across open water without thermals to provide extra lift) - but as of July 24, he was been exploring the little rivers and parks in the area. In August he started following the St. Lawrence Seaway north - and crossed over into Quebec around the middle of the month. I think he was there almost a month before heading south. Here's a map of his travels as of December 9, 2016, about 6 months after his first flights - he does like to explore! (I follow him on a phone app called Animal Tracker - PM me for more info.)

20161209_Freedom1.jpg

And here's a picture of his travels for the previous year as of February 6, 2018 (Animal Tracker shows movement for the last two weeks and for the last year); his Quebec vacation was the last week in August in 2017. :love: Looking at the areas with lots of tracks, and comparing things from previous years, I think he's finding some places where he likes to spend time in the southern states - and keeping fingers and toes crossed that all goes well, I wonder where he'll settle down in a couple of years.

2018-02-06b.jpg

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by JudyB » Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:29 pm

reserved

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by JudyB » Sun Feb 25, 2018 3:23 pm

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Welcome to the new Hancock Wildlife Foundation forum - and our thread for the Carolina Raptor Center. I was hoping to post a picture of Savannah - but unfortunately the cam is offline until tomorrow morning.

I have locked our previous thread - http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/vi ... pic=820764 - and invite everyone to join us here. If you haven't registered yet - it's easy, and there's a link in the upper right corner of each page.

:hi:

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by Dino » Sun Feb 25, 2018 5:18 pm

Thank you. First post. Glad to be here.

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by IrishEyes » Tue Feb 27, 2018 10:32 am

Thank you Judy for setting up this nest thread and welcome Dino

1:13pm
Three eggs unattended on the nest..
screenshot_06.jpg
Eagle perched on the side eating now
screenshot_07.jpg
Link to cam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPwiBG4xD-Q
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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by IrishEyes » Tue Feb 27, 2018 10:35 am

1:33pm
Eagle is gone..... eggs unattended
screenshot_08.jpg
Sorry.... I can't stay .
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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by IrishEyes » Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:12 am

2:09pm
Peeking in here ..Eagle and outside the nest at the bottom..other one is on the railing outside of the nest at the top
screenshot_01.jpg
added 2:14pm
No change
screenshot_02.jpg
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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by IrishEyes » Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:48 pm

5:15pm
No change here ,.,one eagle perched on bottom outside the nest ..and one on the upper perch .. close to the nest....three eggs in the nest
screenshot_17.jpg
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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by IrishEyes » Tue Feb 27, 2018 4:52 pm

7:49pm
IR is on Not an eagle in sight and the 3 eggs are are lone in the nest bole
screenshot_02.jpg
From what I saw..Savannah didn't incubate the eggs at all today.,..

Goodnight to this nest and all who watch here ..
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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by Dino » Tue Feb 27, 2018 5:08 pm

I wonder if this lack of incubation today is a sign that the eggs are infertile. I was wondering about whether they know that they won't hatch although I have seen eagles and ospreys sit on an infertile egg for weeks.

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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by Duck_Keeper » Thu Mar 01, 2018 8:10 pm

Checked in late and no one on the eggs and it even looks like one is broken. I think this means this clutch is a bust. She is known to have a second clutch so we'll see if that is in the plan.
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Re: Carolina Raptor Ctr 2018 NC - Bald Eagle Cam

Post by JudyB » Fri Mar 02, 2018 6:45 am

Thanks, Duck_Keeper - and welcome to the new forum! I've been meaning to look in at night, wondering if she incubated when it got fully dark. I asked on the Facebook page if she's given up on the eggs, and Michelle (the Program Coordinator at CRC) said " I’ve noticed that she’s been off of them more frequently, too. I’m not sure what’s going on but we’re definitely continuing to monitor it."

Ever the romantic, I was hoping she was spending more time with Luke - but still have not seen them on the same perch, to say nothing about side by side. But maybe.... :love:


9:45 am
Probably Savannah near the cam, and Luke barely visible in the shadows in the lower right corner of the insert window, just because it's one of his favorite perching spots.
20180302_001.jpg

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