hi Deb, came back to see if any new ones since i was here, love the one on 7-17 you titled entering the nest, i think i see the parent had food in talon i believe, but i could be wrong. telling tale of eaglets waiting to eat the nest must sure be deep! couldn't even see the heads. will be back to see more from this past weekend, great pics Deb, ty

Doreen Thanks for droppin and for your kind comments. Yes the nest bowl is really deep when Mom incubates you cannot see her depending on how she is positioned. I hope to share some of my adventures tomorrow...recovering today from my northern adventure

August 7 2012

I am making a Note to file for future reference as I am not adding all my pictures till later on.....and I do not want to rely on my memory.

Still lots of fires burning in the Upper Hay Region....33 in fact with over 700 firefighters; 33 aircraft, equipment fighting these forest fires not counting the local resources supporting their efforts.

I pass right by one of the main staging areas on my way to the nests (Steen River) and there is always lots of action on the ground and in the sky. Never saw so many tents parked there for a long time!! I could smell smoke
at various times during my trip particularly north of Steen River.

I also saw a huge mountain lion or cat!!

Yesterday while I was watching the eagles at the Lake nest a couple passed by then on their way back they pulled over and we had a nice chat. Its really a small world Angie and Dave told me about two other nests that are active in the Hay River
area so know I have two other nests to find!!! Angie knew of this site as she used to watch the Hornby nest...now how cool is that!!

I hope our paths cross again and I told Angie and Dave about this thread and encouraged them to participate and report their observations here...so with a little luck we will have some local reports from the ground....H O O R A Y!!

Additionally, not sure I mentioned this in my last note to file; two local fisherman told me they often see 6 eagles competing for fish along the river and they seem to all get along. Perhaps the abundance of food paves the way for harmony...although I am sure the same rules would not apply if they got to close to each others nests!!

Nest Reports

I visited both nests in Hay River; both juvies were in the nest by the lake and the other lone juvie was still in the nest near the river!! I was delighted and abit surprised too as it later than usual for juvies to still be in the nest. I cannot help but wonder
if a second clutch of eggs was laid this year!

Nest by the Lake

When I first arrived Mom was at the nest....but I never saw any eating ... it nearly seemed like Mom was reassuring the kids perhaps she was trying to coax them to take flight.
Abit later Mom moved to a babysitting tree nearby then to another tree about 1/4 mile away.... and I even saw Dad riding the thermals overhead ... so I saw both parents, which was really nice.

I spent the majority of my time at this nest; its the nest I have watched for 6 seasons now so it is quite special to me.

The juvies were lazy for much of my visit and it was quite warm but later on one of the juvies was really flappin its wings and on a few occassions I really thought she was going to take
her first flight as she stood on the edge of the nest wings open....her head moving side to side as if guaging the wind....she did this several times but did not take flight. I was so excited too
watching her.

The juvies at this nest have to be brave as there are no adjoining branches for them to branch to .... to strength their wings before they take flight. So unfortunately, these juvies will have to take a short flight out of the nest to
branch out....there is no other choice for them. It must be scaree for them and I do feel bad that there no adjoining branches for them to branch too.

I think the one juvie is ready to take its first flight...while the other is abit behind a few days.

Nest by the River

I visited this nest first and found the juvie in the nest just looking around. I could not see either parent but I think one passed overhead as I saw a large shadow but did not see the parent.
The juvie was in resting mode while I was there...never saw any flapping or wingercising at all.

Angie told me that she heard this juvie had already fledged or taken its first flight so I was anxious to see it in flight when I returned to the nest a second time but unfortunately I never saw the juvie in flight.

No one was fishing at this site either I was a bit disappointed as I always look forward to my conversations with the local fisherman!! Hubby and I plan to buy a license and do some fishing on one our next trips!

I took so many pictures again...way too many seems like I cannot help myself.

Anyway that is my report for this visit and I do hope to visit the birds again in a few days.

Calling on all our talented Screen Cappers

Do you have a favorite screen capture of our very own Ma & Pa's

Ma & Pa Delta2
Ma & Pa Lafarge
Ma & Pa White Rock



If you do.... and would like to share it with us please send it to my email - Debs571@hotmail.com - with the subject heading HWF Screen Capture Contest, no later than noon Sunday - August 26, 2012

Pick your best screen capture as my email only has so much room.

When submitting your screen capture please include the following information:

Your screen name and contact information
In the subject line of your email state that its for the "HWF Screen Capture Contest" so that your email does not go into the junk or spam folder
When your capture was taken and at what Hancock Wildlife Nest (although we will likely be able to tell please include this information)
Images must be JPEG saved and no larger than 500 pixels
The screen capture must be "raw" without any enhancements; text or animations
The nest must be part of the capture

We would also like some screen captures that include some of our famous HWF kids or bobbleheads with or without the parents in the screen capture
and preferably taken when the chicks were just a few days old.

This Screen Capture Contest is for screen captures only no professional pictures this time around.

Although we would love to promote everyone's favorite screen capture ... as they are all "keepers" we can only select a few from this contest, which will then be used in an upcoming promotion so good luck to you all.

We will keep all screen captures on file for future HWF promotions so you never know when your favorite capture may be used in the future.

Thanks for participating and we look forward to seeing your beautiful screen captures!

Note to File

August 16 & 17 2012

Our trip to Hay River this visit was very special as we had our 5 year old grand daughter with us. This was her first nest visit and she was pretty
excited to see the eagles and explore the area!

It was an amazing trip and our grand daughter got to see all three juvies!

Nest by the Lake

We arrived the evening of the 16th and although daylight was starting to fade we could clearly see both juvies were in the nest.
No visual of either parent. We stayed till it got dark then left the nest area.

We returned to the nest the next morning and both juvies were at the nest; one was perched in the nest while the other was perched on a branch just directly below the nest. The juvie off the nest was not branching at all merely perched on the branch.

We observed the juvies for quite awhile and neither juvie did any wingercising or branching. It appeared that neither had fledged yet.

This nest does not have any adjoining branches where the chicks can practise their branching skills they have to leave the nest to
do that.


Nest by the Lake

Note to File

August 25 2012

Nest by the Lake

Yesterday without even being unpacked (I had just got back from being away for a week) we headed north to Hay River to check on the birds and to do a bit of fishing; it was a very special day trip as we anticipated it may be our last chance (if not our last sighting) to see the juvies before they leave the area and start their independent lives as young juvies.

We were not disappointed.....when we arrived to the nest one juvie was in the nest and the other returned to the nest a short while later! We watched and observed the juvies in the nest both seemed well and content and we even saw a couple of poop shoots off the nest.

We stayed at the nest till they both left the nest and took to the skies. I was bursting with pride watching them both soar overhead then landing and taking off on nearby tree tops. Seeing both juvies in flight was amazing it brought the nesting season full circle and having watched Ma and Pa for many years at this nest it was wonderful to see their young juvies in flight.

Eventually we lost sight of the juvies so we decided to check some of the parents' favorite spots to see if we could locate them then onto check on the other nest and do a bit of fishing.

We found Mom perched on her favorite tree near the lake; no visual of Dad but we assumed he was off fishing somewhere or riding the thermals perhaps. There is an abundance of food sources in Hay River and many favorite fishing holes too!


Nest by the Airport
The dirt road that leads down to this nest area was still wet from recent rain fall so we decided not to visit this nest. There are some rather deep pot holes that one must experience to get to the nest and given the wet conditions we felt it best for the road and our vehicle not to venture down that path.

On our last visit the solo juvie at this nest had fledged and was not spending time at the nest site but was seen soaring the skies and chasing the parents near the river....so it seemed unlikely that this juvie would even be at the nest site.

We did some spotting and looking at the river site where we saw her last visit and this time we never saw her but we did hear juvie calls in the same area so I think she was still in the area. I wish we would have had the visual... but time was short and we had to move on.

Summary

Just before dark and after a bit of fishing we went back to the nest by the lake and we saw both juvies hanging out in close proximity to each other about 1/4 mile from the nest. We never saw either parent but I am sure they were nearby as we heard a couple of adult calls (none defensive in nature) nearby.

Both juvies seemed okay with our presence and although lighting was terrible we took several pictures of them both. One of the juvies was perched on the top of a tree that houses a ravens nest (there were six babies in that nest this season) while the other was doing a bit of flying and eventually landed on a tree top nearby. We were able to watch both juvies and it nearly seemed like they were watching us too...as if they were saying their goodbyes to us too. Both birds were quiet they appeared calm and seemed to be settling in for the night off the nest. Just before we left one of the juvies took flight and headed towards the lake landing on a branch in a nearby tree. We stayed till it was too dark to see.

It was a remarkable day seeing both juvies fledged and soaring the skies truely a wonderful ending to a great nesting season.
I must admit I was bursting with pride and also a wee bit sad knowing that this was likely our goodbye.

We wish all three juvies from both nests a long and happy life with food aplenty and a family all of their own one day.

Soar High Soar Forever Free Lil Buddies!

Congrats to Mom and Dad at both nests from a job well done. Wishing you all a safe migration and look forward to seeing you next season!

Note: The chicks growth and development at the nest near the lake seemed late this year so I wonder if its because a second clutch of eggs was laid. We will never know for sure ... but we will continue to monitor and document the nesting patterns of these eagles.

I do hope to see the birds one more time before they migrate and if I do I will certainly post an update here.

I literally have thousands of pictures to complete my 2013 journal on these families and will post them them soon.

great reports on the nests Deb, and wonderful summary. i will be looking forward to seeing some of your "thousands" of pictures what the heck, i have penrty of time. be back soon