Welcome To The GT Eaglets

This is a very enthusiastic Grade 3 class taught by Mr. Stewart Wilson.
Each year Mr. Wilson's class takes on the task of caring for the schools native garden as well as cleaning the banks of our local waterways. Ask any child in the class what a riparian zone is and they will gladly fill you in.
On behalf of the eagles we'd like to say thank you for keeping the water clean for the fish they so desperately need to survive.

GT Eaglets we hope you enjoy the eagle cams as much as we do and please feel free to ask as many questions as possible.

ENJOY !

My class of grade 3s at Gordon Terrace Elementary in Cranbrook, BC (SD5) had our resident expert Judy (jkr) make a presentation this afternoon about the bald eagle. Students were attentive, fairly knowledgeable, and extremely inquisitive with lots of questions to keep Judy on her toes. Apart from researching the bald eagle, we will be exploring native myths and legends involving the eagle. We're also looking forward to following the fortunes of the Sidney egg and can't wait till it hatches.

We're also fortunate to have a female bald eagle (Judy informed me it was a female), which frequents a local wetland, Elizabeth Lake, which is only a ten minute walk from school. I spotted it yesterday while out for a walk with my camera. Hopefully we'll see more of it as we will be visiting this area several times between now and the end of June.

Hi GT Eaglets and Mr. Wilson

Thanks for inviting me to your class yesterday. I enjoyed my visit and I am soooooo happy to see that you are joining us here at Hancock Wildlife.

We're looking forward to all your questions


Here is a picture of Mom Sidney bringing more grass to the nest this morning. She will use it to insulate the bowl of the nest for the egg and future eaglet.

Hi there GT Eaglets!
So good to see you all settling in here for your journey with Eagles!
If you need help here just ask
And I shall look forward to your questions about Eagles - this is the fifth year I have been watching them!!
My name is Pat

Hi GT Eaglets and Mr. Wilson! And Welcome to the forum!

How exciting that you may be able to see an eagle who lives in your neighborhood, as well as watching the eagles on the internet. Perhaps the eagle is saying "thank you" for keeping the water clean so she can fish.

Please let us know if you have any questions - and let us know what you learn while watching the eagles. One of the nice things about a forum like this is that we all learn from each other - and you have made me curious - what is a riparian zone? I may need to do some studying!

I guess I'll act as the class spokesperson until my grade 3s realize the potential of the Forum. Mind you we write daily in class and often discuss our purpose in writing and who our audience is. Writing for the Forum certainly meets both objectives.

Anyway, someone asked about the riparian zone. It's the area by the banks of a stream, creek, river, pond, or lake where typically vegetation grows. The more natural and diverse the vegetation (grasses, bushes, shrubs, trees), the better for the other plants and animals. It provides shelter, food, shade (for aquatic creatures), and helps retain water in the soil, as well as reduce the chance of erosion. One of the large cottonwoods at Elizabeth Lake most likely serves as a resting area and vantage point while our "adopted" bald eagle checks out where her next meal might be coming from.

Today we continued with our class web of the Bald Eagle, adding information to what we already know about its beak, talons, and eyes. We now have a better idea of what the bald eagle eats, where it builds its home, who its enemies are etc. We also checked out the webcam and had our first look at Sidney.

This afternoon we enjoyed the chance of creating our own drawings of bald eagles using books on eagles for ideas and images. Then we sat in a circle and passed our drawings around the class for all to enjoy.

Image P1950750.JPG shows our "adopted" bald eagle in flight over Elizabeth Lake.


Image P1950744.JPG shows a pair of Canada geese resting on a log at the lake. The Steeples, which are part of the Rockies, are in the distance
.

What a beautiful area, Mr. Wilson!

It looks as if there are a variety of different plants in the riparian zone around Elizabeth Lake (trying to use my new word in a sentence!). And how wonderful to be able to see the eagle and a pair of geese.

Thank you for giving us a look at your area.

Hellooooooo Mr. Wilson's Class.

It's Sunday, April 11th.
We have a new eaglet a Sidney this morning.
We waited all day yesterday and through the night for the egg to hatch.

Here's a picture of the new arrival with Mom. It's very early in the morning so the picture is not very clear -- sorry about that.



Mom will no longer be incubating the egg.
Your question for Monday is ---- What do they call the action of Mom laying on her eaglet to keep it warm ?