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On a private portion of the White Rock bluff overlooking Boundary Bay is a small grove of evergreens. One tree, only about 100 feet from the back porch of the home, has an eagle nest in it. The owners have donated the installation of two cameras for us to watch this active eagle nest,  one in the tree near the nest (closeup), and one in an adjacent tree overlooking the nest tree (wide angle) with a view of the bay in the background.

This nest was built in November of 2009 after the pair's original nest, 500 yards north of this site, was disturbed by construction. Two chicks were successfully raised to fledging in Summer of 2010 before the cams were installed, and we watched another pair of chicks, named Charlie and Delta by the landowners, fledge successfully in 2011.

Note that the infrared lights installed in the nest cannot be seen by the eagles, only by the cameras.

Link to the White Rock Topic Page, with additional stories,
a link to the discussion forum, and more.

Thanks to Doug and Sheila Carrick!

This nest is where it all began for many of us - our first look at eagles on a nest, up close and personal, back in 2006.  The nest sadly was not successful that year - the eggs didn't hatch  - but last year this pair successfully raised two eaglets, named Alexandra (after Alexandra Morton) and David (after David Suzuki).

Link to the Hornby Topic Page

Delta 2

Second cam
coming soon

This was originally a red tail hawk nest, rebuilt by bald eagles in 1998-99. Then when the eagle nest was disturbed by somone climbing the tree, it was abandoned. The adult eagles moved, to be the first local pair to nest on a nearby high tension power line tower. The red tails re-occupied the site for a couple of years until they were attacked by the eagles which rebuilt the nest in 2010 and produced two young that season. This is a super large tree with strong branches and should serve as a nest for many years to come. 

We installed a cam in 2011 and watched two eaglets fledge - though the path was a bit rocky as the older one, named Oreo by a local school class, fell from the nest and was rescued by O.W.L. (the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society) and was released from their nearby facility at about the same time the other eaglet, named Jet by the class, fledged from the nest.

Link to the Delta 2 Topic Page

Lafarge

We're hoping for a
second cam for 2012

The Lafarge downtown Vancouver concrete plant is on the waterfront of Vancouver's inner harbour, beside the main CP rail tracks and sidings, in the heart of Vancouver's busy container and grain port facilities.

The nest tree is alone on the property, right on the water's edge and outside the property's fenced area. An artificial nest structure, designed by David Hancock, sits beside the tree where it can be used by the eagles both as a perch and as a replacement nest site if something happens to the tree.  This pair successfully raised three eaglets in 2011, even though the oldest was very big, and the youngest almost a week younger. 

The camera shows random views of the tree and the beautiful Vancouver harbour and surrounding mountains while we wait for the eagles to return.

Link to the Lafarge Topic Page

This cam provides a window into what's happening under the water in the spawning channel, as viewed by our cam at the entrance to the Chehalis Fish Hatchery. First we should see some pretty big spring salmon, deep red.  This should be followed by the even redder sockeye with the green head and then the early runs of coho -- they interestingly have fresh sea run coming in into December. Our big runs this year are projected to be the pink or humpback salmon that are presently in the Fraser river and feeding the orcas off the mouth.
Again, little hope for chum salmon this season.

Link to the Chehalis Topic Page

On 72 St. in South Delta, near Vancouver, BC, Canada, is the facilities of the Orphaned Wild Life Rehabilitation Society - O.W.L. for short. On the same property is an evergreen with an eagle nest in it.

Our thanks to O.W.L. for allowing us to put cameras in the tree and to Delta Cable for providing cable internet service for this nest and to Lafarge for providing the crane for the cam work.

This nest has been a heart-breaker - they laid two eggs in 2009 and cared for them faithfully, but they didn't hatch (not uncommon for a young pair). The nest was completely destroyed by wind in early 2010, then in September 2010, Hancock Wildlife Foundation and O.W.L. cleaned and refurbished the cameras and shored up the nest with reinforcing. The eagles returned to the rebuilt nest, laid two eggs, again cared for them faithfully - and again they didn't hatch.  One egg appeared to collapse in the night; the other was recovered and tests showed that it was either infertile or stopped developing after a couple of days.  We're hoping that they will finally be successful in 2012.

Link to the Delta OWL Topic Page

About 95 feet above the parking lot, in a grove of cottonwood trees near the guard facility at Pacific Coast Terminals in Port Moody, B.C., is an eagle nest. Pacific Coast Terminals has graciously funded the installation of two cameras for remote viewing and local archiving this coming season. One camera was unfortunately damaged in a fall storm so has only been online intermittently, but the other provided a high-definition video feed courtesy of Pacific Coast Terminals and Hancock Wildlife Foundation. 

Unfortunately the eagles built a new nest for 2011, so we didn't get to see them raise their family, but we understand that they raised two eaglets in 2011.

Perhaps next year they will return to the nest with the cameras.

Link to the Port Moody Topic Page

Associated Cameras

The White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), also known as the White-breasted Sea Eagle, is a large bird of prey. A distinctive bird, the adult White-bellied Sea Eagle has a white head, breast, under-wing and tail. The upper parts are grey and the black under-wing flight feathers contrast with the white coverts. The tail is short and wedge-shaped. 

The female is slightly larger than the male, and can measure up to 90 cm (36 in) long with a wingspan of up to 2.2 m (7 ft), and weigh 4.5 kg (10 lb). Immature birds have brown plumage which is gradually replaced by white until the age of five or six years. The call is a loud goose-like honking. The White-bellied Sea Eagle is revered by indigenous people in many parts of Australia, and is the subject of various folk tales throughout its range.

The eagles we're viewing, perhaps the most famous pair of eagles in Australia, reside in Sydney’s Olympic Park, nesting high in a Scribbly Gum in the Newington Nature Reserve and feeding in the Parramatta River. The nest has been used by a succession of Sea-Eagles over the years and by this pair since 2008.

Link to the Sea-Eagle Topic Page with much more information

WildEarth Safari broadcasts LIVE safaris daily from the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, which is part of the Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa. Venture out into this massive wilderness in the morning and again in the afternoon for three hours. The safari consists of a Presenter/Expert Ranger who drives around the reserve looking for animals both big and small. A camera person sits on the back of the safari vehicle and their camera is your eyes. This gives a fantastic feeling of actually being on the back of the vehicle as it bumps through the splendid African bush. If you want to ask a question of the Ranger in real time, you can email the question through to questions@djuma.com and the director may forward your question through to the ranger.

The Sabi Sands is one of the top locations in South Africa for viewing game. It is often possible to see the big five in one drive. That is lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino and elephant. There are numerous beautiful birds and a whole host of other smaller animals.

Thanks to WildEarth and the Djuma Private Game Reserve!

Link to Djuma Topic Page

A spotted eagle owl (known as Pot Plant Owl) is a shining example of how animals and birds have had to adapt to man's urbanization and destruction of their natural habitat. With trees and other natural flora being cut down to accommodate the growth of the sprawling metropolis of Johannesburg, Pot Plant Owl was forced to leave its natural nesting habitat and find sanctuary in a pot plant [a plant in a pot] on the balcony of a suburban home. In 2010 she laid 3 eggs in the pot plant, all of which hatched and the chicks successfully fledged. She's laid three eggs again in 2011, and as currently incubating them (as of September 2011).

Link to the Plant Pot Eagle Owl Topic Page

The nest is in Decorah, Iowa; the exact location is not publicized to protect the eagles. Local time is Central time. The pair has been observed since 2002, but 2009 was its first year online. They successfully raised three eaglets in both 2009 and 2010. In 2010 the youngest eaglet was 7 days younger than the oldest and 5 days younger than the middle chick, so newly hatched at the time the older ones were beginning to move out of the nest bowl; we were concerned that it would have a hard time getting a share of the food - but the excellent parents at this nest made sure all were fed appropriately to their age and stage. They again laid three eggs and fledged three eaglets in 2011, and one of the fledglings was fitted with a tracking device - you can follow the travels of D1 here.

Our thanks to the Raptor Resource Project for making this wonderful nest available for us to watch - and, of course, our thanks to the eagles!  

Link to the Decorah Eagles Topic Page

This cam, showing "Elsie & Einstein," the Lake of the Ozarks Eagles, is located in Central Missouri, USA.

Elsie & Einstein came to the location in august 2009 and built their first nest, which they used in 2010.  They built a new nest for 2011, 150' south of the first one.  They are among the earliest nesting pairs on cam, so are already back working on their nest as of September 2011.  We think they're going to reuse the 2011 nest - but it is too early to be sure.

Thanks to Jim Ray for sharing the eagles in his back yard with us!

Link to the Lake of the Ozarks Topic Page

Eric Pittman has been recording several families of Anna’s Hummingbirds in Victoria, British Columbia, including Tweet and Fluff.  Their nesting season is from December to August. During that time period the female will lay two eggs almost every six weeks. In fact, when one batch of chicks gets too large for her to sit on, she will make another nest and lay another two eggs and she sits on those while still feeding her nearly fledged chicks!  Unlike eagles, who share incubating and feeding duties, the males here protect the nest territory but are rarely seen on cam.

Thanks to Eric Pittman for an interesting look into the lives of one of our smaller birds!

Link to the Victoria Hummingbird Topic Page