There鈥檚 some excitement in the bald eagle-watching community, with the arrival of the first eggs of the season in a White Rock nest.
Located on a private portion of the White Rock bluff overlooking Boundary Bay, only about 100 feet from the back porch of a private home, the nest is captured on three cameras and featured on a 24/7 livestream.
The first egg was laid on March 17; the second followed three days later, on March 20.
鈥淲e鈥檙e at the busiest time of the year with eagles 鈥� they鈥檙e all in the middle of laying eggs, or just finished, or just about to start,鈥� said local biologist David Hancock, founder of the , whose website features several live eagle nest cameras.
Eagles usually lay one to three eggs, which take around 37 days to hatch, Hancock said.
While the White Rock nest is the first to feature eggs, there are at least two other eagle pairs that followers are watching closely, as both appear to be preparing their nests for breeding 鈥� one in South Surrey near 0 Avenue and 172 Street, and one in Delta, not far from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.
Both nests were built by the foundation, a non-profit society aiming to promote the conservation and appreciation of wildlife and their habitats through science, education, and stewardship.
鈥淲e build nests because trees just aren鈥檛 big enough with the right branch structure to support鈥� they like our job better than their own. We can build them better,鈥� Hancock said, noting that tall trees that are large enough and strong enough to support bald eagle nests are usually the first to be cut down when development happens.
The Delta eagles are both mature adults; the Surrey Reserve nest 鈥� located on a half-acre bald eagle preserve made possible by Hancock, developers Dawson & Sawyer, the City of Surrey, and the province 鈥� is now home to a new pair of younger eagles, only five or six years old.
There had been another pair using the nest, but the male disappeared late last year and the female 鈥済ot beaten up, we think by the other new female.鈥�
鈥淭his will be their first year breeding 鈥� we鈥檙e hopeful that they鈥檙e just a bit later than the White Rock pair鈥� the fact they鈥檙e both young birds 鈥� we weren鈥檛 overly optimistic they鈥檇 get it all together this year, but they seem to be trying and that鈥檚 the best you can hope for 鈥� so whether they鈥檙e successful or not is the thing,鈥� Hancock said.
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鈥淲e coax them on with good spirits but they have to get together with themselves and figure out how to properly create a home 鈥� we鈥檝e got the foundation there for them, but they have to do all the intricate work of building the nest up and they have to do their mating correctly, which is a learning function, and then they have to figure out can they co-ordinate catching food for babies and all that kind of thing 鈥� it does take practice.鈥�
While he and others are hoping they鈥檒l pull it off, Hancock noted that 鈥渦sually what happens, is one mature bird is lost and the other mature bird gets a new partner 鈥� often a younger one 鈥� that comes into the breeding cycle.鈥�
Even with both parents keeping an eagle eye on the nest, it literally takes a raven 鈥渁bout three seconds鈥� to steal an egg.
鈥淚t happens. They land on the nest, they grab the egg and they鈥檙e gone,鈥� he said, noting that when parents exchange incubating duties is often when ravens will strike.
鈥淎t the exchange some birds haven鈥檛 learned 鈥� initially 鈥� if you move off and he moves on, if there鈥檚 dilly dallying around one covering up after the other leaves, boy, we鈥檝e seen it on the cameras. The raven is there and BAM! He鈥檚 got the egg and it鈥檚 gone.鈥�
Watching the eagles can be funny as well, with some behaviours strikingly similar to humans.
鈥淭he female absolutely, absolutely controls the nest,鈥� Hancock said.
鈥淵ou can see a male 鈥� he brings in a stick, places it, looks at it, then takes it and places it again 鈥� he鈥檒l spend 25 minutes placing the stick. Then the female comes and lands and she walks over, immediately picks up that stick and puts it somewhere else.鈥�
There are 680 occupied eagle nests from Horseshoe Bay/Point Roberts to Hope, Hancock said, noting his foundation just signed a contract to record the City of Chilliwack鈥檚 eagle nests, to be a resource that the city, developers and builders can check before building, as every bald eagle nest is protected by law.
That鈥檚 a huge change from the 1950s, when there were only three eagle nests in the entire Fraser Valley.
Back then, no predators were protected at all, Hancock remembered. Americans would head up to Alaska for summer fishing and would 鈥渢ake a bucket full of eagles鈥� legs and pay all their gas there and back鈥� gas was only 23 cent a gallon back then,鈥� as they could get $2 bounty for eagle legs, so they could kill as many as they liked.
Eagles weren鈥檛 the only predators targeted.
He recalled being in a federal research vessel off Tofino in 1963, as he was going to be dropped off on a little island for a month to study sea birds.
鈥淪omebody yells 鈥極h! Orcas! Orcas! and a guy goes running past me as I鈥檓 talking to the captain, then he comes up from the hold carrying a machine gun, mounts it on the front of the boat and (making a machine gun noise) with the machine gun, (shoots right) into the pod of orcas. That was killer whale management in 1963,鈥� he said.
Rachel Carson鈥檚 book, Silent Spring, published in 1962, really helped to start changing the public鈥檚 view and perspective about predators, Hancock said.
About to turn 85 on April 1, Hancock has been passionate about saving wildlife since he was 14, when got his first eagle from the fish and game branch, as there were no wildlife rehabilitation facilities back then.
鈥淚 became the first formal (wildlife) rehabber on Vancouver Island鈥� I鈥檝e had hundreds, even thousands, of birds and animals 鈥� that鈥檚 how I got started,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚 was the kind of the person who would take the things when they were turned in, so I became a rehabber, then a biologist.鈥�
He also made wildlife films for years and started a publishing company for specialized books about conservation.
If someone knows of an eagle鈥檚 nest, Hancock actively encourages them to contact him through his foundation or through its many volunteers, so they can add it to their database of the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing this for a long time. I鈥檓 still as enthusiastic about trying to save things now as I was then,鈥� Hancock said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more important today than it was then 鈥� we destroy things at such a rate, so it鈥檚 still important.鈥�
tricia.weel@peacearchnews.com
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