Hello Eagle enthusiasts,

This was an amazing tour! Between routine surveying, camera work, keeping track of recent fledglings A-77 and A-78 from the Carl nest, and banding at 3 nests we kept pretty busy. There’s a lot to go over, so get comfortable and come on along for the ride.


Wednesday
Maria went out to Loma Pelona, since that area seems to be a pretty good viewpoint lately. She spotted a pair of eagles, one of which was A-21, but couldn’t get a good picture. Here is her view along the coast with Anacapa in the background.




Meanwhile, I went to check on A-77 and A-78. A-78 had been seen spending time on the ground more than we were happy with. We wanted to make sure that she was actually getting fed and doing okay. So I went out with some apprehension, worrying that she might be languishing. When I arrived both her and A-77 were happily perched in the nest next to some prey. Both birds looked healthy, alert, and energetic. Yay!




A-77 is the one eating in this video




Thursday
Maria surveyed on the west end of the island, between the Sauces territory and the Carl territory, but didn’t see any eagles. She stopped and checked on the Carl nest on her way by and saw A-77 land on the nest with the male adult, but A-78 wasn’t visible.

I surveyed the Willows area, just in case any eagles start to make use of it now that the “Wiillows Pair” has moved to Los Pinos and Loma Pelona area. I didn’t see any though.


Friday
Dr. Sharpe, Jim, and Dave Garcelon arrived today and we all went out to band at the Sauces Nest. Here’s shots of us arriving at the nest and A-27 circling overhead. Can you see the chick peeking out of the nest at the top of the tree?






Jim climbed up, but as soon as one of his hands was visible, one of the chicks flew! Here’s Jim up on the nest securing the second chick and the guiding us in our search for the jumper. I’m glad he’s not afraid of heights!






Eventually, Dave saved the day by finding the chick that jumped. It had flown way further than we originally thought, landing in the bottom of the streambed. Here he is carrying the little guy back.




After that, the chick was checked for injuries (he’s fine), measured (we think he’s a male), banded (meet A-81), and given his transmitter.

Checking for injuries



Taking measurements. How long is his hallux?



continued...

Finishing off his transmitter backpack. And yes, he was as feisty as he looks :P



After that, we banded the other chick. It looks like she is a female. Say hello to A-82…



Finally, they get weighed and returned to the nest.



Jim climbing them back in



They seem happy to be back.



Here are the links to the nest observers’ videos:
Cumbrian- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLvfCyhJa78
River- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn3wAPGnuZQ


Saturday
As if one banding wasn’t excitement enough, Saturday we banded at a second nest. I dropped off Dr. Sharpe, Dave Garcelon, Jim Spickler, and Maria at Hazard Anchorage, so I was in the boat for the whole thing, but it sure looked fun. Here is a shot of us all holding on for the boat ride from Prisoners to Hazards.




This is what they had to hike through to get to the nest!



Both parents kept a close watch on the proceedings





Jim climbing up to the nest



continued...

The view from below showing last year’s nest and this year’s



First view of the chick!



Jim at the nest



Jim with the chick



Maria holding chick while Pete takes measurements (which suggest the chick is a male)



A warm welcome to A-83 :)^



Sunday
Sunday we banded at the Pelican Harbor Pair’s nest at Chinese Harbor. On the way out we stopped to work on the camera system, since it has been having problems. :bam:




Then we hiked down to the nest, and finally saw Precious



Closer



Both parents flew in almost immediately and circled overhead



continued...

The big excitement was that she jumped and flew really far, probably a few hundred meters! Here is the view from the nest showing where she landed.


Dr. Sharpe and me retrieving her (the bushes were so tall that only the tippy top of my head is visible)



At least she didn’t fly this direction from the nest… that might have been an even harder hike!



Pete in a gully we had to cross on the hike back to the nest



We did a full check and she didn’t hurt herself flying out of the nest. Measurements suggest that she is a female and she was tagged as A-84. After everything was done, Jim climbed back up to put her back in the nest.



Here are the nest observers’ videos of this nest entry:
Cumbrian part 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJGWl5v_Q30
Cumbrain part 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EFtz3dqURQ
River part 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKWsNZqct0I
River part 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eugr8NyLp4I


Monday
I hiked out to check on A-83 at the Hazards nest. A-16 was nearby when I arrived and there was food on the nest, so it looks like all is well. A-00 showed up for a while too.

The whole family :D



A-83 (first up and alert, then napping)





A-83 wasn’t the only baby I saw though. Look who checked me out on my trip home.





continued...

Meanwhile, Maria went to check on A-77 and A-78 near the Carl nest. She got a brief visual of A-78, but mostly her view was just fog…




One last note of excitement: A-79 (the chick from the Lopez nest on Santa Rosa Island) has fledged. :<<o>>:

And that was our week, tons of excitement and oh so many birds. I hope you had nearly as much fun as I did.

Until next time,
Helen and the IWS Crew

What a fantastic report. Thanks everyone with the iws crew for news and photos and of course the watchers videos. Glad none of the eaglets were injured and none of the crew trying to help them <3 :><:

Whoop, whoop, whoop! Oh, my gosh, what a fantastic report! Precious certainly did test her wings. Thank goodness she was OK.

Thank you so much for the news and views. Well done to everyone on the team. That must have been a rewarding feeling for Dave Garcelon to experience this, seeing the children of the IWS eagles being banded. :><:

Thank you Helen and crew. Great and gorgeous update. Thanks Peter, Dave & Jim for your hard work. Wishing you all a fabulous week.

Ah thanks so much Helen, have been awaiting this report with much excitement after watching the two next jumpers. A-84 really did fly a long ways, and what chore to get her back. Nice work all of you, and hope you know how much all the cam viewers appreciate your fabulous work and doing the updates for us. We do love our babies! Kudos once again to Jim for his fabulous climbing abilities.



Cindy in Oregon <3 <3 <3

Thanks for the fabulous update, and especially the info on what happened with our nest jumpers, I know most of us cam viewers were anxious to hear about that! You al do such wonderful work for our eagles and especially our babies and I for one am very grateful. Thanks again for the photos, videos etc. You guys are the best!

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Fabulous update, great to hear about the nest jumpers. Thank you for all you do for these magnificent eagles.

Thanks to all the IWS crew for all your hard work!! :-)

Wonderful update. Y'all have done a great job. Good news of fledglings. Is A83 male or female. I couldn't tell. Maybe you stated, and I missed it.

Thanks for all you do.

Vickih :D

Helen Thanks for the great update with all the wonderful pictures--filling in the gaps with the activities we couldn't see on-camera! It's amazing that the trees Jim climbs are actually climb-able...they look so tall, thin and fragile from our vantage point...he's a very brave man. And eagles are smart to build their nests in such high, mostly-out-of-reach places!

I'm glad that all turned out OK for our jumpers (but did they "jump" or did they "fly"?)...that had to be a little scary, looking for them, not knowing what you'd find.

Congratulations to the entire IWS crew for another great banding adventure. Thanks for everything you do for the eagles.

P.S. :wub: that little island fox--great shot!

Thanks for another wonderful update. Very cool that Dave was along this time, and helped with the "round up" of the gliders!

And, how can you not love that :TF: <3

Stay safe out there :Hugs:

Hi,
Vickih: A-83 is a male. Sorry I didn't put that (I will edit it in). Thanks for catching that.

Thanks to everyone for a super update and photos. You sure were kept busy searching for the "jumpers" but glad to hear they were found and uninjured. I'm sure Dave Garcelon was thrilled to participate in these bandings. Job well done by all :)^

Thank you, Helen, for the exciting update....especially of the photos showing where A81 and A84 flew to.

The banding photos are always terrific and a treat!

Thank you all, IWS Crew, for your work!

:><: Wonderful report! Makes me feel very nostalgic for our Limuw on the Pelican Harbor nest, who was also very "precious" to us all several years ago. <3 I still have his beautiful photo as my computer screen. Never to be forgotten. I hope Precious A-84 survives to adulthood. :X:

Thank you for the wonderful update. I was out of town and missed the bandings so it was good to know that I could read about this upon my return. So fantastic to see that all of the eaglets are doing so well. Keep up the good work.

Carole