Santa Cruz Island Update, April 17-24, 2012

[IWS Crew]

Hi folks,

Well another tour passes by and it was a pretty good one all in all. The day we arrived Kim went down below the Navy Site hoping to see the Los Pinos (formerly Willows) pair making another nesting attempt, but no such luck. Though we haven't given up hope quite yet.

I went out to take a look at the Sandstone Point area and even caught sight of an eagle, but the distance and heat waves made for a picture that wasn't worth posting. There is a good chance the bird was A-48 since that is her usual hangout.

On to the next day and more exciting happenings. Kim did the “heavy lifting” and hiked over the North Ridge and down to check on the Hazards nest, where the Cueva pair was still incubating. We'll check in again on them later in the tour.

Meanwhile, I went out to the Fraser Point area, kind of hoping to see if A-49 could be accounted for. I wasn't disappointed.


Yep, they seem to still be together. A-49 and A-64.


There was also a blue-tagged juvenile flying around out there. At this point soaring with an osprey.


And then it came closer, but I still couldn't quite figure out who it was.


The heat waves didn't help any, but they made for some interesting photos at full zoom. Kind of like a painting. (Look for the blue tags to see the flying eagle.)


Eventually I managed to find a spot by the water where the heat waves weren't so bad and the juvie was kind enough to settle for awhile.
A-70


There was also an orange-tagged juvie about that day, but I only saw it briefly at a distance as it dove out of sight. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get another view of it when I went searching, but I got quite a few more good looks of A-64 and A-49 as the took up other perch sites.

[IWS Crew]

That was all for eagles that day, not too bad.
I even got a couple of bonus sightings on the way “home”.
Still hoping we'll find an osprey nest one of these days, but for now it's enough just to see them about.


And always nice to see the foxes. Hopefully we'll start seeing the young ones in the near future and be able to get some pictures for you.


The next day I headed out to El Tigre Ridge with a view of the Willows and Justiniano Canyon areas. The fog was a harbinger of things to come for this tour, but it wasn't too bad this day.


I caught sight of another orange-tagged juvie, or the same one from Fraser the day before (?), but I still couldn't get a number. Argh!


I had better luck with this one, a blue-tagged juvie, despite the distance and heat waves. It helps when they actually land and stay still for a few minutes.






Though, it turned out to be A-70 again, so maybe it was the same orange-tagged juvie from Fraser Point. I think they are following me..., or maybe I'm following them.

I caught sight of another blue-tagged juvie, or just an earlier sighting of A-70, but we also got a report from the Island Scrub Jay crew, who was also in the area, that they saw A-74 and another bird they couldn't ID. So maybe we were seeing the same birds and just getting the IDs on the opposite birds? Either way, it's always nice to get info from the other researchers on the islands. Thanks, Jay Crew!

While I was at El Tigre, Kim was over checking on the Carl nest where the chicks just keep getting bigger and bigger. They get their wing-bling this weekend!

[IWS Crew]

Remember that harbinger I mentioned? Well it settled in pretty well on Friday.


It makes seeing eagles, or anything else in it, rather difficult, but it usually means the seas are flat and good for boating. Kind of a double-edged sword. But we managed to get the boat out and check on the Fry's nest of A-46 and A-24.
A-46 standing watch.


And A-24 on incubation duty. Still looks to be just one egg, but there could also be one hidden in the bowl lining. It wasn't expected to have hatched yet so we were perfectly happy just to find it still being actively attended to.


The most interesting sighting of the day was K-05, Seal Rocks nest chick from 2010, hanging out at Fry's, and even following A-46 around “begging” (vocalizations) for food. Teenagers!


We had a sighting of another, more well established, Catalina bird on our way back to Prisoner's.
Always nice to see K-10; near Twin Harbors.


A greeting party on our return to Prisoner's, having survived the fog.


Another day of fog, but again nice flat seas, so we headed out to check the Hazard's nest of the Cueva pair since it was about due to have a chick.
A-00 welcomed us to his domain.


Though he was also plagued by a “begging” juvie. But we were very happy to see A-73, even if it was a “barely see”.


I don't think A-00 was the only one being watched.


A-16 was busy on the nest with their new chick! Hopefully we can get some better pictures on a later visit, but this nest is harder to see than last year's which was lower in the tree.

[vickih]

Great pics of A64 and A49 . Who would ever thought they would get this close. They actually look pretty good together. Neither one can say they don't like the in-laws and they have quite a royal lineage. Maybe Mom and Dad can give them some tips for next season.

The Carl chicks must be big. Can't wait for the pics on the banding. Will this be videotaped?

Thank you IWS.


Vickih

[IWS Crew]

We headed back for Prisoner's feeling well and enjoying the other birds along the way.


And one VERY big boy!


No doubt one of his progeny.


Sunday, well, not quite sunny, but the fog moved up a few hundred feet and since the seas were nice and flat we headed over to check on the Oak Canyon pair on Anacapa.

We swung by Chinese Harbor along the way and said Hi to the Pelican Harbor pair at their nest.




Fortunately the fog was just high enough to see the Oak Harbor nest, though it is still a hard nest to see from the water.





(low and to the right)

From what we could see of the bird on the nest they are still incubating. We caught sight of the other adult as we arrived near Oak Canyon, but we decided to focus on the nest and when we went to look for it later it had moved out of sight. So for now all looks promising at Anacapa and we'll try to check on them again as soon as feasible.

As I said before, all in all a good tour. Kim checked on Los Pinos for activity once more on Monday. No sign of them, but still hoping. She also did one more check on Carl nest just to make sure they were well. They were and Helen, Maria, and Dr. Sharpe, and climber Jim too (I believe), we'll be paying them a more “intimate” visit soon.

Kim and I, and Dr. Sharpe, will be headed for Santa Rosa next tour to do the Lopez nest banding and check on the status of the Trap Canyon pair's Verde nest/chick(s?). It's that time of the year.

Until next time..., the east end of Santa Cruz Island viewed from Anacapa.


Be well all,

Don and Kim, and the eagles

[Naturegal]

Don and Kim - Wonderful update and so good to see A-49 and A-64 together, for nest year. Great photos, thanks for all you do!

[klemon]

Fantastic update as usual. Thanks Don,Kim and crew for all you do. Wonderful seeing Dreamer. Good luck on the up coming banding.

[ojailala]

Don and Kim.. loving your photography and how hard it must be to deliver such detailed shots to us.. the sea lion with kelp on head might be my favorite!!!!

[summer818]

Don and Kim, you two Rock! Your photo's are spectacular as always!! Seeing A64 (Spirit) and A49 (Cruz), they are a gorgeous pair!!! Next year, they'll have the most beautiful chicks ever!!! Thanks for all your efforts and hard work tracking those elusive eagles. Have a great week.

[amethyst]

As always, thank you for taking the time to post the pics and compose your update...you already do so much work....
Great to see a full view of the old new PH nest!

[marshaz]

Thank you for the updates.

[sunnyland7]

Hi Don. Kim, and IWS crew
You are all so busy!
Great news of all the eagles.
Keep safe!

[Patti]

Thank you, Don, Kim & all for the great update!

So good to see A49 & A64 together in so many captures. Warms the heart!

All the pretty eagles....good luck with the bandings and looking forward to photos.

Thanks, again....especially for running into Dreamer.

[julesbrickell]

Thanks for the wonderful update!! It always makes me happy when someone sees A-74, Karana!!!

[iggle]

Wonderful update! Love all the great photos, which have to be really difficult to get.

A49 & A64.... What can you tell me about the cross they were using as a perch?

What the heck is K10 doing at Twin Harbors with a chicklet waiting on Santa Cruz??? No wonder he sometimes looks so winded when he lands on the PH nest!