Wednesday Catalina Update, April 11, 2007

Another week and more great news. The Seal Rocks nest successfully hatched their first egg on Saturday, April 7th. We were joined by NBC news at the observation point when we reviewed the tape and saw the chick for the first time. NBC dubbed the tape and it was run on Weekend Today and the Evening News with Brian Williams on Sunday. Here is the original footage.



Two days later, the second chick hatched at Seal Rocks.



Since last Wednesday we successfully hatched the remaining eggs we had in our incubator. On Easter, we fostered the three chicks that hatched from the five West End eggs back into their nest.



The three chicks are being well cared for by the three adults at the nest and are growing quickly.

On Monday, we fostered the two Twin Rocks chicks into their nest. They are also doing well.



We still have the two Two Harbors chicks in the office and are planning on fostering them in the next day or two, depending on weather, tides, and a couple of other factors. I'll make sure to post a notice before we head to the nest, which should give you a 2-3 hour notice.

Thank you, again, for the beautiful footage of these fosterings.

The Twin Rocks chicks seemed very excited to find themselves in their new home!

All of it was wonderful. Seal Rocks nest is awesome; parents seem super interesting--maybe it's the cam angle, but they appear so agile. Thank you for staying up late and posting these incredible videos. I'm a crybaby...beautiful eagles, all of them.

Awesome! Thanks Peter and Steffani ..... the videos are super and it is wonderful to watch the reactions of the Adults when they see their chicks.

Loved seeing the West End Trio being put into the nest and how you were telling them "No Fighting" ... getting pecked for your trouble!

You certainly need to be fit to get to some of these nests.

Thanks again for taking the time and trouble to update us .... especially as you all must be pretty darn tired after all your recent 'nursery' duties.

A job well done ..... and an amazing year with the successes at all these nests.

DR. SHARPE AND STEFFANI - Thanks so much for these great videos of the Seal Rock nest - so happy both eggs hatched - and for the very close up views of the WE nest and fostering of the chicks to the nest - I couldn't really see from the live cam that the chicklet was biting you and starting to peck of its sibling - I think that is the one that has been dubbed as Harry (Houdini) although we don't know if the chicklet is a he or she yet - don't know if chicklet boys act differently than girls - maybe again it whoever is biggest due to being born first. Most certainly the triplets are getting equal feeding from the parents.
Don't know if the wind is blowing as strongly as it is on the mainland in Santa Barbara on the WE nest - we have all expressed concern about the chicklet (Harry) who seems to be all over the nest and way too close to the edge - since there is not much stick build up around the edge, is that something to be concerned about? Apparently no chick has been lost to falling off the nest so far at WE.

You've done it again, and again, and again...

[/B][B]OH, THOSE VIDEOS ARE WONDERFUL!

From the historically monumental natural hatching of an Eagle chick, to the threesome fostering of 'Huey Duey & Louie' (already fighting!) to the Twin Rocks double trouble fostering. The latter parents appeared more surprised than the parents of H, D & L~!
THANK you so much for allowing us to share it with you

Ozzie

oh my gosh - rock surfing at twin rocks with that precious cargo - GO PETER!!

Thanks to you and Steffani and IWS for all that you have done and continue to do for the eagles. I truly love watching the parents' reactions when they fly away from eggs and return to fur balls that peep constantly. And now to know that they come with the "pecking order" built in! LOL..... It is wonderful that we could share this with you (so glad we had the camera fundraiser).

Good luck eaglets - may you one day soar high!

WOW - Thank you so much for the wonderful coverage of your fostering adventures. Dr. Sharpe, Steffani and crew, you are awesome

Excellent camera footage all around. Thanks for all the great videos. Go Steffani! Go Peter, Go Dave... Go IWS!
Thanks again for sharing all you do.

Thanks so much Dr Sharpe and Steffani for the wonderful "close-up and personal" video of the fostering events. That Twin Rocks approach is something else and so is that male! Glad you both survived. Seems that all the new parents are doing great with their young. Thanks for all of your dedication, hard work, and love of these magnificent birds.

Thank you for sharing the WONDERFUL videos of the fostering. Such a rare event, and the up front and personal seats are sooooo appreciated! Great job!!!

Each video is better than the one before. Loved the different view of the 'rock-skiing' at Twin Rocks! Have already watched each of the videos twice and know I'll be watching and sharing them again and again! Thank you again for the videos and all you do for the eagles and us.

p.s. Who's the guy in the green shirt with you and who's taking the video?

Awesome, great videos, they were exciting, heartwarming, funny and adventurous. Loved the baby chicks fighting and biting, there is one bratty sibling in every family eh? The Seal Rock adults were so prepared for their new arrival with fish standing by, and they seemed very excited about the eggs hatching. I love nature and you people for helping keep nature on track. Thank you so much for allowing us to go along with you.

We had a film crew from HD News along with us, so the video will likely show up somewhere, someday.

This is incredibly wonderful to be able to see this footage up close and personal. Thank you for sharing it with us. You do get to see so much detail that is missed on the webcam. And I love seeing what the adult eagles are doing during the time all of this is going on. Absolutely terrific!

I know you all are scientists and everything is black and white data, data, data. But one of these days, when you have some free time , would it be possible for you and Dave to post what the successes of this season mean to you? What it feels like to be in the presence of these majestic birds in the wild? What does it feel like to put one of those chicks in the nest and to leave it there? And to watch it grow, fledge, and prosper. It is overwhelming for me to watch it from afar via camera, so I'm wondering what it feels like for those of you who are so intimately involved in the program. And what does it feel like to have accomplished what you have accomplished?

Congratulations, IWS crew!!! And THANK YOU!!