Catalina update, August 22nd, 2007

Hello everyone…
It’s time for another Catalina update.
I’m sure everyone knows about A63 by now. I received the call from the person who found it last Wednesday and was very sad to hear that one of our birds had died so tragically on his first long adventure. Our juveniles aren’t exposed to fast-driving vehicles here on the islands so A63 probably didn’t know to stay away from highways in the mainland. It was a very unfortunate incident but at least we know what happened to him. I hope people don’t get discouraged buy this and continue to watch our cameras and support our efforts to restore the bald eagle population in the Channel Islands.
On the other hand, the rest of the Channel Island juveniles are still doing great, soaring above Catalina finding plenty of food and places to explore. Like I mentioned before, there’s going to be a lot of dead deer this year on the island so our eagles will have lots of carcasses to scavenge on. Hopefully most of them will stick around. As for K74, I still haven’t been able to find him out here, maybe it’s hanging out with its sibling on the mainland somewhere.
Last week I saw several juveniles flying around at the east end of the island, between Pebbly Beach and the Seal Rocks area. Here’s a picture of K-72, K-78 and K-79 flying along with many ravens.

And here’s K-72 being followed by lots of ravens. Sometimes, I see a raven flying far away and I think is a young eagle ‘cause I have nothing to measure them against so I stop and watch its flying patterns or just wait until it gets close enough to tell the difference. On this picture you can really tell what’s an eagle and what’s not.

And K-76 soaring above Bulrush Canyon.

Here’s K-03 today.

On Sunday I went to the west end and found most of the rest of the juvis. On my way back I took a picture of the sunset and if you look close enough you can see Santa Barbara right under the sun…beautiful!!!

I was walking along the coast looking up so I didn’t notice this sea lion until I got too close and started barking at me.

I moved a few feet away and it went right back to sleep.

Here’s a picture of the Little Brown Bats that live right next to Pimu’s container. I’ve seen up to seven of them crammed in a little spot, today I only found one so it was easier to get a picture and be able to tell what it is. If you zoom in you’ll actually be able to see its little eye.

cont...

And some great shots of our lovely Pimu. I clean her cage, stay in there watching her eat, sit around close to her and she doesn’t seem to be bothered but I can’t tell if we’re actually making some progress or if she’s just learned to ignore me…?

I always put her food on the platforms and normally she’d eat them up there too. But lately she’s been picking up her fish and flying over to her new perch and eating them there. I guess it feels more ‘natural’ to eat on a perch like she would in the wild. Either way she looks content while she feeds.

You can tell she just ate just by looking at her full crop.

I attempted to get a good picture of A32 though I wasn’t very successful but it’s the only one I got.

Lastly, an excellent shot of K-00 flying off of the eucalyptus trees at the reservoir.

(Photo by Frank Starkey)
Until next week
Steffani

Wonderful update. It is good to see so many eagles doing so well. We will be here supporting the effort. Thank you Steffani.

MIB

Another wonderful report coming at a good time. Thank you, Steffani! Wonderful pictures and descriptions, as always. Your pictures of Pimu were beautiful. I hope she is getting used to you and that you and she will be able to form a bond.

Had to chuckle at the sea lion barking at you. Can imagine the start that must have given you!

I don't know who Frank Starkey is, but that is a stunning picture of K-00! And look how beautiful and grown up A-32 is looking! She's really matured a lot since we saw her on the nest a few months ago! Hope you're able to get a location of 74 soon.

It must have been so hard getting that phone call. I know the shock I felt when I read the news. Hugs to you!

Thank you for the great update. Beautiful sea lion~~ The soaring eagles look great. Yes. it has been a rough couple of days. A-63/Limuw's loss only makes us love all the eagles more, Steffani.

For me, it has always been about the eagles; waiting for news and photos & watching the cams. We can only hope for the safety of all of them, but statistically speaking, it isn't realistic. I wish we lived in a perfect dream world, but...it isn't so we'll carry on. I have soft spots for the TH eagles and am happy you can see them.

Uh, I don't see your bat, but I see them up here in our area at dusk.

Steffani, thank you for the update on the other eagles. Pimu, A32 and K00 all looked beautiful. K00 really seems to like the reservoir area.

I'm so sorry that you had to take and respond to the distressing call about Limuw. The man was so kind-hearted to stop and then let the IWS know.

I hope that your elbow is feeling much better.

Patti, the bat is that dark blob in the middle of the picture. There's a tiny white speck where it's eye is and the tiny pointed thing on the left is one of it's ears. It was looking right at Steffani when she took the picture. Looks like a pretty good-sized bat. How big are they there, Steffani?

Great update Steffani, hope the arm is better. Loved the pictures of the young ones and our Pimu .

Thanks Steffani.. you do a good job for us all and the new cage for Pimu looks wonderful...Dr. Sharpe said you do a good job fishing too...

Thanks so much for such a positive report and the terrific photos, Steffani! There must be countless things happening in nature to counteract what might seem to us to be a disastrous event. I know I need to remind myself of that, especially at this difficult time.

With great appreciation for what you do......

Jann, I see a dark shadowed area in the middle of the bat pix between the 2x4's or whatever they are...but no definite outline at all. On the other hand, the wood is really light, so the pix isn't dark. I'm just blind as a bat...ha ha~~

Thanks, Steffani, for the very welcome update. It's been a difficult few days and it's great to see Limuw's cousins doing so well. The updates are our life line to the Eagles now with the empty nests and inactive cameras.

Thanx, Steff!

Thank Steff ... lots of wonderful photos of the eaglets soaring and information about them too.

I too am sorry ... that you had to deal with the distressing news about our beloved Limuw ... and also that K-74 has not been seen ... hope that someone spots him with his brother on the mainland soon.

Pimu certainly seems to be enjoying her new perch where she is more comfortable eating her food.

The sealion saying 'Hello' to you must have given you a start ... you made me smile reading about it.

I see K-00 is still hanging around the reservoir ... even though last week K-93 seemed to be chasing him away!

Not sure I would enjoy being that close to the bats ....

Hope that your elbow/arm is mending well. Thanks again for all you do.

Of course - love the Pimu photos! She looks wonderful and I'm sure you are making progress (although like the ignoring remark )

Great photos of the eaglets with the ravens - the difference in size! WOW!

I'm sure 74 is off jaunting around with brother ---

Wonderful, wonderful photos - enjoy seeing all the other things as well!

I must agree with you - I think Limuw didn't have a clue what a car was and just didn't know! He was probably having roadside lunch .....

Again thanks for all you do - the posts are super!