Catalina update, October 24, 2007

[eaglegal]

Hi eagle fans,
The four juveniles (K-77, K-75, K-56 and K-64) continue to soar and explore the coasts and the interior of Catalina. I was finally able to take a picture of K-56 so you can all see how beautiful this 2-year old female has gotten.

Here’s a closer shot

She spends a lot of her time in the Salta Verde and Silver Canyon area; K-77 seems to like it out there as well.
On Monday I was tracking down K-75 in the Empire landing area and I got a very strong signal from K-63, one of last year’s chicks from the Two Harbors nest. Pete and I went looking for her yesterday but we didn’t even get a reading so she either came to visit “home” just for a couple of days and flew back to the mainland or she’s hanging out with the other juveniles somewhere else in the island. Either way I’ll keep looking for her but not until next week probably ‘cause Catalina has been getting a lot of the smoke generated from the wildfires in southern California and it’s not recommendable to be out hiking and breathing that air all day.
Last Friday I was able to get quite close to K-93, the male at the reservoir. He’s such a predictable eagle (which is nice), always perched on these pine trees.

Training with Pimu and Hyde has improved this week. Hyde is calmer while on the glove and Pimu is back to eating her treats off the perches and occasionally lets me feed her by hand. I think the reason why they weren’t eating and were very distracted during training is because lately we’ve been having a yellow jacket problem. I've been putting out traps all over the areas where we place their food but inevitably the wasps always find the food before Hyde and Pimu get to it.

Young eagles are mainly scavengers and they have to deals with these insects all the time so even our captive eagles who “dine-in”, experience the struggles of being a wild eagle. I got stung not too long ago and I’m sure both of them got stung at one point as well so I understand why they would hesitate to feed. Now they’ve learned too eat right away rather than letting it sit for a few hours.
Now, as promised, the rest of the Channel Islands air-tour.
Starting with Anacapa

Some stretches in Anacapa

And an amazing rock bridge on the eastern tip of the island

Skunk point in Santa Rosa

The landing strip in Rosa

Cont…

[eaglegal]

Here are some shots of Santa Rosa and San Miguel.





Gorgeous coasts and water colors

The captive fox breeding facilities in Santa Rosa



I really liked Rosa’s beautiful coastal lagoons and, in my opinion, Miguel’s most impressive attraction, are the incredibly numerous seals and sea lions. I was told that at one point one may find up to 250,000 seals in the nearby waters and all along the coast of San Miguel. Notice how they pile up on the beaches

So many…

The western tip of Miguel

Cont…

[eaglegal]

Santa Barbara seen from the east

The coast of Barbara

San Clemente’s airport at the west end

A small body of water in Clemente

The south side of Clemente

The whole island seen from the west

And finally Catalina seen from the south. Those peak-like drop-offs are the Palisades and Salta Verde area to the left of them.

Hope you enjoyed it.
Steff

[harpo516]

Steffani - as always you've done a fantastic job of taking us with you and giving us a whole sense of the area - awesome - just awesome

[Eagle Duo]

Wow, Steff. I don't know how you do it. I am captivated each week by your pictures and description! The pictures of the islands from the air were awesome. Thank you so much for taking them and describing each one so well!

Glad you got to see so many of the eagles this week. Your picture of K93 was especially beautiful! Sorry to hear the smoke is so bad over there. Hope that improves soon!

Glad to hear Pimu & Hyde are doing so much better this week. Never thought of yellow jackets being a problem with them. Can't blame them from being wary, I don't like them either.

[Naturegal]

Steffi - Thank you for taking us along on this fabulous trip through the islands. Your photos are amazing and oh so beautiful. Glad you are getting to see some of the eagles, especially K-56 who is a soaring beautie. Too bad about the yellow-jacket problem with Pimu and Hyde but they have seemed to work things out, happy that Pimu is coming around. You're the best, thanks again for your report and photos.

We had a yellow-jacket problem up at the lake for the past two summers and I made a concoction of water and coke-a-cola which they loved, put it in a special wasp trap and they drowned in it.

This post has been edited by Naturegal on Oct 24 2007, 01:00 PM

[luveagles]

Hi Steff,
Thank you so much for the wonderful tour of the islands. It was great you were able to get some pictures of the eagles this week. Glad to hear Pimu and Hyde are doing better. Sorry about the smoke we are all suffering from it here in SoCal.
I hope it is not bothering the eagles to much.
Thanks again for a great report.

[cdn-cdn]

Steffani, thank you once again for your informative update. I learn something new from you every week. Your photos of the islands are very helpful. I like being able to picture what our eagles are looking at as they are soaring high. It was great to have some news about some of the lesser-known eagles, too. I'm always glad to see a photo or read about K93 and how he's still hanging around the reservoir. I hope he has selected a good nest site for next season! Thanks for the news about Pimu and Hyde, too. Those yellowjacket stings can really hurt!

[SoCal Lady]

STEFFANI

Your pictures of the Islands are magnificent and you took us along on wonderful airplane trip- each Island has its own splendor.

Again, happy to hear #77 & #75 are still staying home on their birthplace from this year's Class.

Am I seeing things? Is that a white-ish head I see on beautiful #56 ---soaring over your head?

You are sooo smart to stay away from hiking about in this smoke!

Thank you again--- SUPER STEFFANI !

[Yakyak]

Hi Steffani,

You don't know me, but I just wanted to tell you what awesome pictures you've taken. You must feel like the eagles flying up above the Islands. What a wonderful experience. I've enjoyed all of your pictures and comments.

Kay/Yakyak

[Angelfish321]

Beautiful!! The picture of K-93 was especially excellent. I could never ever get tired of looking at these majestic bald eagles. I am just so thankful that the bald eagles have the islands for them to enjoy and the IWS team who cares superbly for the bald eagles and all the animals.

[Bixby]

Those photos were so good I thought I was watching Nature on PBS!

[SheilaSB]

Steffani - Thanks so much for your terrific update - appreciate all you share with us - love the pics you captured of the juveniles and of the islands from the air - have been on Anacapa, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz - sill have others to visit someday - glad you were able to figure out what was bothering Hyde and Pimu - glad they firgured out if they eat right away they beat the yellow-jackets to their food. Thanks for the update on their training.

[kljinusa]

Thank you so much for the aerial photos... What a great experience to see these islands in that way. Hey, maybe the Cruzers should charter a plane to San Clemente....

[silveregal]

Thanks Steff really great update and Pictures.