Catalina update, October 31, 2007

Hi everybody,
Pete and I are going to be busy tomorrow so here's a super early update.
We’ve had another interesting week here in Catalina.
The juveniles continue to explore all corners of the island and sometimes I get lucky and get signals on all four in one day. Yesterday for example I was radio tracking the Empire landing area and I spotted K33, the male of the Twin Rocks pair,

soaring by the coast about a mile west from his territory. I knew K64 was in the area

so I waited to see how these two eagles would behave if they spotted each other. Sure enough, K33 started chasing K64 away, harassing him and vocalizing profusely as if saying: this is my territory so you better leave…

…and K64 did ‘cause a couple of hours later he was back at the reservoir.
The area where all of this commotion happened is called The Valley of the Ollas
and it isn’t really part of the Twin Rocks area, thought K33 seems to disagree.

We’ve also been working on our cameras, Pete here at the office trying to figure out the electronics and both of us at the nest sites. Here’s Pete in the incubation room (which has been turned into an electronics shop) working with so many cables they don’t even fit in one picture.

Once he had it all figured out, it was time to try it out in the field. As always, unexpected things came up, things that worked in the shop didn’t at the nest site, but at the end of the day we got the camera and the remote control to work. There’s still more work to be done but we’re getting there.
I’m not sure if we’ve mentioned this to you before but next year we’re hoping to have cameras on two other Catalina nests (Twin Rocks & Seal Rocks), so we can monitor them the same way we do with Two Harbors and West End nests.
Twin Rocks

Seal Rocks

As some of you know, we have two potentially new breeding pairs for next year: the Rattlesnake Canyon pair and the Reservoir pair. If all goes as expected we would probably have seven active nests in Catalina next year; five of which would be left to hatch their own eggs.
Cont…

Training with our captive eagles is going well. Pimu is still a bit nervous around us and doesn’t let me feed her by hand all the time but she’s more tolerant of Pete’s and my presence. Hyde is so wonderful; I’ve been handling him several times every day, I pick him up whenever he gives me a chance so that he learns to be on the glove not only during feeding but any time we need him to. He has to be able to be up on the glove comfortably for at least 20-30 minutes during a presentation so that’s what we’ll work on next month.

And here’s a couple of shots of Catalina seem from the mainland as I in flew back this weekend. Doesn’t it look like a little piece of heaven fell off from above?

Getting closer

We don’t really decorate our house this year but I did carved my first couple of pumpkins ever and I figured I’d show them to you. Hope you can tell what they are; it was harder than I thought.



Happy Halloween!!!
Steff

That is way toooooo many wires - just how do you know where they all belong As always a truly awesome update! Love the Jack-O-Lanterns - if that's your first time, can't wait to see what you do down the road! WOW! for those nesting pairs to get some sticks together and get busy soon! so K33 thinks he's the KING eagle - LOL - two more cameras - an even bigger screen I will need!

Thank you - Happy Halloween to you and Peter

Wow, great update as always Steff.
Thanks to everyone at IWS for all you do.
Great pumpkins.

Thanks Steffi for great pictures and update. Your photos are super and so happy that Pimu is coming around and Hyde has been a star. Your pumpkins are awesome Thanks also for all the work you and Peter do with the cameras to keep us happy.

Steffani - Outstanding update - two more cams to watch eagles - how exciting - letting 5 out of 7 hatch their own - amazing "heavenly" pics - so happy about Hyde's progress - glad to hear Pimu hasn't regressed - guess she needs more time to get with the program than he does. Thank you again for all the work you, Pete (all those wires) and IWS do for the eagles and for us.

Thanks Steffani for the great early update. The pumpkins were very very good to be a first time and am I mistaken and they are eagle pumpkins? K33 seems to protect that area But so they should protect their home. Love all the pictures of our eagles and Hyde. Pimu will come around soon. and don't work too hard (as if you all ever get any rest). God bless you and Dr. Peter and all the great work you do. Frances HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Thank you for another wonderful Update, Steffani. It's great to see K33 & K64 interacting...well, not wanting to interact is more like it! The photos are terrific, all of them. Good to see Hyde & happy Pimu is not giving the cold shoulder. Very excited about the two new viewing nests and love the Seal Rocks nest.

Your eagle pumpkins are beautiful! Thank you for all you do~~~Happy Halloween~~~

Steff, thank you for the Halloween present of an early update! Loved it! What stood out for me was you talking about what you and Pete have planned for nest year. That tells me that you plan to stick around and that makes me very happy.

Thanks for the update, Steff. There are way too many wires in that room. But the effort should be worth all the work. Love your pumpkins! Super job!

THANK YOU STEFF,
WHAT A GREAT UPDATE AND EARLY I LOVE YOUR PUMPKINS PETER HAS WAY TO MANY WIRES TO DEAL WITH GOOD LUCK. GLAD PIMU AND HYDE ARE DOING WELL.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Thank you, Steffani, for the story about K33 and K64. You certainly spent a lot of time on your jack o' lanterns. They turned out really well.
The heavenly pictures of Catalina Island speak for themselves, what a lovely place for humans and eagles to live. I was glad to read about the Reservoir and Rattlesnake pairs, hope they will select some good nest sites. That will be so interesting to read about two brand-new nests and eagles who will potentially be parenting for the first time. Pimu and Hyde sound like they are doing well. All those wires ...... hurts my head just to think about them.

Thanks for another great update. Happy Halloween

Thank you for the great update, Stef! As always, I really enjoy all the detail you put into them. Love your pumpkins!!! That was a lot of work! Good job!

THANK YOU!

Steff---How exciting for you that you were in the area when #33 and #64 were interacting-----and you even got to capture them on filim---

It will be awesome to see Twin Rocks and Seal Rocks on CAMS too this coming seaon. What a year 2008 will be with the and

I think it is so exciting that you all will be letting 5 of the nests to the Eagles to hatch their eggs---will be a good experiment to see how far the elimination of the DDT has progessed, for the eagles to hatch their own eggs---as Pinnacle was such a success this year. But of course it will be a nervous time as well, with , for successful incubating and hatching.

Thank you Steff and for all the patience WITH ALL THOSE WIRES!!

PS---SO LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING YOU THIS FRIDAY--- FOR THE IWS TOUR SOOO EXCITED!