Santa Cruz Island Update, June 19-26, 2012

[IWS Crew]

Hello eagle enthusiasts,

This week was much quieter than my last tour- it would be pretty hard to beat all that banding excitement- but it still had a lot of wonderful highlights. Big congratulations go to A-81 for fledging on Thursday the 21st. He took off at 4:51pm and returned (with a lovely landing) at 5:14pm. Here is a link to the wonderful video by Cumbrian, showing A-81’s first return to the nest after fledging: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bB8OhRaQVY

Other than that, the week was the normal fare for a field biologist; a little hiking here, a little scanning slopes and sky there, some more hiking, some more scanning… just the normal humdrum routine

GPS shows that both of our Santa Rosa Island fledglings are slowly, steadily exploring further from their nests. Here is what this year’s chicks are up to as of now:

A-77_____Santa Cruz Island_____Carl Nest____________fledged
A-78_____Santa Cruz Island_____Carl Nest ____________fledged
A-79_____Santa Rosa Island_____Lopez Nest___________fledged
A-80_____Santa Rosa Island_____Verde Nest___________fledged
A-81_____Santa Cruz Island_____Sauces Nest__________fledged
A-82_____Santa Cruz Island_____Sauces Nest__________not-fledged
A-83_____Santa Cruz Island_____Hazards Nest_________not-fledged
A-84_____Santa Cruz Island_____Pelican Harbor Nest____not-fledged


And here’s what the crew have been up to this week…


Wednesday
Maria checked on the Carl fledglings A-77 and A-78. It was terribly foggy in the morning, but eventually she was able to get visuals of both of them flying, landing, and even visiting the nest. They moved quickly though. This picture was going to have A-35 and A-78, but A-78 flew away so it is just A-35




I went to the west end of the island, to the Fraser Point area, hoping to see A-64, or A-49, or maybe one of the juveniles. At first I didn’t see anything, but then I got to the very end of the road and scanned some offshore rocks…




Is that something there?



You bet it is!



What a pretty pair: A-49 & A-64



And a mystery friend



I tried to get closer to ID the juvenile, but they all flushed and flew away to the east. I did eventual spot A-49 again, but never got another look at the juvenile.

A-49




Thursday
Maria hiked down Willows Canyon to the coast and scanned from there all day. She didn’t see any eagles, but you can’t beat her view…

The arrow points to the ridge we often scan from when out at Willows… you kinda can’t beat our office



Meanwhile, I hiked out to check on the Hazards chick, A-83. He was active, alert, and well fed and A-16 flew in and perched nearby during my observations.

A-83 at the nest



Very short video of wingercizes


continued...

[IWS Crew]

A-16 landing nearby



On the way home I came across some cool wildlife. I know that there is a momma fox out there right now with her hands (paws?!?) full taking care of these guys. Can you see all five?




Too cute



And there’s some beautiful reptiles out here too…




Friday
Friday Maria and I teamed up to check the south coast from Middle Anchorage to Loma Pelona. She hiked down Loma Pelona East and I went down Sandstone Point and between us we could see an enormous stretch of coast. The tactic seemed to work, as an adult eagle was spotted almost immediately near Sandstone.

My view from Sandstone



The eagle



Shortly after taking that picture, that eagle and a second adult flew east and disappeared behind some land, so I hiked down and over to try for a better visual and an ID. I did spot a pair to the east, but GPS IDed it as the Yellowbanks Pair, so I am not sure where the earlier pair went. Pesky eagles, I will just have to deal with not knowing who they were



Saturday
I returned to the Fraser Point area, hoping to spot the juvenile I had seen Wednesday and maybe even get an ID. No such luck. The only eagles I saw all day were the Sauces adults at Christy Point.




Maria went to Johnson’s Lee, on the south coast, to see what she could find there. She hiked the length of the beach, reached Punta Arena at the far end, spotted an adult eagle perched there, tried to get close enough for an ID, but then it spotted her while she was still far away and flushed. Although she was still pretty far from it when it flew, she thought it might not have had tags, which would likely make it the Carl Nest male. Here are the pictures:

The view from the west end of the beach looking east toward Punta Arena



Trying to sneak up on that distant speck!



The view from the eagle’s perch looking northeast



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[IWS Crew]

The view from the eagle’s perch looking southwest




Sunday
Today it was Maria’s turn to check on the Hazards Nest, and yes, everything is still okay there

You can almost read A-83’s wingbling!



There it is… A-83



A-00 keeping an eye on his baby boy



And A-16 watching too



While Maria did that, I checked on the Carl fledglings again. Boy are they making some great flights. The nest is way off out of this photo to the right, but A-78 was hanging out at the arrow. A-77 was flying even further. He flew out of the photo and way off to the left above the ridgeline.



Close-up of A-78 on ridgetop



continued...

[IWS Crew]

Monday
While I tied up loose ends in the office, Maria went out to survey in the Albert’s Peak area. She didn’t see any eagles, but she did see Anacapa in the distance





And that was our week.

Until next time,
Helen & the IWS Crew


P.S. This tour I have definitely been enjoying stopping and admiring the flowers, so thought I would leave you with a selection of island flora. Enjoy!


Humbolt Lily, Lilium humboldtii



Sticky Sand-Verbena, Abronia maritima



Silver Lupine, Lupinus albifrons var. douglasii



Bush Monkeyflower, Mimulus aurantiacus var pubescens



Chicory, Cichorium intybus (non-native)

[Eagle Duo]

Thank you for a wonderful update!
You always do such a fabulous job of taking us along with you each week.
Loved all the pictures of the eagles, flora, foxes, and even the lizard.

Hope the weather continues to be good for ya'll as you track the eaglets all over the islands.

One question, if you don't mind. Do any of the eaglets on the Northern Islands have GPS units this year or do they all have radio transmitters?

Thanks again for all the info.

Good luck as you track all the fledglings and stay safe!

[IWS Crew]

This year the 2 Rosa chicks, A-79 and A-80, have GPS, but the Santa Cruz ones just have VHF transmitters.

[Patti]

Thank you for the exciting weekly news!

[Eagle Duo]

Thanks for the quick answer!

Have a good and safe week!

[vickih]

Helen -- Great update. Glad to know so many fledglings so far and not even July yet. Also, thank you for the great pics of A64 and A49. I'm glad to know they are still together.

Vickih

[KarenTX]

I enjoyed the update very much! Loved seeing Princess Cruz and Spirit together. They are very beautiful eagles. So glad you were able to get such nice pictures of them.

I am so happy to hear that this years bunch of are doing well!

Thanks for the great update and all the fabulous pictures.

Have a great week and take care!

[EmeraldSkye]

What a fun update. I gotta admit my favorite photo was the 6th one... with the sea lion (I assume, vs. a seal). Which one of these is not like the others?

He seemed curious about the eagles.

[Asti]

for this updat and the beautiful pictures

[ojailala]

Laurie, I too liked the eagle pair with the sea lion on the rock.. along with juvie nearby... fun photo!! also loved those baby fox and could only imagine what life for them would be like had we not relocated all the golden eagles...
Great Job Helen and Maria, your photos are captivating and we love all that you do.

[marshaz]

Thank you so much for the wonderful update, IWS Crew!

The shots are amazing and beautiful, especially the flowers and ocean scenes.

Our eagles are doing great! Saw video of A - 81's first landing, it was pretty darn good!

[pescychick]

Thank you for another Awesome update. So wonderful to see how well the eaglets are doing this year.

Carole