Catalina Wednesday Update, February 28, 2007

Well, we had an exciting day today. When I got up this morning, both web cams on Catalina were down. The only thing I could think of that would cause this problem was that the power supply at USC's Wrigley Institute had died. I stopped by USC on the way out to the West End nest and that was in fact the problem. I replaced the power supply and we got a beautiful picture from both nests, so it appears that the power supply there was the problem with the West End cam all along. The Two Harbors cam receiver runs on 7 volts and the West End receiver runs on 12 volts, so the latter receiver was probably not getting enough juice. Because we were getting such a nice image I didn't need to mess around at any of the other transmitter sites, including the planned troubleshooting at the West End nest transmitter. Therefore, I forgot to set the timer back an hour, so the camera feed will be going off at 6 pm until we visit the nest again, which may be in as little as 2-3 weeks to foster some Zoo chicks into the nest. Sorry.

Upon our arrival at the West End nest today we found a record 5 eggs in the nest, 4 in one nest cup and 1 in another. Problem was, I only have room for 4 eggs in my carrying case. Therefore, we had to improvise with tshirts and a fanny pack to carry the fifth egg back to the truck and portable incubator. A couple hours later we got the eggs back to our office in Avalon and stuck them in our big incubator for an hour to warm up. We have just finished working up the eggs and they all seem to be in good shape. Two are definitely fertile and the other three are too young to tell. It will probably be another 3-5 days before we can tell if the rest are developing. I'll post regular updates on their progress.

Here are the five eggs at the West End nest.



We are currently monitoring four other nests on Catalina.

The Pinnacle Rock nest, occupied by a 21-year-old male (K-65) and an 8-year-old female (K-92) laid their first egg on 2/22 and their second egg on 2/25. We are monitoring the nest daily because we are allowing these birds to keep their eggs this year to see if they can hatch. If they start losing their eggs we will put in a fake egg and then foster a chick if necessary.

The Twin Rocks nest, occupied by a 15-year-old male (K-33) and a 23-year-old female (K-17) laid their first egg on 2/25 and we are expecting them to have another egg when we check tomorrow. We'll be switching their eggs this weekend.

The Two Harbors nest, occupied by a 9-year-old male (K-81) and a 9-year-old female (K-82) laid their first egg on 2/27. With the angle of the camera and the depth of the egg cup, it is unlikely that we will see the eggs until we go to switch them early next week. You will be able to view this switch on-line.

We are keeping a close eye on the Seal Rocks pair as well. They have been working on the nest but had not laid an egg as of yesterday. The male is a 15-year-old bird (K-25) and the female (K-34) is 14 years old. They will also get to keep their eggs because they have consistently had the lowest DDE contaminant levels in their eggs over the past several years.

We had a surprise visitor this week that you're all familiar with. On Saturday evening I got a call from a friend at Middle Ranch, where Pimu is housed, saying that he had seen a young bald eagle with blue wing markers at the reservoir there. I went out there yesterday searching for it and found the bird perched up on a hillside over Thompson Reservoir. Turns out it is A-32, the bird that was in the Pelican Harbor nest on Santa Cruz on February 14th. There is a unattached 8-year-old male that lives at the reservoir, so maybe these two will hook up for next year (A-32 is only three years old now and not quite mature).

Tomorrow, I'll work up some video from the egg switch today and insert it into this post and into the Daily Observations thread, so stay tuned. The new video camera and my homemade sunglasses cam worked great and it will give you the true experience of getting to and being in the nest.

Until tomorrow.

EDIT 3/1/07: Here is a video I've put together from my sunglasses cam footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FctakWkCm9w

Wow! This is the most detailed and best update ever. Well I can't go that far because they're all so great. Larma, I have my eagle eye on you knowing stuff. We can't wait to see your video tomorrow!

All I can say is Oh My God!!! Fabulous. Can't wait for the video. We are truly blessed to be a part of all this. A BIG THANK YOU Peter.

Sorry I don't know how to capture anything but dust bunnies...

Wow, 5 beautiful eggs!!! The WE trio are fascinating. And I'm glad to hear the problematic power supply issue has been solved. Good detective work, Dr. Sherlock Sharpe!

WOW! What an update. Superman really did his job! We are really so happy to see that your trip to USC ended up solving the problem with the WE cam - it really looks great and made for some great video and pictures today for all to enjoy. (We forgive you for forgetting to set the timer back ) It is very encouraging to hear how the eagle pairs are coming along. Thank you for the picture of the 5 eggs, and we are looking forward to your video.

Mmmmm-hmmmmm, we've got your number seesta and its definitely sixteen.

Thank you Dr. Sharpe for posting the update so quickly after such a busy day. The pictures of the nest and eggs are beautiful. I'll be looking forward to the regular updates on the eggs, eagles and soon to be eaglets. So Diana and Wray are going to have chicks of their own soon. That's so nice to hear.
The camera is working great. This is so exciting, everything is moving very fast, soon there will be chicks in all these nests, Yikes..

Okay, I have got to ask ................ what is the homemade sunglasses cam???

Peter - you guys are awesome! 5 eggs in the nest - and all the others are beginning to deliver as well! So glad we decided to move forward with the camera fundraiser - look at all that you will be able to record and use for your work and look at all that we will get to share with you!

Great day - great job. Looking foward to the next phase! Thank you.

I taped a small lipstick camera and microphone to the side of some old sunglasses. Works well and saves about $800 off the ones you can buy on-line.

MacGuyver Sharpe - you the man!!! and was it duct tape - the stick to and fix all!

Ok people...he bakes cookies for marathon runners, raises eagles, has ever in his life heard of a lipstick camera, and saves us $800. Have I mentioned how much we lurve you lately Dr Sharpe? You totally ROCK!

WOW....I tell you Dr Sharpe what a guy! What a great day and thanks for such an informative update and that photo of the eggs. I'm so lucky to be a part of this and thanks for allowing us this experience. I would have never never been able to see anything like this.

Can't wait to visit those eggs up close and personal on my trip.

I have been so anxiously awaiting to hear from you, Dr. Sharpe about your adventures today....or should I say the tasks that you had before you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping us so informed and for the pictures of the eggs. I truly pray for these little guys (and girls) that they all turn out to be healthy, young eagles!

Thank you so much for allowing us to view the switch and all the hard work you and your crew do - it's absolutely fascinating!! I have learned so much and look forward to more. Thank you again!!