Santa Cruz Update, February 28, 2007

Hey All,

We've had a pretty productive week here on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa island. As most of you know, we're spending all our time these days looking for new and potential nesting pairs on the Northern Channel Islands. Kim and I were here on Cruz, while Ryan spent all last week on Santa Rosa.

Kim and I were able to cover a large portion of the west-end of Santa Cruz, and managed to spot 2 or 3 different adult eagles. Earlier in the week Kim sighted a lone adult on the south-side of the island, in the general vicinity of El Tigre ridge. She only got a short look at the bird before it disappeared, but it was long enough for her to see its white head and tail. The bird flew from its perch spot on the coast, inland toward El Tigre, a large, prominent ridge-line that protrudes southwesterly from the island's southern mountain range. This ridge has numerous large trees and rocky outcroppings, many of which would make an excellent nest platform. Unfortunately, we were never able to find this, or any other bird, on our follow-up visits to the area. We'll be checking the area again this week.

We also spent quite a bit of time on the northwestern side of the island, in an area that we've already had several sightings of adult birds. The northwest slope of the island is probably to most inaccessible portion of Santa Cruz. Not only is it completely roadless, but getting to large parts of it requires climbing to the top of Mount Diablo, the tallest peak on any of the Channel Islands (2434 feet). If possible, we prefer to survey this area from our boat, but the weather this past week wasn't going to cooperate. Anyhow, Kim and I hiked into the area that Chris spotted adult birds last week. We didn't have to search long before we spotted the first bird; an adult sitting on the point just east of Lady's harbor. We watched this bird, perched on the point, almost motionless, for the better part of two hours. It always amazes me how long an eagle can sit in one spot, seemingly oblivious to the elements, then fly off the minute you take your eyes off it. Sure enough, shortly after I had started my hike back toward my vehicle, the bird decides to leave its perch, flying west along the coast. Luckily Kim had continued to watch, and she was able to pick up the bird with her binoculars just as it was joined by a second adult eagle over the water. The two birds circled around each other for some time, all the while gaining altitude and heading east. She lost sight of them behind a ridge, inland of Diablo point. This all took place at the end of the day, so we didn't have time to follow the birds, but Chris, Karen and Andy will be going back tomorrow. This is the second time in two weeks that 2 adult birds have been seen in the area, and although we're cautiously hopeful that we may have found our first new nesting pair, we still haven't been able to pinpoint an actual nest location. The crew is going to work hard this week to do just that. Maybe next week we'll have some exciting news for you.

In other news, the rest of the birds we're tracking are moving around the northern islands pretty freely. A-49 is still here on Santa Cruz, spending most of her time on the north shore and the west-end. Peter Sharpe had a report of a blue-tagged eagle on Catalina island this week. It turns out A-32 has made her way to Catalina. Apparently she was just stopping for a short rest in K-10 and K-26's nest last week. She's only the second Santa Cruz release to make it to Catalina island (the other birds was never identified).

Anyhow, that's about all I have for now. I'll talk to you all later.

Dave

Great report, Dave! What an exciting week you all have had! Hope you're able to find where the newest couple is setting up their nursery....if that's what they're doing. Thanks to you and the whole team. Glad to hear A32 may have found a mate on Catalina. We may be toasting to her babies next year! We love hearing everything you see and do each week!

What a huge treat! Two updates in one day! Thanks Dave and Kim!

Wow, another super update today. What a day. Thank you so much Dave and Crew! I really enjoy you guys' updates. You give us a mental picture of what you see with your detailed descriptions of your activities, and it is a joy to read. I hope you will find a new nest soon - we're overdue for another party, are we not?

Thanks Dave and Kim for a great update! I'm sure your patience and diligence will pay off and that and hopefully others will be confirmed as nesting pairs!! good luck and can't wait for next reporting!

Thank you Dave and Kim for your great report, hope you find more nesting couples on the islands.

Thanks Dave, Lots of eagles to look after.

Thank you Dave, Kim, and the rest of the IWS crew for this update and all your efforts in spying out the new pairs. Keep up the good work! I look forward to reading the updates every week. I loved reading about Cruz and A32 as well. She's a bold one - first K10 and K26's nest, now all the way to Catalina.

Thank you Dave for the great update - so glad you and Kim were able to see so much activity with the eagles - appreciate you descriptive details - thank you too for letting us know where A49 and A32 are located.

Thank you Dave, great update, lots of info. I am really glad to hear about Cruz, glad she is sticking around Santa Cruz and not venturing to the mainland. She is an island girl. Also good news about the new sightings of adults, hopefully they will become the newest members of the Santa Cruz Eagle community. It's a nice location and a good place to raise little ones. Keep up the good work IWS Team, we love you guys.

Thank you Dave and Kim.

I too also look forward to the updates and commend the iws crew for their work in spotting the eagle pairs

Jeanette

Thanks Dave, as always a great update. Thanks for letting us know our "girl" is still on the island. We hope for many, many more pairs of nesters. I would like nothing better than to see hundreds of eagles soaring around the skies of the Islands.
Frances

Thanks once again, Dave, for another great update. Hope you locate a nest site for this new couple. The excitement builds! Always a treat to hear about Cruz.

A BIG THANK YOU for the informative update, but where is the 2nd update Missy Hulabirdy is talkin bout?

Right here, Ozzie......Dr. Sharpe's amazing journey into the West End nest last week:

http://z7.invisionfree.com/CHIL_EagleCAM/i...p?showtopic=857

He'll be posting another one sometime today/tonight regarding the trek into Two Harbors nest yesterday.