Wednesday Update, March 7, 2007

Hi Eagle Team,

Three cheers for the egg…hip-hip hooray, hip-hip hooray, hip-hip hooray! K-10 and K-26 have done it again, producing another beautiful Santa Cruz Island bald eagle egg. I zoomed in the camera on the nest bowl yesterday, and, depending on your feedback, we may adjust it again in the near future. Unfortunately, we are having some major problems with our internet connection on the island right now, preventing us from watching the nest video. Thanks to the diligent online nest observers, we found out about the egg from you! It goes to show how important the discussion forum is to the project. I think we have some new academic faces on the forum; the Lemonwood Eagle Squad is doing an excellent job with their detailed observations of the nest. Thanks gang…keep up the good work! Keep your eyes pealed…maybe a second egg will appear.

In other news, Andy, Karen and I spent the entire week searching the north central part of the island for a new nest. The two adults seen on that portion of the island are Santa Cruz Island natives: A-00 and A-16. A-00 is a five-year-old male released with the first batch of eagles in 2002. A-06 is a four-year-old female released a year later in the summer of 2003. Several days ago, the two were observed copulating on a rocky cliff overlooking the water. By land and by water we searched for the nest, only to come up empty handed. The pair is staying in a specific area of the north shore, creating a territory about two miles wide along the coast. The terrain is steep and rugged and the potential nesting locations are endless. Dave, Ryan, and Kim are out in the boat right now picking up where we left off. We will keep you posted on any new developments.

The other eagles are spread out evenly between all the islands; that is Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Anacapa. A-49 has already been on all three of the island in the month of March. On March 1st, she moved from Anacapa to Santa Cruz, only to continue on to Santa Rosa on March 3rd. She is now very comfortable flying from island to island to find food. A-04 should be laying an egg very soon on the south side nest. There is no indication that K-11 and A-04 have built a nest and they will most likely incubate on the ground like they did last year. Why change what worked in the past?

I do have some eagle pictures to post, yet our dial-up connection prevents us from uploading to the web. When our connection is fixed, we’ll be sure to post all the pictures you may have missed. Until ‘nest’ week…

Chris Little

Thanks (as always) Chris for a great update and the info! Glad to hear all's well and doing great! Kind of funny that our posts were how you discovered the SC egg! Stay tuned - we're hoping for #2! Looking forward to the photos - and lastly, glad to hear 49 is an "island hopper"!

What exciting news, Chris! So glad to hear that what we do in Nest Watch is helpful to you and the IWS team! Love hearing about A-49 island hopping! Maybe she'll pay the boat a visit April 28th or 29th they way her parents did in October! Good luck finding the nest for A-00 and A-06 (or 16?)! Keep up the great work you all are doing! We appreciate you all so much!

Thanks a million Chris for your newsy update. So happy that the forum has kept all of you well informed as to what is going on in all the nests. We are delighted to be of service to IWS. Hope we get another egg at SC and glad that our little Cruz is having quite an adventure island hopping.

Thank you very much for the update, Chris. I'm glad that all the screen captures and video from the team are helpful! It was a pleasure to read about the travels of our "Island Girl", Cruz, and to know that she is doing well on her own. I have enjoyed reading about your hunt for the new nest - must be similar to what you went through last season with K10 and K26. Thanks again.

Thanks for the update. Glad that the forum is of help. You all are so busy and doing such wonderful work. Glad that we all can be a part of this experience. Makes be feel like part of the crew. Hope when I come for my fostering tour we can meet you all.

Thanks for your report Chris, always nice to hear from you all. So the grassland eagles will remain, it looks like, in the grass lands.

Eagles safely nesting everywhere, how wonderful.

Love love love the updates. I am glad to have the info on Cruz. She is quite a busy eaglet. I am hoping she will mate with an island boy when she is ready. That would be the best!! (which is a while off I know) I so apprecitate all the work you do over there, thank you so much. It is also nice to see the Lemonwood Eagle Squad doing such an excellent job tracking the nest activities for you to monitor. Good job to all of you!! GO Eaglemaniacs!!

Thanks for the great report Chris. It is always a pleasure to hear about all of the eagles, particularly our "Cruz." We'll be happy to see your pictures when you can get them uploaded.

Well no wonder you could not see the egg laying...you guys are so busy outside. Just wondering if there is something that is a "giveaway" as to what to look for in a new nest. Does the boat help in this endeavor?

I am so excited to know our Cruz is Cruzin!! I drove down the coast yesterday coming home and was able to see all the islands and was wondering which one she was visiting. Glad to hear she feels comfortable exploring her surroundings. I too hope she can settle for a nice island boy that will keep her close to us.

Thanks Chris and IWS for keeping us posted on her and we'll try to do our best to keep you posted on what's going on on the cam's!! Our Moderators are really dedicated to doing this. I for one am so proud to be able to participate even at the mini level that I can. Our moderators really deserve a big hats off....and a job very well done!

Wonderful to hear about all the eagles Chris

Thanks

Jeanette

The eagle itself looks a bit fuzzy to me. On my screen, it looks as if the camera is focusing more on the sticks on the lower front side of the nest.

The eagle itself looks a bit fuzzy to me. On my screen, it looks as if the camera is focusing more on the sticks on the lower front side of the nest.

Hi, Beckysma! Good to see you.

Thank you to you, Chris, and the entire IWS Crew .... we all SOOOO appreciate and look forward to news from the Northern Channel Islands, and especially about A-49! Thanks for the effort especially since you are currently stuck with dial-up only... we'll keep busy with egg-roll watch while awaiting your circumstances to change so you can upload your pix!

I love the Updates! Thank you so much, Chris. Always something to keep us excited. Look forward to the photos, when your internet connection permits~~