Eaglet Picture Index
Summary of Eaglet Info
JudyB-Eagles Home

This cam is the result of a partnership between the Hancock Wildlife Foundation in British Columbia and the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines, Alaska. The pair raised two fledglings in 2007, nested in a different location in 2008, and raised two fledglings in 2009. The cam has not operational since 2009, and there's been no report on nest activity.

JudyB's s'cap - June 26, 2009

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early May, chicks in early to mid June, and fledging in late August or early September.

This nest is located in a tree in a small park in a residential area of Burnaby, BC. It's unusual not only for being is such a populated area, but for being in a tree with leaves that hide the nest (parents generally seem to prefer an unobstructed view from the nest), and for being several miles from the nearest body of water large enough to catch fish. This nest successfully fledged 2 eaglets in 2007, and fledged 2 eaglets in 2008, though one had poor feather development on its wings, making us wonder how that would affect its survival. The eagles haven't nested there since 2008.

WillPatt's photo - April 13, 2007 - parent in nest
© 2009 Will Patterson, used with permission, all rights reserved
(note that the leaves are just beginning to open - they'll get much bigger!)

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early or mid April, chicks in mid May, and fledging in early to mid August.

This pair either abandoned their nest or were driven off by a nearby pair in 2007, but returned in 2008 to raise two eaglets. The older one fledged successfully, but the younger one fell from the nest when he was almost 11 weeks. He was found and taken to the Orphaned WildLife Rehabilitation Society (O.W.L.), where he was found to have no major injuries, but was underweight so they admitted him. He was released about 5 weeks later. Eagles believed to be his sister and one of their parents were seen in the area until he was released, at which time they all disappeared - we like to think heading North together for the salmon runs. The nest had fallen apart quite a bit by the end of the 2008 nesting season, and wasn't substantially rebuilt for 2009. The pair laid two eggs, both of which hatched. The older eaglet fell to its death when part of the nest broke away when he was about 3-1/2 weeks old; the younger eaglet (nicknamed "Bandit" on the Hancock Wildlife forum) fledged prematurely when a branch broke off the tree when he was about 11 weeks old, and was taken to O.W.L. for rehabilitation, and subsequently released at Chehalis in the fall, when there were other eagles in the area. By nesting season in 2010, there wasn't much of anything left in the tree, and the pair made a nest on the ground and laid at least two eggs; one was broken by the time David Hancock arrived to check it out, and the other had apparently died several days before David examined it. No reports since 2010. We continue to hope that they will find a safe place to nest and raise a family.

 
Photo of nest and the two eaglets from 2008 by Judy Barrows © July 15, 2008
all rights reserved

This pair had eggs in early April and chicks in early-mid May, but nearby eagles had chicks in early April - so there may be some flexibility in nesting time in the area.

There have been eagles in this territory since at least the late 1990s. The initially built this nest, then nested on high tension power poles for a few years, then moved back to the nest in 2010 and successfully raised two eaglets. A camera was added for the 2011 nesting season. The pair laid 2 eggs in 2011, both of which hatched. The older chick, named Oreo by local schoolchildren, fell from the nest when about 10 weeks old; he was unharmed but couldn't be returned to the nest so was taken to O.W.L. and fledged from there at 14 weeks; the younger chick, named Jet, fledged successfully from the nest a few days earlier. The pair again laid 2 eggs in 2012; both hatched, and they were named Goldwing and Linux in honor of Richard Pitt, who rode a Goldwing motorcycle and much preferred the Linux operating system to Windows; the older chick died when she was a bit over 7 weeks old, possibly because a bone got stuck in her crop (based on how it looked on the cam) or perhaps because of contaminants in something she ate; the younger chick fledged successfully on her second attempt, after ending up grounded and rescued by O.W.L. for a checkup the first time she left the tree. The adults here seem to spend less time on the nest than many other parents, and seem to have trouble finding enough food for two chicks as the chicks get larger and begin to eat more.

Photo of nest and "Jet" from 2010 by planetocean © July 16, 2010
all rights reserved

This pair had eggs in early March which hatched in mid-April.

This nest is located in the same general area of Delta, British Columbia, as the Orphaned WildLife Rehabilitation Society (O.W.L.), which cared for Delta Dan, who fell out of the Delta 1 nest in 2008 and needed some extra help to get ready for the fall migration. This nest was new in 2008, and while the pair built a nest and spent time there, they did not lay any eggs (not uncommon for the first year of a new nest). They laid two eggs in 2009, but sadly the eggs did not hatch, although they continued to incubate for at least two weeks past the likely hatching time. Part of the nest collapsed as they were rebuilding it for the 2010 season, and they've divided their time between trying to fix it, trying to start a new nest, and possibly being a bit lost (though that's assigning human characteristics). A raccoon has been seen in their nest several times, adding to the difficulty of rebuilding it for the 2010 season. They did not nest in 2010, and in the end the nest was completely destroyed by wind, but Hancock Wildlife Foundation and O.W.L. were able to shore up the nest with reinforcing in September 2010, so we're hoping the eagles will be back in 2011. This pair laid 2 eggs in 2011 and tended them diligently, but they didn't hatch; the first may have been fertile - some of us thought we saw a pip and heard peeping; the second was recovered from the nest by David Hancock after the eagles stopped incubating and analysis showed it was infertile. Additional branches were added to the nest in fall 2011 when the cams were cleaned. The eagles only stopped by the nest once or twice in 2012, and local observers reported that the male may have died or left the area (pairs do split up after unsuccessful seasons); the female was still in the area, often perching at the top of the nest tree, and it appeared as if there may be males in the area showing an interest, so maybe 2013 will be the lucky year for this nest. An interesting aside - a pair of young raccoons slept in the tree a couple of times, and one alone was there once or twice afterwards; not good for our goal of having nesting eagles here - but cute to watch.

Photo of nest by Karen Bills © August 2009
used with permission, all rights reserved

Based on other nests in the area, eggs could come any time from late February to mid April.

The nest is located about 30 meters (100 feet) up an evergreen tree, and is situated on private property about 100 meters from the ocean on Hornby Island in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland. According to Doug Carrick, the eagles built their first nest in the fall of 1989 and fledged their first eaglet in 1990. This will be their twenty-first year of nesting; they have fledged 18 eaglets in 20 years - just under one a year, which is considered average for eagles in this area. There has been a camera in the nest since September 2004, and it was first connected to the internet in spring 2006. The pair laid two eggs in 2006, neither of which hatched; the camera was offline in 2007 after the line was damaged in a winter storm but Doug reported that they raised and fledged two eaglets (Thunder and Lightning) that year; they did not lay any eggs in 2008. In 2009, they laid two eggs, both of which hatched; the younger eaglet Echo died in a freak accident, after becoming tangled in the female's feathers; older eaglet Hope fledged successfully. The pair laid two eggs in 2010; one hatched, and was named Phoenix; she died at 76 days old of acute aspergillosis, a respiratory infection likely caused by spores in the nesting material. The pair laid two eggs in 2011; both appeared to have some difficulty breaking out of their shells, but did hatch and the eaglets named Alexandra (for Alexandra Morton) and David (for David Suzuki) fledged successfully. Doug Carrick decided to stop streaming his cams for this nest in 2012; we think two eggs were laid, and know that one was hatched, and that chick, named Elizabeth (for Elizabeth May) by Doug Carrick fledged successfully. The Hornby Eagle Group Project Society was able to install a cam in a tree about 230 feet/70 meters away, providing a different view of these much-loved eagles.


Photo of Hope in the nest June 14, 2009, 9:21 am by boonibarb
© 2009, used with permission, all rights reserved

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late March, chicks in late April, and fledging in mid to late July.

According to residents in the area, there's been a nest here for about 18 years. The pair appeared to have eggs in 2010, but unfortunately they either didn't hatch or the chicks died before they were large enough to be seen from the ground. Pacific Coast Terminals has given Hancock Wildlife permission to put a cam on this nest for 2011 - but the eagles are busily building a new nest at another location on the PCT site. We hoped that they would move back to the nest with the cam once they completed their "spare" nest - but they chose the new nest; ground observers reported there were two eaglets; one appeared to fall from the nest at fledging age, tumbling down through a number of branches before catching itself, and then was seen flying to another tree - but hasn't been seen since; the second fledged more traditionally. Sad news in 2012 - the eagles again chose the same tree as 2011, fixed up the nest, and laid their eggs - but the tree blew over in a bad windstorm, fortunately before the eggs had hatched. Both adults were seen in the area, but as far as we know, they did not nest again. Keeping our fingers crossed for 2013 - and hoping they move back to the nest with the cam.

Photo of original nest with cam May 13, 2010 by urban Eagle
©2010 Larry Dorosh, used with permission, all rights reserved

 
Two views of the new nest, November 23, 2010
Photo across the water towards the Port Moody plant is by urban Eagle ©2010 Larry Dorosh, used with permission, all rights reserved
Photo from the Port Moody facility is by sawrat ©2010, used with permission, all rights reserved

Based on other nests in the area, eggs could come any time from late February to mid April.

This pair fledged 2 eaglets, named Victoria and Sidney, in 2006. They laid two eggs in 2007, one of which hatched and successfully fledged; that eaglet was named Skye. This pair was observed building a feeding platform in 2007, which they made into a second nest that they used for 2008; attempts to place cameras in the alternative nest were unsuccessful - the tree was too high for the crane - so information for 2008 was provided by observers on the ground - who reported the successful fledging of three eaglets, named Sunny, Angel and Freddy. In 2009, there was a wide angle cam in each tree, and they again used the "new" nest, successfully fledging three eaglet, named Breeze, Hero, and Tiny/Tink. The old nest blew down in a windstorm in 2010, but the eagles were fortunately using the "new" nest (hereafter known as "the nest") again. They laid two eggs, but one was stolen by a raven shortly before hatching; the other egg hatched, and the chick, nicknamed Solo, successfully fledged. A wide-angle cam with night vision has been added for the 2011 nesting season. The pair laid 3 eggs in 2011 and all hatched successfully, but when they were about a month old, the oldest caught her foot in some fishing line that had been brought to the nest and ended up hooked to the side of the nest; thanks to a lot of work by a lot of people, a crane was brought in and she was freed; all three chicks, named Flyer, Snuggles and Burrows by local schoolchildren, all fledged successfully. The adults may be working on a new nest for 2012 - guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. The adults did build a new nest on private proterty in 2012, and no pictures have been published, per request of the landowners; local observers reported that they again fledged three eaglets.

JudyB's photo - July 14, 2008
©2008 Judy Barrows, all rights reserved
(original nest is in the tall tree on the far right)

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early to mid March, chicks in mid April, and fledging in mid to late July.

This nest is on a private portion of the White Rock bluff overlooking Boundary Bay. The nest tree is only about 100 feet from the back porch of the family who has generously provided the cameras, and the nest is about 120 feet up the tree. It was built in November 2009 after the pair's original nest, 500 yards south of this site, was disturbed by construction. The eagles successfully raised two chicks, named Alpha and Bravo by the landowners, at this new nest in 2010. In 2011, their first year on cam, the eagles laid two eggs, both of which hatched; the two eaglets, named Charlie and Delta, fledged successfully. The nest looked a little precarious by the end of the 2011 nesting season, so additional supports were added when the cams were cleaned in fall 2011. 2012 was another good year for this pair, and eaglets Echo and Foxtrot ("Foxy") fledged successfully. Their nest was looking a bit precarious by the end of 2012, so when David Hancock installed additional PTZ cams, he made sure they would also provide a look at another tree that looked promising for a nest, and may have added a few branches to help them get started in case they decide to move.

Photo of David Hancock installing the camera, September 16, 2010, by richardpitt
©2010 Richard Pitt, used with permission, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Based on other nests in the area, eggs could come any time from late February to mid April.

California
Anacapa Island
Oak Canyon

no cam

adults A21(M) & A11(F)

Male A21 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2003 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz Island) and female A11 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2002 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz Island) established a territory in the Yellowbanks area on the south shore of Santa Cruz Island in 2008 (see below).

They were a non-breeding pair in 2009 and 2010, then moved to Anacapa and became the Oak Canyon pair; A21 was seen in the Yellowbanks area with A48 for a while early in 2011, before settling on Anacapa with A11 and raising their first eaglet. Dr. Sharpe noted that their new territory is visible across the water from their former small Yellowbanks territory on Santa Cruz Island. The nest is on an island that is not normally accessible, so reports were sketchy - but we know they laid at least two eggs, and at least one hatched, and that chick fledged successfully. Their nest is on a hillside, and near to the ground - the eaglet jumped down and ran away when Dr. Sharpe and his team arrived for banding. The pair nested again in 2012 and appeared to be incubating or brooding when the nest was viewed from a boat in early April, but there didn't seem t be any activity when the nest was viewed from a boat in May; a site visit in June confirmed that the nest had failed, though they don't know when or why, due to the limited access granted to the biologists. Another interesting development is that male A21 was seen with A11 on Anacapa and also seen spending time with female A48 on Santa Cruz - so it will be interesting to see if there is a switch of partners in the works.

Peter Sharpe's photo - June 7, 2011

adults K93(M) & A32(F) (through 2009)
adults K93(M) & A37(F)

Male K93 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 1999 and released from the Bullrush Hacktower on Catalina Island) and female A32 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2004 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz) became a pair in 2007. Dr. Sharpe and Steffani of IWS built them an artificial nest in December 2007 because they hadn't had much luck with nest building; they added branches and used it as a feeding platform, but did not lay any eggs in 2008. They built a nice new nest for 2009, but did not lay any eggs. In 2010, A32 was replaced by A37 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2005 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz) - and the pair laid their first egg ever! The egg hatched, but the eaglet (male K-98) sadly died a couple of days after fledging, most likely from dehydration; it was very hot, and he had been fed a lot of squirrel (which is dry) and not a lot of fish (which contains a lot of water). This pair had another sad year in 2011; they laid two eggs, one of which hatched but failed to thrive and died within a week or two of hatching; it's not clear if the second egg disappeared during incubation or failed to hatch - hard to see into the nest. We're hoping they'll finally have a successful season in 2012. Another sad year for the Middle Ranch pair in 2012 - they laid two eggs, but one disappeared a few days later, and the other apparently broke or was broke about three weeks after it was laid. Here's hoping they'll have better luck in 2013.

eaglegal's photo - March 7, 2011
(the nest as seen from the road near Pimu's enclosure)

Adults K65(M) & K92(F) (through 2008)
Adults K65(M) & K56(F) (through 2011)
Adults K73(M) & K56(F)

Male K65 was removed from a nest near Steep, Vancouver Island, BC, in 1986 and released from the Bullrush Hacktower on Catalina Island; female K92 was raised at the San Francisco Zoo in 1999 and released on Catalina Island from the Bullrush Hacktower. This pair was allowed to keep their eggs in 2007 (instead of having them removed for incubation), and both hatched - making them the first pair of chicks to hatch naturally without human assistance on Catalina Island since 1945; males K00 and male K71 both fledged successfully, but K71 was found dead in September. The pair laid two eggs in 2008; both hatched and male K70 and female K71 fledged successfully, but K71 was found dead July 24, probably of starvation; K70 was still on Catalina Island as of January 2009. (There were two K71s because numbers of eagles that die are reused; it was a coincidence that the number was used again at the same nest.).

There was apparently a change of partners at the beginning of 2009, with female K56 becoming K65's new mate. We don't know what might have happened, only that K92 has not been seen. K56 was from an egg laid at Seal Rocks, taken to IWS for incubation, and then fostered back into the Seal Rocks nest in 2005. The new pair laid two eggs in 2009; one was lost a week or so before its hatch date and the other produced female K99, who fledged successfully but was sadly lost 2 months later, probably while trying to fly to the mainland. The pair laid two eggs in 2010; one was lost a month or so later, and the other produced female K95, who fledged successfully. This pair laid two eggs in 2011; one was lost fairly early, and the other failed to hatch. We hope they'll have better luck in 2012.

There was another change in partners, with male K73 replacing K65, who had a physical encounter with K25 (the Seal Rocks male) in the fall of 2011; K65 ended up in the water and a boater followed as the 25-year-old eagle made the long swim back to shore; Steffani went to check in the morning in case he was injured on the beach but could not find him; he hasn't been seen since. The new male K73/Wind is one of the West End triplets from 2007 (and a personal favorite of mine - that was the last year that they had three adults helping to raise the chicks, and it was such fun to see how they shared the duties). The new pair unfortunately did not have a good year - the first two eggs were lost within a couple of days of being laid, and while they incubated the third egg past the expected hatching time, it didn't hatch. Hopefully they'll have better luck in 2013.

eaglegal's photo - February 11, 2009
(the nest is at the end of that narrow point)

Eagle Guy's photo - February 27, 2009
Pinnacle Rock pair with their first egg.

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late February and early March, chicks in early April, and fledging from mid-June to early July.

adults K80(M) and K47(F)

This is a relatively new nest with male K80 (who came from an egg laid at the San Francisco Zoo and fostered into the West End nest in 1998) and female K47 (produced at the San Francisco Zoo in 2004 and fostered into the Seal Rocks nest). They nested and laid eggs in both 2008 and 2009, but the eggs disappeared shortly after they were laid both years. It seems that the instinct to incubate the eggs isn't quite as strong as the instinct to produce and lay them, especially for male K80. This pair laid two eggs in 2010, and were successful in hatching both of them, and raising them to the point of fledging; unfortunately both were found dead of unknown causes within a couple of days after fledging, under a bush near the nest. 2011 was a good year for this pair - they laid two eggs, both of which hatched, and both eaglets K15(F)/Ho'ihoulala "Lala" and K19(M)/Robben fledged successfully and were still on the island and doing well as of mid-August 2011. This pair definitely have their ups and downs - and this year started out well, but ended sadly; both of their eggs hatched, but the younger chick was apparently blown out of the nest during a terrible wind storm when he was about a month old; the remaining eaglet was a male, banded as K22 and named Jerry; he fledged successfully, but apparently drowned about a month later.

eaglegal's photo - June 22, 2011

adults K25(M) & K34(F)
2011 - neither adult has tags; may be the same pair but can't be sure

Male K25 was hatched from an egg removed from the West End Nest in 1992 and fostered into the Pinnacle Rock Nest; female K34 was raised at the San Francisco Zoo in 1993 and released on Catalina Island from the Bullrush Hacktower. This pair was allowed to keep their eggs in 2007 (instead of having them removed for incubation), and both hatched - making them the second pair of chicks to hatch naturally without human assistance on Catalina Island since 1945 (Pinnacle Rock was first, a week earlier); female K03 and male K77 both fledged successfully; K77 was last seen on Catalina Island in November 2007, and probably explored neighboring islands until June 2008, when he drowned while trying to fly to the mainland. The pair laid two eggs in 2008; one broke after about 10 days, and the other hatched to become male K62 Gulliver; he fledged successfully, but drowned about 4 months later while trying to fly to the mainland.

2008 was the first year IWS has a cam on this nest; the eagles moved their nest for 2009 so there wasn't a cam in 2009 and won't be a way to have a cam in 2010. They did lay two eggs in 2009, but only one hatched, becoming male K90, who fledged successfully. They laid two eggs in 2010, one of which disappeared after a month or so; the other hatched and fledged successfully as female K05. The pair again laid two eggs in 2011, both hatched successfully, and K07(F)/Karis and K08(M)/Scout fledged successfully; K07's signal hasn't picked up since July 25 (presumed to have left the island or transmitter failed; no visual sightings either), and K08 was still on the island as of mid-August. Another good year at Seal Rocks in 2012 - they laid two eggs, and K20(F)/Pukuu and K21(M)/Micco both fledged successfully.

Eagle Guy's photo - February 27, 2009

nancy's photo - March 21, 2007
This is the general area around the nest, but I'm not sure where exactly the nest is.

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late February and early March, chicks in early April, and fledging from mid-June to early July.

adults K33(M) & K17(F) (through 2011)
Adults K00(M) & K17(F)

Male K33 was hatched from an egg removed from the Seal Rocks Nest in 1992 and fostered back into the Seal Rocks Nest; female K17 was brought from a nest in California as a chick in 1984 and released on Catalina Island from the Bullrush Hacktower. Both of the eggs removed for incubation in 2007 hatched, and the pair successfully raised K75 and K76 (both males). K75 was the only 2007 eaglet still on Catalina Island as of December 5, 2007. In 2008, this pair was allowed to hatch their eggs naturally for the first time. It's not known how many eggs were laid, but two hatched, and males K88 and K89 fledged successfully. K88 was sighted on the mainland August 19 and was seen in southwest Oregon in November 2008 and back on Catalina Island in March 2009; K-89 died around Sept 6 while trying to fly to the mainland. They laid two eggs again in 2009, and successfully fledged males K-96 and K-94. K-96 died while trying to fly to the mainland; as far as we know, K-94 is OK, though he hasn't been seen for a while. The pair laid two eggs in 2010, but stopped incubating a month or so later; not sure if the eggs were still there or if they had broken or otherwise disappeared, but either way, there were no chicks. Sad news again in 2011 - the pair laid two eggs and incubated them well past the anticipated hatch date, but neither hatched; female K17 is the oldest known bald eagle on the islands at 27 years old, so that may be a factor.

It appears that male K00 replaced K33 in 2012. K00 was one of the first two naturally hatched chicks on Catalina Island since 1945 when he and his brother hatched in 2007 at the Pinnacle Rock nest, so it's really exciting to see him back on the island after a bit of wandering, and perhaps settling down. The pair were seen together on and off through the summer, but did not nest in 2012. Maybe next year.

eaglegal's photo - August 8, 2007
fledgling K75 is the little bump next to the nest

eaglegal's photo - August 1, 2007
This shows the twin rocks that give the area its name. The nest is on the mainland overlooking the rocks - not sure if it's the bump we see on the right or if it's up a little higher.

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late February and early March, chicks in early April, and fledging from mid-June to early July.

adults K81(M) and K82(F)

The male K81 was hatched at the San Francisco Zoo in 1998 and fostered into the West End Nest, while the female K82 hatched from an egg removed from the West End Nest in 1998 and fostered into the Pinnacle Rock Nest; like most of the Catalina adults, they are generally referred to by their wing tag numbers instead of a nickname. They became a breeding pair in 2003, and K82 has laid six eggs from 2004 through 2007, five of which have hatched. Because of problems with DDT pollution which can make the shell of eggs too thin to hatch naturally, eggs from this nest are removed a few days after they are laid, replaced with artificial eggs, and placed in an incubator; when they hatch, the chicks are returned to the nest. This pair raised two eaglets, male K78 ("Sol") and female K79 ("Luna"), from the two eggs they laid in 2007. They laid two eggs in 2008, both of which were removed for incubation; one died shortly before hatching, while the other hatched and was returned to the nest, becoming female K83 ("Star"); she fledged successfully. In 2009, it was decided that there were enough productive nests on Catalina Island that the eggs would not be removed for incubation, and both their eggs hatched naturally! Females "Thunder" and "Lightning" both fledged successfully, and were both still on the island as of October 2009. This pair laid two eggs in 2010, and both hatched, becoming female K04 "Avalon" and male K06 "Gabriel"; both fledged successfully. The eagles laid 2 eggs in 2011; one disappeared after about 3 weeks; the other hatched, K18(F)/Solitaire fledged successfully, and was last seen on the nest October 14, when she was almost 29 weeks old, over 3-1/2 months after she fledged; the adults were still providing food during much of that time - quite unusual as most fledglings leave the nest area within a month or so after fledging. 2012 was a very sad year for this nest and those who watch this eagle family; they laid two eggs, but one broke near hatching time; the second hatched successfully, but when the chick was 3 weeks old, the male left for the night and the female didn't arrive to keep watch; an island fox entered the nest, and the young chick chased it off twice, earning the nickname "Lil Braveheart" - but the fox came a third time while the chick was asleep, and the fox took the chick.

SoCal Lady's photo - June 24, 2007
©2007 SoCal Lady, used with permission, all rights reserved

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late February and early March, chicks in early April, and fledging from mid-June to early July.

adults K01(M) & Wray (F)
adults K51(M) & Wray (F) (brief fling mid-Sept 2010 - mid-Jan 2011)
adults K01(M) & Wray(F)

This nest, established in 1991, is unusual in that it had three adults for a number of years. The female Dianna (K69) has wing tag on each wing and female Wray (no wing tags,but has a silver leg band) were brought from nests in British Columbia as chicks in 1986 and released together from the Sweetwater Hacktower on Catalina Island. Male K01 (sometimes called "Superman" ) was hatched at the San Francisco Zoo in 2000 and fostered into the Pinnacle Rock Nest; he replaced the previous male who disappeared before the 2006 nesting season at an age of 25. Dianna has not been seen since early in 2008, and there is hope she may have left to form a pair with an unattached male. According to Dr. Sharpe of IWS, Wray and the original male were a pair for a year before Dianna joined them, so she was the junior member of the trio. 22 chicks have fledged from this nest since 1991. Three of the five eggs removed for incubation in 2007 hatched, and the trio successfully raised female K72 ("Earth" ) and males K73 ("Wind" ) and K74 ("Fire" ). One of two eggs removed for incubation in 2008 hatched (though it was out of position for hatching and needed assistance to break out of its shell), and Wray surprised everyone by laying a third egg after the initial two were removed - which actually hatched naturally, although Dr. Sharpe put the chances of an egg from that pair surviving to hatch at less than 5% because of the contamination in the area. Both the incubator chick K65 "Miracle" and the naturally-hatched K67 "Surprise" are female. In 2009, both eggs were left in the nest, both hatched, and K98 "Faith" and K97 "Joy" (both female) fledged successfully, though K98 was found dead in the water 5 weeks later, perhaps while trying to fly to the mainland; K97's transmitter malfunctioned shortly after installation making her hard to track after she left the nest area; she was last seen on the island in late August 2009. The pair laid two eggs in 2010; both hatched and became K08 Dakota and K07 Aquila (both male); K08's transmitter was sending a mortality signal from the mainland shortly after he fledged, though he was never found and it might have been a transmitter malfunction (most eaglets don't try to fly so far so soon); K07 died a month after fledging, apparently drowned while trying to fly to the mainland.

As of January 2, 2011, K01 has not returned to the nest, and a new male K51 is courting Wray. K51 was hatched at the San Francisco Zoo in 2005 and fostered into the Pinnacle Rock Nest, and starting visiting the West End nest in September 2010. Wray at first chased him off, but over time has appeared to accept this young male - though he does need to work on a few technical details if they are to have chicks this year. K01 returned on January 13, and K51 hasn't been seen since then, though he may have returned to the outer islands; K01 was alone on the nest until January 23 when Wray joined him, and they immediately started acting like an established pair. They laid three eggs, all of which hatched; K12(F)/Aahana, K13(M)/Alerio and K14(M)/Prince Harry all fledged successfully, and K12 and K13 were still on the island as of the end of August; K14/Prince Harry's body was found in the water between Santa Cruz and Anacapa on August 30th. Update - K12 was seen in Alberta in October 2011, and in Montana in February 2012 - quite the traveller!

K01 and Wray laid three eggs in 2013, and all hatched successfully. K01 has always been a great provider, but this year there were some spells when he had trouble bringing enough food for his growing family (a sign if a change in the marine life in the area?), and there was intense sibling rivalry at times, with the youngest chick getting the worst beatings and the least food. The youngest chick, nicknamed MeToo, managed to survive, but was so far behind in development that she could not get wing tags or a transmitter when the team arrived to band her siblings, so she got a second leg band, becoming orange 5Z. She also got her own pile of fish - several forum members contributed fish to be delivered to the nest at banding, and she was tagged first and returned to the nest with its pile of fresh fish while the team processed the two older chicks. K27(F)/Athena, K24(M)/Megwich and 5Z/Ge-nii (MeToo in a native language) all fledged successfully, though K24 sadly drowned several months later, and K27's body was found in Saskatchewan on October; there have been no confirmed sightings of 5Z, but the IWS team has seen a fledgling without wing tags, so perhaps....

eaglegal's photo - July 6, 2006

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late February and early March, chicks in early April, and fledging from mid-June to early July.

adults K11(M) & A04(F) (2006-2008)
adults K11(M) & A17(F) (2009-2010)
adults K11(M) & A35(F) ?

The Grasslands nest was established in 2006 by male K11 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2001 and fostered into the West End nest on Catalina Island) and female A04 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2002 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz Island), and is one of the few known bald eagle ground nests in the lower 48 states. They had a successful first year, raising A60, the second chick hatched in the wild on Santa Cruz in 50 years (A49 Cruz at Pelican Harbor was the first), but have not repeated that success. The crew from the Institute for Wildlife Studies (which monitors nests on Catalina and Santa Cruz Islands) found a broken egg in the nest in 2007, and in 2008 two chicks hatched but did not survive. Female A04 also died, most likely of injuries sustained while defending her chicks, probably from another eagle. K11 was later seen with female A17, who was removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2003 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz. They were seen building a nest in a tree in 2009, but did not produce any eggs. They still seem to be a pair, so we'll see what happens next. This pair did lay two eggs in 2010, but the nest failed - only shards were found in the nest a few weeks later. Female A17 was spotted on the mainland according to an update in March 2011; male K11 may have found a new companion (he's been seen with A35), but as far as we know, they didn't nest in 2011. A35 and a male we assume is K11 (he lost his wing bling) laid two eggs in 2012 - and successfully fledged A77(M)/Koa and A78(F)/Aurora.

Don of IWS Crew's photo - February 2012

California
Santa Cruz Island
Fraser Point

no cam

adults A40(M) & possibly A49(F) "Cruz" (2010)
adults A64(M) and A49(F)

Male A40 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2005 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz) and female A24 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2004 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz) were seen together in the Fraser area in the spring of 2009, and it was hoped they'd develop into a breeding pair. Then in February 2010, A40 was seen with a different female, A49 "Cruz" (hatched in 2006, becoming the first naturally hatched eagle on Santa Cruz in 50 years).

This is potentially a new pair and it's not clear if they're ready to nest yet - though Cruz's mother A26 was only four when she laid the egg that became Cruz. The pair did not nest in 2010 - perhaps in 2011. Did not nest in 2011, and A40 is now the male at the Sauces nest; A49/Cruz was seen near Christy Beach in August 2011.

There was a new pair here in 2012 - A49/Cruz and A64/Spirit! As mentioned above, A49 hatched at the Pelican Harbor nest in 2006 - and A64 hatched at the Pelican Harbor nest in 2008, so they are siblings - but A64 was removed from the island for rehab after being attacked on the nest by a juvie when he was about 6 weeks old. He was brought back to Santa Cruz and released from a hacking tower, but I do wonder if they would have become a pair if he'd been with his parents throught fledging and the month or so afterwards. I've seen speculation that adults can recognize family members by their calls, but A64 may not have learned the family "lingo" before he was taken to rehab. The pair laid at least one egg, and a chick was seen, but sadly did not survive. It's not unusual for a young pair to have their nest fail initially, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for better luck in 2013.

Helen of IWS Crew's photos - February 29, 2012

California
Santa Cruz Island
Fry's Harbor

no cam

adults A46(M) "Stephen Jr." & A24(F)

Male A46 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2006 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz) and female A24 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2004 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz) were seen together in mid-March 2010; A24 was formerly the mate of A40 at Fraser.

This is a new pair and it's not clear if they're ready to nest yet. This pair also did not nest in 2010. Still together in the area at least some of the time in 2011, but didn't nest. The pair finally nested in 2012; only one egg was seen and they were incubating it as time for a hatch approached, but sadly the next time the nest was checked, the egg was gone and there was no chick. This was their first time nesting, and we hope they'll have better luck in 2013.

Kim of IWS Crew's photo - early March 2012

California
Santa Cruz Island
Hazards / Baby's Harbor / Cueva Valdez / North Shore

no cam

adults A00(M) & A16(F)

Male A00 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2002 and released from the North Hacktower, Santa Cruz) and female A16 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2003 and released from the South Hacktower, Santa Cruz) have been a pair since 2007 and may have done some work on a nest, but haven't laid any eggs yet. 2010 was a great year for this pair - they laid at least one egg in a nest at Baby's Harbor, and successfully raised male A72. This pair apparently likes to move around because the built a new nest for 2011, moving from the Cueva Valdez/Baby's Harbor area to Hazards Canyon; they laid at least one egg, and A76(F)/Hutash fledged successfully and was still on the island as of mid-August. In 2013 they laid at least one egg, and the eaglet A83(M) was a healthy feisty chick when banded on June 9, but the IWS team noticed that he looked lethargic when they checked the nest July 5; he looked more active on the 6th, so they stayed away on the 7th to reduce stress on the adults - and when they checked on the 8th, he was on the ground under the nest, weak but alive; they brought him to the mainland for treatment, but it wasn't enough; as is often the case, even though they performed a necropsy, they could not determine a cause of death.

Kim of IWS Crew's photo - March 29, 2011

Eagle Guy's photo - April 6, 2011

California
Santa Cruz Island
Los Piños (aka Willows but didn't nest there)

no cam

adults A45(M) & A51(F)

Male A45 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2005 and released from the North Hacktower, Santa Cruz) and female A51 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2006 and released from the South Hacktower, Santa Cruz) are known as the Willows pair (after the are where they were seen as a non-breeding pair in 2009, 2010 and 2011) - but they moved in 2012, and established what became known as the Los Piños nest. They were seen incubating in late March, but sadly the nest was empty in early April. We wish them better luck in 2013.

adults K10(M) & K26(F)

The parents were both hatched in the San Francisco Zoo (male K10 in 2001 and female K26 in 2002) and then fostered into nests on Catalina Island (K10 in the Twin Rocks Nest and K26 in the West End Nest). K26 laid two eggs in 2006 (one hatched, becoming the female A49 "Cruz," the first eagle chick to hatch in the wild on the Channel Islands since 1949; on Santa Rosa as of February 2009); two eggs in 2007 (one hatched, becoming male A63 "Limuw," who died about 7 weeks after fledging while scavenging roadkill in Nevada), and two eggs in 2008 (both hatched, becoming A65 "Skye" and A64 "Spirit" - both male; both were knocked from their nest by a juvenile eagle when they were about 6-1/2 weeks old, taken to the mainland for rehab and released from a hacking tower; Skye drowned after becoming entangled in a kelp bed; Spirit was on Santa Rosa as of February 2009). The pair also had two eggs in 2009; both hatched, but the chicks died shortly after hatching from unknown causes. K10 and K26 are a strong young pair, so we're hoping 2010 will be better. 2010 was indeed a better - the pair laid two eggs, which hatched to become A69 Malik and A68 Braveheart (both male); both fledged successfully. This pair moved to a new nest in 2011 - probably a good thing as their other nest had developed a distinct tilt; they built a nest in the Chinese Harbor area, then abandoned that and built a nest in a hard to reach part of the Twin Harbors area. They'll continue to be known as the Pelican Harbor pair because that was there first nest. They laid at least one egg (it looked like there were might have been two during a helicopter survey of hard-to-see nests but there was only one chick when the team arrived for banding; A74(F)/Karana fledged successfully and was still on the island as of mid-August. We're hoping for a cam on this new nest for 2012. A new cam was installed for 2012, and while one of this pair's two eggs broke after about 4 weeks, we watched the other hatch, and saw male A84/Marcus fledge.

 
JudyB's s'caps - June 8, 2007 - banding day

LakeMaMa's s'cap - April 23, 2008

Don of IWS Crew's photo - May 3, 2011
(new nest in circle on right - adult in circle on left)

Based on past experience, look for eggs in the first half of March, chicks in mid-April, and fledging in late June or early July.

adults A28(M) & A27(F) thru 2010
adults A40(M) & A27(F)

The Sauces pair consisted of male A28 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2004 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz) and female A02 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2002 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz). They nested in 2008 and laid at least one egg, but the nest failed. They tried again in 2009, laid eggs, were seen incubating - but were found away from the nest around the time the eggs would have been expected to hatch. Then in July 2009, IWS received a report that A02 was found dead in Pozo, which I think is quite a ways inland on the mainland. It looks as if A28 has paired up with female A27 (also removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2004 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz), and they're working on a nest for the 2010 nesting season. This pair laid two eggs in 2010; only one hatched, and it became male A71, and fledged successfully. There was a bit of a shift in this pair for 2011, and male A28 was replaced by male A40 (produced by San Francisco Zoo in 2005 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz; spent time with A24 then with A49 at Fraser before coming to Sauces); the new pair laid two eggs, one of which hatched to become A73(M)/Dreamer, who fledged successfully and was still on the island as of mid-August (the second egg didn't hatch). This pair saw both of their eggs hatch for the first time in 2012, and successfully fledged female A82/Phoebe and male A81/Buster.

JudyB's photo - April 10, 2011

California
Santa Cruz Island
Yellowbanks

no cam

adults A21(M) & A11(F) (2008-2010)
adults A21(M) and A48(F) in 2011 (briefly)
adult A48(F) in 2011

Male A21 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2003 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz Island) and female A11 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2002 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz Island) established a territory on the south shore of Santa Cruz Island in 2008.

They were a non-breeding pair in 2009 and 2010, then moved to Anacapa and became the Oak Canyon pair (see above); A21 was seen with A48 at Yellowbanks before settling on Anacapa with A11.

adults K36(M) & A43(F)
adults K39(M) and A43(F) beginning in 2011

The nest built by male K36 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2003 and fostered into the Two Harbors nest on Catalina) and female A43 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2005 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz) in the Johnson's Lee area of Santa Rosa Island was discovered by an IWS team in March 2010, and the National Parks Service team on the island reported they appeared to be incubating as of early April. We don't know how many eggs they laid, but one hatched, and was reported as the first known eagle chick to hatch on Santa Rosa in 60 years (but see Trap Canyon below); the chick became female A70, and fledged successfully. Male K36 was replaced by K39 for the 2011 nesting season. This nest was one of the heartbreakers in 2011 - they laid two eggs, one hatched, and then a branch broke, causing the nest to fall to the canyon below; the two-week-old chick died in the fall. We're hoping they rebuild in a safer location in 2012. The pair rebuilt their nest for 2013, and hatched two chicks; one died at 2-3 weeks of age (the remains were found under the nest at banding, so it might have been blown out, or pushed out during sibling rivalry), and female A-79/Kaya-B fledged successfully.

adults A08(M) & A22(F)

Male A08 (removed from a nest near Juneau, Alaska, in 2002 and released from the South Hacktower on Santa Cruz) and female A22 (produced by the San Francisco Zoo in 2004 and released from the North Hacktower on Santa Cruz) built a nest on Santa Rosa in 2008, but their eggs didn't hatch; they were collected and found to be infertile. They laid an egg again in 2009, and again it didn't hatch. [It was removed for testing - need to look for results.] We're hoping for better luck in 2010. 2010 was a great year for this pair - they built a new nest, and by the time the nest was found, they had a chick - who became male A67 and was actually the first known chick to hatch on Santa Rosa - once he was discovered; he fledged successfully. This pair laid at least one egg in 2011, but the nest was found to be empty a month later; hopefully they will have better luck in 2012. The pair moved to a different, equally inaccessible nest for 2013 and again raised one chick, who became female A80/Rosa and feldged successfully.

Don of IWS Crew's photos - May 16, 2012
(used with permission - click to read the rest of the story)

adults Patriot (M) and Liberty(F)

The California Department of Transportation tried to relocate this nest in 2008 because of major highway construction planned for the area, putting a large cone in the nest to keep the eagles from nesting. The eagles had other ideas. People rallied around, and eventually the highway department removed the cone, and the eagle couple - named Patriot (M) and Liberty(F) - successfully fledged two eaglets (named Freedom and Conehead) in 2008, for a total of five eaglets in three years. They laid three eggs in 2009; all hatched, and the three eaglets (named Freedom, Hope and Spirit in a contest sponsored by local media) fledged successfully. They laid three eggs again in 2010, and the eaglets (Peace, Shasta and Justice) fledged successfully. They laid two eggs in 2011, and the eaglets (nicknamed Stormy and Windy) fledged successfully. Patriot and Liberty built a new nest for 2012, so there was no camera, but the great team of ground observers reported that there were two eaglets (nicknamed Shasta and Lassen), both of whom fledged successfully.

 
Three Eaglets at the Nest, June 3, 2009
©2009 Donna Sylvester, used with permission, all rights reserved

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early to mid February, hatching in mid March, and fledgling in mid to late June.

Colorado
Fort St. Vrain

Link

There are four cams on this nest, two overhead and the other two looking from the side; the intent is to have one of each online, with the other as backup, but both overhead cams failed early in the nesting season; they streamed both side view cams for a while, but are now down to one sideview cam. They are continuing to try to add sound, but still haven't succeeded at that. The cam is solar-powered, so will be shut down from dusk to dawn to conserve power and might be a bit uncertain on very dark days. There are also photos for the day saved in four-minute increments, so you can see what has happened in the previous 24 hours. The cam is often offline during the fall and winter, and is back online in February.

This nest is at Xcel Energy's Fort St. Vrain Power Station in Platteville, Colorado. Local time is Mountain time. The nest is 6 feet wide and 5 feet deep, and has been active for years. The camera was installed in 2003. This pair successfully raised 3 chicks in 2008, 2 in 2007, 3 in 2006, and 2 in most of the previous years that they've been watched. The nest failed quite tragically in 2009, when their three eggs hatched in late March, but all three chicks died April 17; apparently one of the parents was lost or incapacitated around April 14, and the remaining parent wasn't able to keep the eaglets warm and fed during a bad wind/rain/snow storm; a second adult was seen shortly thereafter, leading to speculation that one of the adults might have eaten a poisoned prairie dog and been unable to function for a few days. It appeared that there was a new female in 2010, possibly a relatively young adult as it looked as if there were a few brown feathers remaining in her head; the male appeared to be the same as last year, though it is hard to tell. Both eagles are banded, but the cam resolution isn't great enough to see numbers on the bands. The pair laid two eggs in 2010, and both chicks fledged successfully. They laid three eggs in 2011, two of which hatched, and both eaglets fledged successfully. 2012 was a very sad year at this nest - they laid three eggs, and all hatched - but one chick got stuck near the edge of the nest when it was 6 days old and died from exposure; the male did arrive during the night to brood the chick while the female brooded the other two at the center of the nest, but it was probably already too late. The remaining chicks died when they were a little over 2 weeks old when the adults were unable to keep them warm and dry during a severe wind/rain storm. We're hoping for a much better year in 2013.

tomihawk's photo - July 20, 2007 - from BirdCam Forum

Based on past experience, look for eggs in the first half of March, chicks in mid-April, and fledging in early July.

adults Hope(F) and Valor (M)

According to records on the website, the pair has a mixed record. Their nest and eggs were destroyed by high winds in 2004 and 2005; one of the pair died in 2006 after flying into a powerline and the other adult abandoned the nest. A new pair formed and fledged 2 chicks in 2007, 3 in 2008, 1 in 2009, and 3 in 2010. They moved to a new nest in 2011, laid eggs but then abandoned the nest, and that tree blew down in June. They returned to their old nest in 2012 and laid two eggs which subsequently hatched, but the chicks were left alone for long periods of time, and both crawled near the edge and fell from the nest. As of fall 2012, they appear to have moved to a new nest, so they will not be online in 2013.

Based past experience for this pair, look for eggs in early February, chicks in mid-March, and fledging in mid-June.

adults Liberty(F) and Justice (M)

According to records on the website, Liberty and Justice built their nest on the Alcoa site in 2009 and fledged 2 eaglets in 2010. A cam was installed for the 2011 nesting season, and the pair fledged one eaglet, named Freedom in a viewer poll. They raised and fledged three eaglets in 2012, named Faith, Hope and Spirit.

Based past experience for this pair, look for eggs in mid-February, chicks in mid-March, and fledging in mid-June.

This nest was featured on the Nature show "American Eagle" - and now you can watch it live! The nest is in Decorah, Iowa; the exact location is not publicized to protect the eagles. Local time is Central time. The pair has been observed since 2002, but 2009 was its first year online. They successfully raised three eaglets in 2009. This pair laid three eggs in 2010; the first two hatched two days apart - and the third hatched a full week after the first; in spite of the rather impressive difference in size and development between #1 and #3, all three thrived, and fledged successfully. They again laid three eggs and fledged three eaglets in 2011, and one of the fledglings was fitted with a tracking device - you can follow the travels of D1 here. This pair again laid 3 eggs in 2012, and successfully fledged D12, D13 and D14 (official numbering system set up starting with 12, to acknowledge that there are 11 known previous successful fledges from the nest); sadly both D12 and D14 (who got this year's transmitter) died from electrocution after coming to close to wires on electrical poles, D12 a few weeks after fledging, and D14 later in the fall. The eagles are building a new nest as of fall 2012, though still visiting the current nest occasionally. If they use the new nest, there won't be a nest cam in 2013, though one may be added in fall 2013.

Nora in IA's photo - February 17, 2010
©2010 Nora in IA, used with permission, all rights reserved
"Here is the nest/tree from the bridge that you see east of the cam.  Mom was sitting on the same branch as she was before when I was over there.  The nest is above the stream right where two forks come together and form the one that goes under the bridge."

Based past experience for this pair, look for eggs in the first half of March, chicks in mid-April, and fledging in early July.

The cam is located in coastal Hancock County, and is streaming video with sound. It has infrared for night viewing, although that may be turned off during the off season, and is a pan-tilt-zoom to allow closeups of the chicks when they're small.

The eagles have nested at this site since 1995 and raised 20 offspring, making them one of the most successful pairs in Maine when the cam first came online. They fledged two eaglets on cam in 2006 (a third chick was lost, likely due to sibling rivalry), but had tragedy in 2007 - the weather was brutal right after the chicks hatched and they lost them; they did not lay eggs in 2008 or 2009 (taking a year or two off after a nest failure is apparently fairly common). Eagles were seen at the nest regularly in 2010, though it's not certain if this is the pair from earlier years or if a change occurred at some point since the loss of the chicks in 2007; they did not lay eggs. The current pair actually laid two eggs in 2011, and we all had our hopes up for a successful season - but it was not to be; it's not clear quite what happened, but there was a bad storm shortly after the eggs were laid and the female (who might be relatively young) was gone for several days; when she returned she didn't resume incubating, and the male was unable to do it all, so the nest was eventually left untended and subsequently failed; there may also have been one or more other eagles in the area, adding to the stress. We are hoping - really hard - that they will finally be successful in 2012.

The pair nested in 2012 - and two chicks hatched! Unfortunately the younger one (nicknamed Geddy by the Maine forum) was lost to sibling rivalry when five weeks old in the wake of a major rainstorm; the chicks were alone during much of the storm (unusual for chicks so young), and food deliveries were few and far-between for several days afterwards. The older chick (nicknamed Eden) not only got all the food, but launched a series of brutal attacks on the younger chick, who eventually fell from the nest to his death. Although it appeared to some of us observing the cam that the adults spent less time on the nest than at most nests and the remaining chick had to self-feed more than usual after the storm, the chick fledged successfully. She (or maybe he) was still visiting the nest and occasionally being fed until September 26, roughly 10 weeks after fledging, and some observers were quite certain they heard her calling in the distance well into October. The adults began major work on the nest on September 28.

Sherri's s'cap - February 21, 2009
(The cam streams in color - this is an infrared shot taken shortly before the cam switched to color for the day; I think it gives a good sense of the nest's location in the tree.)

JudyB's s'cap - May 6, 2012

Before 2011, eggs were generally laid in the first half of March, with chicks in mid-April, and fledging in early July; more recently, eggs have arrived in late March, with hatching in early May and fledging in mid-July.

The cam is located in central Maine, and according to BioDiversity Research Institute (BRI) the nest has been occupied every year since 2001 (and the territory has been used at least on and off for the last 30 or more years). 2009 was the first year there were cams on the nest. There are two cams, one looking at the nest from the side, and the other over the nest looking in. Both have night vision and constant 15-second refresh views; BRI was hoping to stream from one of the cams, but so far has not had much success with that, and the side view cam apparently failed just before the first egg was laid in 2010.

The pair successfully raised two chicks in 2009. The pair laid two eggs in 2010, and both eaglets fledged successfully. Unfortunately the nest tree fell over during a major wind/rain storm in November 2010; both eagles have been seen since the collapse, and indications are that they are starting a new nest. BRI is hoping to install a cam for the 2011 nesting season if the eagles choose a location where that can be done without disrupting the nest. No cam in 2011; it was reported that the eagles were seen, but it wasn't known if they raised any eaglets.

JudyB's s'cap - January 6, 2010

Based on other nests in the general area, look for eggs in the last half of March, chicks towards the end of April, and fledging in late July.

The cam is located somewhere Maine, and because it is on private property, BioDiversity Research Institute (BRI) has chosen to not be more specific than to say it's in coastal Maine. The cam has night vision, and appears to have sound, although that seemed to come and go. Note: BRI is calling this Eaglecam2 - which I find confusing as it's a different nest than Maine II, which was also called Eaglecam2.

2011 was the first year for this camera, and it came online in mid-April; one of the adults spent a lot of time sitting on the nest, but we never saw any eggs - don't know if they did have some and lost them, or what the pre-camera story might be. We're hoping to learn more about this pair - and perhaps see some chicks - in 2012. 2012 was another non-productive year at this nest - iIt appears that the male died around the middle of March, electrocuted when he flew into a power line, perhaps while chasing an intruder; a new male was seen on the nest shortly thereafter, with a dark spot on his head and some darker feathers in the tail, but he was quite inexperienced in his attempts to mate (even standing next to the willing female a couple of times while making all the right motions, but nowhere near the target area), so there were no eggs. We're hoping things will be better in 2013.

JudyB's s'cap - April 16, 2011

Based on other nests in the general area, look for eggs in the last half of March, chicks towards the end of April, and fledging in late July.

The camera has frequently updating still shots, and uses infrared technology to provide "night vision." It is generally offline once the fledglings leave until midwinter. It is also turned off from 11 pm - 3 am to reduce bandwidth expenses.

The nest is located about 80 feet up in the air in a tree in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge on Maryland's Eastern Shore. This is one of the first nests to have a camera, and has been online since 2005. The pair has successfully raised three chicks in 2005 and two in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. They laid three eggs in 2011; all hatched and all three fledged successfully. 2012 was a very sad year at this nest; the pair laid two eggs which hatched successfully, but left the chicks alone more than usual, perhaps because food was scarce or because there were intruders in the area, and an adult eagle landed at the nest and attacked the 8-day-old eaglets while the adults were off the nest, killing the older one and fatally injuring the younger one. A new cam has been installed for 2013 - still transmitting as a refresh cam, but higher resolution - and we are hoping for a much happier year.

 
(photo of tree climber from Friends of Blackwater Eagle Web Log, all rights reserved;
closeup of nest © 2007 Paula Compton, used with permission, all rights reserved)

Based on past experience, look for eggs in mid to late January, chicks in late February to early March, and fledging in mid to late May.  

Barton Island is a small island in the Connecticut River, near Barton Cove, in Gill, Massachusetts. A female eagle originally raised and released at the nearby Quabbin Reservoir in 1985 paired with a male bird released in 1986, forming the Barton Island territory in 1989. The original male was subsequently replaced (in 1996?) by a male with leg bands indicating it came from New York State. The nest has produced one or two chicks most years since 1989, although there were three years that the pair was unsuccessful (1997, 1999 and 2001). They fledged two chicks in 2002, one in 2003, two in 2004, one in 2005, two in 2006 and 2007, and one in 2008.

The nest tree below collapsed at the end of the 2008 nesting season (eaglet and parents were fine).

July 26, 2007 - 2 fledglings
© 2007 Sharon Feeney, used with permission, all rights reserved

They are now nesting in a red oak nearby, but they established their nest too late for a camera to be added for the 2009 nesting season. As far as we know, they didn't actually raise any eaglets in 2009 - though the nest is a long way from the nearest vantage point. The utility tried to get the cam operational for 2010, but they had a very small window to visit the island and the weather didn't cooperate; local observers reported that they did have one or more chicks, and a visit to band the chick(s) determined that there was one healthy chick and the remains of a second chick. We hoped there would be a cam in 2011 but that didn't happen; a local photographer reported that there were two chicks, both of which fledged successfully. There were no reports in 2012.

February 14, 2009 - new nest (at far right above the white birch)
© 2009 Sherri Delaney, used with permission, all rights reserved

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early March, chicks in early to mid-April, and fledging in early July.

2012 was the first year I became aware of this cam, although MN Bound did place a cam at different location attempting to view the nest last year; I haven't seen any reports on the success of the nest in 2011. The folks running the cam believe there was a new male in 2012, probably young as he had a black spot on his head, and initially had a band on one leg, though that apparently fell off (the spot remained constant). The pair laid two eggs, but sadly the younger eaglet (named Kirby) fell from the nest when he was 16 days old and did not survive; it appeared that he was standing on one end of a piece of skin, and when the adult moved the skin, he was tossed up to the edge of the nest.

The older eaglet, named Harmon, became stuck in the nest when he was a little over 3 weeks old; he was removed from the nest the afternoon of May 4 and taken to rehab to be cleaned and checked out (there were some puncture wounds (from sticks in the nest?) - and maggots), and fed; there were no serious injuries, so he was returned to the nest the afternoon of May 6, along with a supply of fish heads and tails. He was alone that night, and as a second night approached, the team made plans to remove him - when the adults suddenly appeared on the nest. The reunion was amazing - I've been watching eagles for a long time - and seeing both adults trying to feed him at the same time, and then Mom preening him - it was one of the most touching scenes I've ever witnessed.

Based past experience for this pair, look for eggs in early March, chicks in mid-April, and fledging in late June or early July.

This cam, showing "Elsie & Einstein," the Lake of the Ozarks Eagles is located in Central Missouri. The pair built their first nest in that location in fall 2009 and hatched 2 eaglets in 2010, of which only one survived into the early summer. In 2011 they built another nest nearby, fortunately also within cam reach, and again hatched two eaglets, only one of which survived to fledge (we think the other fell from the nest during a very windy storm). The pair laid three eggs in 2012 - and all hatched and fledged! The nest was almost non-existent by the the time the chicks fledged, and was in a dead tree, so the cam owner built a large platform in the tree with the cam, and it looks as if the eagles will be nesting there for 2013.

Tweet Dreams's s'cap - February 9, 2011

Based on past experience, look for eggs in mid February, chicks in late March, and fledging in mid June.

This nest on the Clark Fork River near Missoula, Montana, came to our attention in 2011, when local observer Sue Erickson reported that they were raising four chicks! She said that multiple chicks were the norm (they raised 2 in 2007, 3 in 2008 and 2009, then 2 in 2010) - but raising four is very unusual - and all four fledged successfully. They raised three chicks in 2012.

Sue Erickson's photo - May 12, 2011
©2011 Sue Erickson, permission requested, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early March, chicks in early to mid-April, and fledging in mid July.

Libby Dam is located on the on the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana. The nest, also known as the Souse Gulch Eagle Nest, was established in 1996, with the first eggs in 1997. From 1997 through 2008, the pair fledged 21 eaglets, including two in 2007 and two in 2008. They laid two eggs in 2009 and both hatched, but the younger chick died when it was almost 3 weeks old (not easy to guess why on a refresh cam); the older chick fledged successfully. The pair laid two eggs in 2010; only one hatched, and we believe it fledged successfully; the chick was not seen at the nest after fledging, but the adults were only seen once or twice in the two weeks before the cam was turned off, leading us to believe/hope that they and the chick were based somewhere nearer the water. In 2011 they again laid two eggs, one of which hatched and fledged successfully; the chick was seen returning to the nest for a week or so, after which the cam went down. We know that two eggs hatched in 2012, but the cam was down for a couple of weeks right after they hatched, and there was only one chick when it came back up; it went down for god shortly thereafter - the remaining chick was looking great, but we don't actually know if she fledged. We do have good news for 2013 - the Army Corps of Engineers, which runs the cam, has announced that they're installing a new cam for the upcoming nesting season.

JudyB's s'cap - June 20, 2008

Based on past experience, look for eggs in mid to late March, chicks in late April, and fledging in mid July.

This nest has streaming video, with a good view of the nest, though the focus is a little fuzzy.

"Duke Farms is a 2,700-acre estate in Hillsborough, New Jersey, and is owned and supported by the Duke Farms Foundation. The mission of Duke Farms is to be a model of environmental stewardship in the 21st Century and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land. This Eagle Cam was installed to provide researchers with an opportunity to monitor a pair of nesting Bald Eagles without any disturbance to the birds. It is being shared with the public to provide viewers with a glimpse of wildlife in its natural environment." (© 2009 Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. All rights reserved.)

2009 was the first year we watched this pair, and the site doesn't provide any history on them. They successfully raised and fledged three chicks in 2009, with both parents sometimes feeding at the same time from different areas of the nest, making it easier for the smallest to get a share. They laid two eggs in 2010, and both chicks fledged successfully. They laid 3 eggs in 2011; 2 hatched and both chicks fledged successfully. The cam was offline for the 2012 nesting season; a biologist with a spotting scope reported seeing a chick, and reported it fledged successfully; given the challenges involved in occasional, long-distance observation, I think it's not certain that there was only one chick.

JudyB's s'cap - April 21, 2009

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late February, chicks in early April, and fledging in late June or early July.

adults Derek(M) and Savannah(F)

This nest has a refresh cam that refreshes every five seconds; it's only on during daylight hours. CRC is hoping to install an upgraded camera for the 2012 nesting season, with streaming video and possibly sound.

Derek and Savannah are non-releasable eagles who have been at the Carolina Raptor Center since 1998. They became a pair, and she laid her first eggs in 2004. They didn't hatch, but in 2006 two eggs hatched; the eaglets were taken to a hacking tower when they were 6 weeks old and subsequently fledged; they have GPS units and can be tracked at the Carolina Raptor Center Eagle Tracking Project. They had one egg hatch in 2008, and that chick was also successfully fledged from a hacking tower. No eggs hatched in 2009; they think the unusually cold weather was responsible, and responded by insulating the pair's preferred nestbox (which is on the ground). They laid three eggs in 2010; the first egg hatched and the chick is looking good; the second hatched but the chick was not strong enough to survive, and the third failed before hatching. There are five other adult eagles at CRC, and I think most of them share the enclosure with Derek and Savannah, though they know better than to come close to the nest. The 2010 eaglet, a female named Noah, was equipped with a transmitter, and she was tracked after fledging to a wilderness area in Virginia, where her signal was lost; the eaglet and the transmitter were not found, so we're hoping it's an equipment malfunction, and she'll reappear in time. The pair laid two eggs in 2011 and both hatched successfully, but sadly the younger eaglet (who had seemed smaller and weaker) died when he/she was 26 days; a necropsy was conducted but didn't determine a cause of death; the older eaglet, named Kinsey, was moved to a hacking tower with two somewhat older eaglets who had been rescued after their nest collapsed; we think being with older eaglets encouraged Kinsey to "branch" on the perches in the tower at a fairly young age, and she fledged successfully, not long after her older tower-mates. Derek and Savannah laid 2 eggs in 2012, one of which hatched; that eaglet, a female named Carolina, fledged successfully from the hacking tower - and in a switch from the previous year, once she was flying well, the staff built a shelf for her food outside the tower so they could close the doors and bring in two younger rescued eaglets who were close to fledging; they also fledged successfully, though the younger one seemed a bit intimidated by his older companion at first.

JudyB's s'cap - February 15, 2010

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early January and chicks in mid-February; chicks will likely be moved to a hacking tower around the end of March and should fledge from there in mid-May.

adults Derek(M) and Savannah(F)

Te cam is available dawn to dusk and it requires QuickTime to function properly. It provides a still picture view that refreshes automatically.

This nest is located in central North Carolina, near the urban areas of Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill. It's northeast of Charlotte, where the Carolina Raptor Center is located, and looks to be about half-way between Charlotte and Norfolk, Virginia. The Jordan Lake EagleCam is a collaboration between North Carolina State University and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District. The goal of the project is to "stimulate interest in Bald Eagles by letting people in the triangle know that these magnificent birds are now nesting right in their backyards." The nest is situated in an area that provides many large trees suitable for nesting bald eagles with close proximity to lakes and rivers that provide a good food source!

This pair successfully fledged young in the three years before a cam was added in 2011, and successfully fledged two eaglets in 2011. The pair laid 2 eggs in 2012, and while the cam went down partway through the nesting season, a local photographer reported that both fledged successfully. They are working to develop a more stable cam for 2013.

October 2010
Thanks to NC State University and US Army Corps of Engineers

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early December, chicks in mid-January, and fledging in late March/early April.

The nest is in the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, near Vian in eastern Oklahoma, near the Arkansas border. This is the Sutton Center's second nest with a cam (their first features a pair that nests about 125 miles away, at Sooner Lake in north central Oklahoma). Their primary cam page shows two views of Sooner Lake and two of Sequoyah.

The pair laid three eggs in 2011, the first year with a cam, though one disappeared before the cam came online. The two remaining eggs hatched, and both chicks fledged successfully; the younger was given a GPS transmitter, and you can follow his travels here. The pair again laid three eggs in 2012, and all three hatched, but the youngest chick was significantly smaller and fell behind in development, probably because food was a bit scarce; he was holding his own, and usually getting some food - but sadly died, probably of exposure, when he was about 5 weeks old - there was a heavy rainstorm, and his older siblings had feathers to help protect themselves from the cold rain, and he still had mostly down. The pair has laid two eggs to start the 2013 nesting season, so we are hoping both hatch and thrive.

JudyB's s'caps - Feb 10, 2011, and Oct 11, 2011

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late December/early January, chicks in early February, and fledging in mid April.

This nest has streaming video with one cam mounted above the nest, and the other at a distance looking up at the nest in its tree.

The nest is on Sooner Lake, near Stillwater in north-central Oklahoma. This pair's former nest was on an artificial tower erected by the Sutton Avian Research Center and local utility OG&E to replace the original dead nest tree used by this pair after it fell down. The pair first built a nest in the dead tree in 1995, and laid their first eggs in 1996. Since then, they've fledged 24 eaglets, with three eaglets in 2000 and 2002. 2008 was the first year they've known how many eggs were laid; they do know that three eggs hatched in 2007, but the youngest chick was unable to compete for food with its older siblings, so only two of them fledged. There was an unusual clutch of four eggs laid in 2008, but the cam was down for a month shortly after they started to hatch, so we don't know how many of them hatched; there were two eaglets when the cam came back, and both fledged successfully. They laid three eggs in 2009, but only one hatched; the eaglet fledged successfully. In 2010 the pair did some preliminary work on two alternative nests, eventually choosing one in a tree near the lake. This proved to be a bad choice; they laid three eggs, two of which hatched; the younger chick died two days after hatching when it was blown across the nest in heavy winds and slipped through a hole in the edge; the older chick died when it was a little over a month old, most likely by losing its balance as it learned to stand upright, and slipping over the edge. As far as we know, they didn't nest in 2011; they are still seen at the platform in the lake, so we're hoping they may nest in 2012. The pair again nested in the dead tree in 2012, and laid three eggs, two of which hatched; the older one died when it was about a week old, possibly after being stepped on by one of the adults; the remaining chick fledged successfully. The dead tree blew over in mid-December, happily at a time when there were no eggs or chicks present, and the adults appear to be turning their attention to the artificial nest they used before.

JudyB's s'caps - earlier nest June 30, 2009 and current nest March 9, 2010

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early February, chicks in mid March, and fledging in late May or early June.

This is a streaming cam with a 3-minute limit; there's a brief intro before you get to the cam.

This is a streaming cam with a 3-minute limit; there's a brief intro before you get to the cam. The cam is located in Willamette Pass in Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon. The Deschutes National Forest Bald Eagle Cam is provided by the Oregon Zoo, AT&T, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, and the USDA Forest Service's NatureWatch Program. The area was first identified as an occupied territory in 1974, and has been successful in producing fledglings in 21 of the years since then. They raised one chick in 2006, and had early nest failures in 2007 and 2008. They laid one egg in 2009 (I don't actually remember any other pairs that laid only one egg in a nesting season), and it hatched, and the eaglet fledged; the eaglet (named Pengra Cescent) did not return to the nest after fledging, but two adults and a juvie were seen flying in the area a few days later, so we're optimistically assuming it was Pengra and her parents. The pair laid two eggs in 2010, but there was a series of heavy snowstorms during the incubation period, and while they made an amazing effort to keep the eggs warm and dry, the eggs did not hatch. 2011 was a very snowy year, and as far as we know the eagles did not nest, though they were seen in the territory. They also did not nest in 2012, as far as we know.

Marcia's s'cap - July 25, 2008

Thanks to the USDA Forest Service for making this copyright-free picture of the nest
taken January 2010 during camera installation available for non-commercial use.

Based on past experience, look for eggs in mid-April, chicks in late May, and fledging in mid to late August.

The cam is streaming but doesn't have sound.

Liberty and Justice are a pair of non-releasable Bald Eagles cared for by the American Eagle Foundation (AEF) - female Liberty can only see out of one eye so lacks the depth perception needed to hunt in the wild, while male Justice was found with shotgun pellets in a foot and wing, resulting in permanent injuries that would keep him from hunting successfully. They bonded as a pair in 1993, and have successfully raised 14 of their own offspring and several foster chicks for release to the wild from hacking towers in Tennessee. Their three eggs were infertile in 2005; bad weather caused the collapse of their nest and loss of three eggs in 2006; and the one egg Liberty laid in 2007 was infertile - but in 2008 one of the two eggs she laid hatched, and Liberty and Justice successfully raised the resulting eaglet. They laid three eggs in 2009 but none hatched. The eagles were not on cam in 2010; it was reported that they laid two non-fertile eggs, and then fostered two three-day-old eaglets; there was a report on the AEF website that two eaglets were released from the AEF hacking tower in July, though it wasn't clear if they were the two Liberty and Justice had raised.

Perhaps because of Liberty and Justice's advanced age, AEF decided to feature a new pair on-cam this year, Independence (F) and Franklin (M). Both are originally from Alaska, and both are non-releasable because of wing injuries. Independence came to the AEF facility in 1994, and Franklin arrived in 1995; they became a pair in 2000 and laid their first eggs in 2002. In 2011, their first year on cam, they laid three eggs, all of which hatched and the three eaglets were successfully released from a hacking tower; the first egg was moved to an incubator shortly after it was laid, due to a tornado warning, and returned to the nest several weeks later; perhaps because of the more consistent artificial incubation, it hatched 6 days before the second egg and a whole week before #3; fortunately there was plenty of food, and all three chicks thrived. Independence and Franklin again laid 3 eggs in 2012, and all three hatched; the chicks were moved to a hacking tower, and all fledged successfully, though it took two tries for the oldest one - she had some rocky landings on her first flight, resulting in an abrasion on the bottom of one foot, so she was returned to AEF for treatment, and finally released about 45 days after her siblings.

Franklin & Independence's nest
© American Eagle Foundation, all rights reserved

Based on past experience, look for eggs in late March, chicks in early May, and fledging in mid to late July. The chicks will be removed from the parents at about 5 or 6 weeks of age and transferred to a nearby artificial nest in a hack tower, where they will be released a few weeks later as part of the American Eagle Foundation's captive release program.

This is a streaming camera with night vision (but not sound - it's near an airport so it's felt we'd hear more planes than eagles).

The nest is in a botanical garden in Norfolk, Virginia. The 2007 nest fell apart after the last chick fledged, and the eagles built a new nest for 2008; Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) moved the cam to the new nest. This pair successfully raised 3 chicks in 2006 and 2007; in 2008, practically everything that could go wrong did - they produced 2 (or maybe 3) eggs, but then a four-year-old female started harassing the pair, forcing them from the nest for prolonged periods and leaving the eggs uncovered; eventually the parents appeared to abandon the nest, and two no-longer-viable eggs were recovered. Then the original female returned to the nest and was seen mating with the male - and a month or so after the initial clutch, they produced two eggs - which were apparently broken when the nesting parent jumped up to respond to a large bird (maybe a great horned owl) flying near the nest. The next day she laid the third egg of the second clutch - which successfully hatched. When the chick was about 3 weeks old, a photographer noticed a growth on its beak - and the chick was removed from the nest a few days later for testing; the eaglet (named Easter on the Hancock forum and Buddy and Poink on others) was found to have Avian Pox and was taken to the Wildlife Center of Virginia (WCV) for treatment. The treatment was successful, but Easter/Buddy's beak was damaged by the pox, and in August 2009 WCV declared that he was non-releasable, “based on a review of the bird’s treatment over the past 15 month, evaluation of the curvature of the eagle’s beak, and the habituation of this young bird to humans.” His beak will continue to need periodic trimming for the rest of his life, and after considering several options WVC made the juvie, now officially named Buddy, one of their educational birds. 2009 was a much less eventful year; the eagles moved back and rebuilt their former nest, and successfully raised three eaglets. The middle eaglet, nicknamed Azalea, was fitted with a transmitter, and you can follow her travels at http://eagletrak.blogs.wm.edu. The pair again successfully raised three eaglets, all male, in 2010; the oldest was nicknamed Camellia and given a transmitter (same link for updates). It will be interesting to compare his travels with those of his older sister. The eagles are building a new nest for 2011, and NBG has moved the cam so we'll be able to follow the activity in 2011.

The pair again laid three eggs in 2011, all of which hatched. The female was struck and killed by an airplane landing at the adjacent airport when the chicks were about 6 weeks old; it was estimated that she was about 15 years old, and the current pair had been together since 2003, raising 19 eaglets including the three on the nest when she died. The experts involved with the nest felt a single adult would not be able to both feed and protect three rapidly growing eaglets, so all three were removed from the nest and taken to the Wildlife Center of Virginia. The three were released in late July, but the middle chick NX, who was fitted with a transmitter shortly before release, seemed too hot and tired to get good height, so was captured and returned to WCV to recover, and was successfully released a month later; you can follow her travels at http://www.wildlifecenter.org/wp/tracking-nx/. The male was seen with a new female, estimated to be 5-6 years old, in the fall of 2011, so we are hoping the new pair will nest in 2012.

2012 was a sad year for Norfolk. The male's new mate died after flying into power lines, and then several other females spent time courting the male, and occasionally fighting with each other. By the time the male appeared to be bonding with female #4, it was too late for nesting. We enjoyed watching them, and hoped for chicks in 2013 - but unfortunately the USDA Wildlife Service recommended that the nest be removed to reduce the chance of another eagle-airplane collision, and that was done on October 4, 2012. The pair immediately started building two other nests, in trees the male had used before - and after they were well underway, they were also taken down, and some supporting branches were removed, to make it harder for the eagles to rebuild. We are all hoping that the eagles find a tree on private property away from the Botanical Gardens where they can nest safely, out of the public eye. On a personal note, I visited the Norfolk Botanical Garden a couple of days after the nest was initially taken down - my comments and pictures are here - http://www.judybmaine.com/travel/2012_midatlantic/norfolk_2012.htm

EmtyBelfry's s'cap - January 12, 2009

Based on past experience, look for eggs in the first half of February, chicks in mid-March, and fledging in early June.

The Richmond nest territory was established in 1996 and the cam was installed in 2012. The cam began operating for the first time on January 15, 2012. Eagle history: This pair built a nest along the James River 90 feet up in a loblolly pine in 1995. They abandoned the first nest and built the current nest in 2001. The nest has been used for 10 years and 18 chicks have successfully fledged. In 2011 2 eaglets fledged. The pair laid two eggs in 2012, and both fledged but it was touch and go for a while as fishing was hard after a major storm, and the sibling rivalry was brutal. It appears that the pair is building a new nest for 2013, about 1/2 mile from their 2012 nest - and unfortunately not in a location where a cam is possible, at least for 2013. Hopefully there will be some ground observer reports.

Based on past experience, look for eggs in mid-February chicks in mid-March, and fledging in early to mid-June.

This nest is about 90 feet up a tall cottonwood tree, and you can see a bit of Lake Meridian in the distance. The eagles are named Star (female) and Spirit (male), and they've raised 16 eaglets over the past eight years, including two in 2007. The nest collapsed at the end of the 2007 season;
the eagles were seen rebuilding in 2008, but did not lay any eggs. Eagles have been seen in the area, occasionally working on the nest, in 2009 and 2010; there is still a cam, and if they nest, there is a chance the cam will be online again.

landowner's photo - December 28, 2001 - installation of camera

Based on past experience, look for eggs in mid-March, chicks in late April, and fledging in mid to late July.

This cam is now streaming, with night vision! And it was repositioned in 2009 so there is a better look into the nest bowl.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife posted the following in 2008 about this cam: “This year we have retired the Puget Sound EagleCam and replaced it with the Lake Washington EagleCam. Located in a 100 foot tall Douglas fir tree, the bald eagle pair have been actively building their nest and should be able to be observed increasingly as the mating season and pair-bonding is upon us. This bald eagle cam was installed with a landowner’s invitation and cooperation and with the hope to share the unique views and interactions of a dramatically situated bald eagle nest.” Lake Washington is in the northwest corner of Washington state, not really all that far from Seattle. This cam was new in 2008, and there were two chicks that year, one of which fledged successfully and the other which died of unknown causes when it was 8-1/2 weeks old (the cam was refresh-only the first year, making it harder to see what was happening in the nest). They successfully raised and fledged two chicks in 2009 and 2010. They successfully raised two chicks in 2011, but one was found dead at the foot of the tree when it was 12 weeks old, likely as the result of a mishap during or shortly after fledging; the other fledged successfully. The DFW website suggests there may be a cam upgrade for 2012.

There was a nice new cam for 2012 - but sadly no chicks; the WDFW website suggested that one of the previous pair may have died too close to nesting for a new mate to become established in time for eggs to be laid this year. The pair is visiting regularly so we hope they will nest in 2013.

soph9's s'cap - March 9, 2010

Based on previous experience, look for eggs in mid-March, chicks in late April, and fledging in mid July.

This cam was only online one season, in 2007. The pair laid two eggs, one of which hatched. One of the more interesting things we observed is that the second egg was still in the nest seven weeks after the other egg hatched, and the eaglet appeared to be brooding it from time to time.

Sherri's s'cap - May 14, 2007
(eaglet is about 2-1/2 weeks old here)

There is a still cam that refreshes every 30 seconds and is on 24 hours a day, and also streaming video with sound during the nesting season.

Liberty and Belle have been in this location near the Potomac River since late 2002, built their nest mostly in late 2003 and early 2004, and Belle laid her first egg February 14, 2004. The pair raised two chicks in 2004, one in 2005 and three in 2006; they had three eggs in 2007 but none survived the spring storms; they raised three chicks in 2008; they laid three eggs in 2009, but only one hatched - and that chick fledged successfully. In 2010 there was a major snowstorm with over 20" of snow after Belle laid her first two eggs; she kept them covered through the storm, but the snow was piled so high around the nest cup that the eggs were buried shortly after the storm ended. They cleared a new area of the nest and Belle laid a third egg - and there was another foot of snow shortly thereafter; that egg was left uncovered, apparently sitting on snow, a number of times over the next couple of days. It seemed as if Liberty was having trouble getting down to the nest cup (which still had substantial piles of snow around it), so he sometimes stood guard rather than incubating. Immediately after the second storm, they started bringing in more sticks and padding for the nest area - and four days after the third egg, Belle laid a fourth egg. The third egg disappeared after about two weeks - and the fourth egg hatched and the chick fledged successfully. In 2011 the pair laid two eggs; the first one hatched, but the male Liberty did not arrive to provide food or support, and a new younger male kept trying to enter the nest; Belle chased him off - but wasn't able to leave the nest to get food, so the chick died on its fourth day. Belle was observed offering her beak to the chick, and its possible some liquid was transferred, but no food was brought into the nest until shortly after the chick died. The other egg didn't hatch. The body of an adult eagle was found in the vicinity later in the spring; Liberty wasn't banded so its identity couldn't be confirmed, but many people thought it was probably Liberty. After chasing the new male away for a while, Belle began to tolerate his presence, and they appeared to be a pair by the end of the year. Here's hoping 2012 will be a happier year.

Belle and her new mate, known as Shep or Smitty on various forums, laid two eggs, both of which hatched and fledged successfully. It was interesting - and educational - to watch Belle teach her young partner what was expected of him. Once she had laid the eggs, he did a good job of delivering food - but it took a couple of days before he realized that he was supposed to incubate the eggs while she ate. Once he figured that out, he did much of the incubating during the day, allowing Belle time away from the nest. Once the chicks hatched, he upped the food delivery, but it was 5 days before he realized he should be feeding the chicks when he was on nest duty, and in fact it looked as if it took one of the chicks reaching up to grab a bite away from him to trigger the "ah-ha" moment. He is developing into a great parent - and we're learning what's involved in making that happen. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2013.

July 14, 2007 - visit to the site
© 2007 Paula Compton, used with permission, all rights reserved

Based on past experience, look for eggs in the first half of February, chicks in mid-March, and fledging in early June.

The nest is in Blair, Wisconsin, which is in the western part of the state, not too far from the border with Minnesota and Iowa. The interesting thing about this cam and website is that it is a project of the third and fourth grade classes at the Blair-Taylor Elementary School, in conjunction with the National Eagle Center. The cam came online in 2011, and the website reported that the eagles had fledged two eaglets in each of the previous 5 years. Unfortunately the eagles, known as Lucy and Larry, did not nest in 2011, and there was some suspicion that the original female may have disappeared and been replaced. The pair laid two eggs in 2012 - and the male had to teach the female how to feed newly hatched chicks, adding to the belief that she was a first-time mom; she learned well, and both chicks fledged successfully. As of December 2012, the pair is facing a new challenge - the toes of Lucy's right foot have been badly injured, perhaps by being caught in a trap, and it looks as if she will lose them. Her left foot also appeared swollen, but that may be because she was needing to use it more to compensate because she can't stand on her right foot (though it appears that she can put weight on it - it's the balance that's lacking). I think she's looking better, as she's adapting to what she can and can't do - but she does spend more time sleeping in the nest than is normal for an adult. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it will work out somehow.

October 7, 2011, cam installation - courtesy of Eagles4Kids

Based on past experience, look for eggs in early March, chicks in early to mid-April, and fledging in late June.

Located on the banks of the Wolf River in Wisconsin, these bald eagles have built a nest in a large white pine tree. The adults, known as George and Marth, laid two eggs in 2012 (their first year on cam); both hatched, and the chicks fledged successfully.

 

Based on past experience, look for eggs in mid to late March, chicks in late April, and fledging in mid to late July.