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White Rock 2013 - Bald Eagle Cam

The White Rock nest is located on private property on the bluff overlooking Boundary Bay to the north of White Rock on the south-west coast of beautiful British Columbia.

Presently we have three cams focused on the nest - the CU (closeup), the WA (wide angle) which are Axis 1346E fixed-focus high-definition infrared cameras. The new PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) is a a high resolution w/sound & infrared Vivotek camera. The CU is in the nest tree and the WA and PTZ are in an adjacent tree. The PTZ is quite heavy and there were no branches in the nest tree sturdy enough to bear the weight.

For more information read David Hancock's update HERE.

This is the nest tree (second tallest tree) as seen by eaglenut from the beach.


These photos (also taken by eaglenut) show the beach area where Mom, Dad and eventually their eaglets go to fish or just hang out. Thanks Tina!

Mom & Dad at the nest.


Paraphrasing David (from his update):
Many, many thanks to property owners, Russ and Ellen, for sharing and looking after our White Rock eagle family and their environment.

Posting Guidelines For White Rock Observations & Discussions:

NOTE:
This thread is for Discussion, Observations, Screenshots & Videos solely related to actions / events / occurrences at the White Rock nest.

When making your posts, please type the time first, then your observation of the activities. Although we tend to want to humanize our eagles, they are wild birds so please try to avoid the temptation to speak for them.

Screenshots and photos and/or links to videos are welcome in this thread as part of the discussion. We welcome all screenshots and videos of the White Rock nest captured via the webcams. Screen captures are limited to three (3) per post and should be no more than 500 pixels wide. Please use the file tag (not the IMG tag) when attaching your captures. Also, make sure you save your captures in the JPEG format.

As a courtesy to viewers with slower internet connections, please limit the pictures in each post to no more than a total of 150,000 bytes. Please do not post animations (though it's fine to post a link to them). Please limit smilie/emoticons to three (3) per post. Also, some members have difficulty with moving smiley/emoticons so please limit those to one (1) per post (of the three (3). Please remember this thread is solely for observation/discussion regarding the events in and around the nest area.

Thank you for your cooperation!

2013 Nesting Season

First Sighting @ The Nest (Cam): 10/05/12 -11:59a.m.
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=421656#421656

First Sighting @ The Beach: Early Evening of 10/03/12
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=421289#421289

First Mating Seen On Cam (lookout branch-WA) -02/05/13
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=462103#462103

Eggs Laid:
#1 - March 25th, 2013 @ 2:49p.m.
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=489348#489348

#2 - March 28th, 2013 @ 5:18p.m.
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=491571#491571

Eggs Hatched: #1 - April 28, 2013 - Egg (non-viable) lost due to predation by a sub-adult eagle.
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=511587#511587

Eggs Hatched: #2 - Non-viable - May 8, 2013 - Lost to predation by a juvenile eagle
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=516463#516463
Video of egg destruction (Thank you to Amyam):
http://www.whiterockeaglechat.com/forum ... 12#msg8112

Here are David's comments regarding the eggs and conditions at White Rock.
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=512891#512891

forum/viewtopic.php?topic=513106#513106


Eaglets will be named by Property Owner.

Eaglets Branched:
#1 -
#2 -

Eaglets Fledged:
#1/
#2/

Last Seen on Cam
Dad:
Mom:
#1/ -
#2 -


Last sighting - Dad} August 4th, 2013 at/in the nest. Both came & did nestorations.
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=558507#558507

Last sighting - Mom} August 5th, 2013 @ the nest - 3:04p.m.
forum/viewtopic.php?topic=558468#558468

The following information added by jkr on April 26, 2013 regarding the zoom cams.
A bit of information about our ptz cam operations.

Our zoomers have been requested to keep the zoom cam and the embedded cam open simultaneously. There is a delay from the time they zoom the cam and the time you see it so they need to see when the change takes place before moving the camera again.

Having two windows open on their screen, which may be all they can fit on their monitor, they can't always read what is being posted at the forum at that time. If you post that you want the zoom changed or the panning changed our zoomerss are not aware of your request until after they leave zooming and open the forum window again.

Our own zoomers are not the only people who can access our cam controls. The landowners have access to change the zoom/pan which takes it out of our control. David and Ken can also change the cam at any given time without our knowledge. It is not always our own zoom team on the cameras.

Our zoomers are experienced eagle observers. If the cam zooms in closely they may be checking on the health of a chick/adult, checking food items, checking markings on an adult (eg: Delta Dad has a small spot next to his pupil on the right eye which identifies him from Mom), checking beaks/feet which may change colour if eagles are poisoned, and panning the area checking for intruders and watching eaglets once they learn to branch. Many times observations which may be of concern are reported to David Hancock for his biology records.

We wish we could accommodate all requests to have the camera in the exact spot each of you want it to be but that is impossible.

Here is a Map showing the relative positions of the Vancouver Area Nests - Google Earth image.


A Little History:
Before nesting in this tree, Mom and Dad White Rock "twice had their nest removed to allow a subdivision. This nest is 500 yards to the south." Our White Rock family's current nest tree was chosen as it was "the best tree in a clump of fine Douglas fir in which a few key support branches were placed in the hopes of enticing eagles to nest. The landowner, and longtime friend" of David's , "did everything hoped for -- according to the eagles -- they took up residence and built a fine nest in the modified tree."
(Text in quotes is from 2012 comments).

David's Comments:
This is a very good option, and the landowner's support is a great bonus. This is a must as these birds feed at the entrance to the world's best bald eagle habitat -- Boundary Bay.
It is also along the north shore of Boundary Bay that the two Delta cam nests reside and the winter attraction of the Vancouver Landfill attracts up to 800 eagles daily. Over 24 eagle nests border this Bay.

The Wide Angle and Closeup cameras provided us with wonderful views throughout last season. These are some of the last images captured.
CLICK for larger image.




The following members of Hancock Wildlife chose to honor their favorite fine feathered family and support the work of Hancock Wildlife by adopting the White Rock nest for 2013:



You may want to take a look back at a very successful season for our White Rock family.....Mom, Dad, Echo & Foxy. We learned a lot along the way.

WHITE ROCK ~ 2012 SEASON

We are often asked how to identify which of our pair is Mom and which is Dad. Although it can be difficult at times to know who's who because of lighting or different postitions, there are quite a few differences. Mom has a larger beak than Dad. He is smaller and weighs less. Mom has a wider head. His head feathers are sleeker than hers. Last year I observed that both have some lighter feathers on their chests with Mom having more than Dad. This of course may have changed. One of the big differences between the two is Mom has "notches" in her wing feathers particularly her right wing as you can see in this photo taken by Christian Sasse. Thank you Christian.



Here they are standing in approximately the same spot in the nest and though their heads are turned in different directions, you can see that her beak is larger. You can also see the light feather pattern on her breast.
If anyone has observed other differences, please let me know so that I may make note of them.

BREAKING NEWS - They are back!

This evening Ma and Pa returned to the White Rock nest! In a rush of 3 minutes before darkness this image was taken of Pa sitting in the tree of the nest. Ma was not far from him and within a few seconds both took off.

Welcome back Ma and Pa!!!!

Comment: Special thanks to Tina Docharty for calling me at home straight away as I just returned from work - she had been carefully monitoring the nest for the last days and discovered them there tonight

7:43pm.......Thanks for all the reports on the cameras...........thanks to Ken........and hello to everyone here!

:hello:Hello Nightowl!

Christian, you have just posted this as I was taking a peek! Thanks so much to Tina and yourself for all your help and monitoring of this nest! I'm so excited!! Ma and Pa are back!! I sure hope our cameras are operating soon!!

Isn't Pa gorgeous? What a beautiful picture!

What a gorgeous welcome home picture Christian!
Great team work you 2 ..Tina & Christian! Exciting news. Thank you... thank you
Perfect timing Ma and Pa! Cams should be on line pretty soon.
I have to keep reminding my self it is only Oct. But the thrill of seeing the eagles safe return always takes my breath away.

:hello: nightowl, Jean, Jo, lakegirl and everyone else.

GOOD EVENING WHITE ROCK FRIENDS Welcome Home Ma and Pa White Rock
I went to the nest tonight and to my delight I found Ma and Pa had returned, I quickly called Chistian , to bring his camera to the nest as Ma and Pa were there.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO MAKE IMAGE LARGER
6:26 pm - Oct 3 2012 [/b ]Ma and Pa perched above the nest

Pa watching Christian , Ma in the branch to the left of Pa

A beautiful sunset to welcome the eagles home