The Forum Has Moved!

This goes with the previous photo of the flats.

Our lunch!

Wow, Liisa, you made it....ha.ha. Seriously folks, it was great to see all of you. We had a total of 41 in attendance. Yes, as Liisa said the impassioned poignant speech that David gave had many of us in tears as we face an uncertain future at HWF with the future of the cams in jeopardy. Then there was David's tribute to Ma Delta 2 with her broken leg trying to carry on for these last two seasons. That was another tearjerker.

Rounding out the after lunch session was JudyB's brilliant song, Story of a River, which is David's approach to the environment and how the river is the life source for the ever important salmon, which feeds not just our eagles, but the bears, wolves, coyotes, orcas, etc. and they in turn fertilize the earth which the trees need for good growth, etc. I can't explain it the way David does but hopefully you get the gist of what Story of a River means.

It was a pleasure to have JudyB and Charlie with us this year, all the way from Maine. The HWF Board of Directors put on a dinner for them Thursday night at David's. Then yesterday David and I, along with a few local members, took them on a tour of nests in White Rock, Surrey and Delta on the way to their ferry to Vancouver Island. I'm sure when Judy returns home she will also have photos to share.

Thanks again to everyone who attended, to Sharon who printed those marvelous eagle name badges again at her own expense and for helping me with this forum thread when I didn't know how to insert the map to Harrison Mills and other helpful information. I have organized FF for the last three years and this was my last. So hopefully someone else will step up and take their turn if we are to have one next year.

Although many of you also come in November to the Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival and David gives his tours on the Fraser River Safari in addition to his talks at Tapadera, the festival is solely a function of FVBEF, not HWF. So it will continue in future even if our cams do not. I say that because I've been getting questions about that. David and I are both directors on the FVBEF board, but it is totally separate from HWF. This November will be the 20 yr. anniversary for FVBEF and many have already reserved their seats on the Fraser River Safari so don't put it off if you want to come on the boat with us as it only holds 22 people.

Again, it was great to see all of you again and meet some of you for the first time. 'Eagle hugs' to you all.

Thank you all again for your awesome photos and narrative from Fledge Fest. It looked like a wonderful gathering of Eagle Lovers. Larry, I sure wish I could come again this fall, thanks for the invite. Marg, thank you for your wonderful video of our JudyB and Charles singing that lovely song. I'm so glad all went so well and most of all that the Harrison Mills Eagles are doing great!

Bravo Karen, you do a marvelous job for HWF. I applaud your dedication and efforts. Thank you and David for all you do to keep HWF going.

Hi everyone, and thanks for all the wonderful pictures! We'll have a few to add later. Wonderful seeing so many of the people I know from the forum but have never met in person - and those we have met before! Our night at Pretty Estates was wonderful - the perfect tonic after being on the go almost constantly for two days - and thank you, David and Mary, for hosting us the following night, and the wonderful dinner, complete with cranes singing in the background!

Here's the song we sang - obviously inspired by the cams at Harrison Mills and the Hatchery, and the pictures and videos from those who have taken the cruises to see the eagles in the fall - and from all I've learned from David and Karen and so many of you who live in the area or document what we see on the cams. Thank you.

The Story of the River
Judy Barrows ©1/10/15

Hear us as we sing
The story of the river
Wide and clear and endless
Flowing to the sea.

Join us as we sing
The story of the river
Wide and clear and endless
Flowing to the sea.

Hear us as we sing
The story of the salmon
Swimming up the river
By the millions as they breed.

Join us as we sing
The story of the salmon
Swimming up the river
By the millions as they breed.

Hear us as we sing
The story of the eagle
Whose young rely on salmon
While they learn to fly free.

Join us as we sing
The story of the eagle
Whose young rely on salmon
While they learn to fly free.

Hear us as we sing
The story of the tall trees
That provide a home for eagles
And food for those beneath.

Join us as we sing
The story of the tall trees
That provide a home for eagles
And food for those beneath.

Hear us as we sing
The story of the black bear
Eating nuts and berries
And scattering their seeds.

Join us as we sing
The story of the black bear
Eating nuts and berries
And scattering their seeds.

Hear us as we sing
The story of the forest
Where seeds grow into tall trees
And shelter little streams.

Join us as we sing
The story of the forest
Where seeds grow into tall trees
And shelter little streams.

Hear us as we sing
The story of the small streams
That trickle down the mountain
To the river that they feed.

Join us as we sing
The story of the small streams
That trickle down the mountain
To the river that they feed.

Hear us as we sing
The story of the river
And of the million reasons
Why we should let it be.

Join us as we sing
The story of the river
And of the million reasons
Why we should let it be.

Hi everyone.......... Thank you all for the lovely pictures and Judy for the beautiful words to your song that you and Charlie sang....... and to you Karen for all you hard work in making FF 2015 such a huge success....... I was so disappointed i couldn't be there ..my family and I had planned to attend but that was not possible... thank you Judy for phoning me from the the H Mills nest... it made me feel like i was there [ well sort of.. you know what i mean] it was wonderful chatting with you, David, Karen, Jean and hearing so many happy voices in the back ground saying hi to me.... while i was zooming at H Mills....... all....... wonderful Putter and Driver were both branched ....... and thank you Sandra[ stlm] for keeping in touch with me and for your many kind words......... and Marg your offer was so considerate......thank you.....

I would have loved to hear David's speech.......

A huge hug to all....

Wow......just finally got a chance to look at the pic's of FF 2015. Looks like everyone had a great time, great weather, great food & drinks, beautiful eagles to capture on your cameras.... glad you all had a wonderful time....sure wish I could have taken the day off but that was a no go.....not one person to replace me on our replacement list. It is so nice to put faces to names. Eagle hugs to you all. JoJo/Mini

As some of you may know, we recently lost one of our original HWF members who joined us in 2006. I have just posted David Hancock's tribute to Terry Baker/terrytvgal. It can be found on our home page here:

archive.hancockwildlife.org

It was Terry that started and organized our first couple of FledgeFests and even gave it its name. Thank you, Terry.

David forgot Texas in stating where his "folks" are. LOL!!