Boundary Bay Central Nest Information
This nest on a pole was installed in Delta, British Columbia, near the central part of the shore of Boundary Bay in September 2022 by the Hancock Wildlife Foundation. When the eagles returned from migration in October, they initially tried to build a nest in one of the trees in the area – but the trees really aren’t easy to build in and after a couple of failed attempts, they moved to the nest on the pole, laid their egg(s) and fledged one eaglet in July 2023. The two cams were installed in late summer 2023 while the eagles were away on vacation. HWF’s official designation for the nest is De-570, and we also sometimes refer to it as the Boundary Bay Central nest – though it is on the shore, not in the center of Boundary Bay! The pair, now named Mere and Pere, had two chicks in 2024, but sadly older eaglet Bowen died when he or she was 68 days old (almost 10 weeks); younger eaglet Blue took longer than most to prepare for fledging, but she or he fledged successfully when she was 100 days old (a bit over 14 weeks). There is more information in the history section at the bottom of the page – and we are all hoping for a much happier year in 2025.
Updates
Boundary Bay Central North
Boundary Bay Central South
Nest History
2023
When the eagles returned from migration in October, they initially tried to build a nest in one of the trees in the area – but the trees really aren’t easy to build in and after a couple of failed attempts, they moved to the nest on the pole, laid their egg(s) and fledged one eaglet in July 2023. The cameras were installed in late summer 2023, so 2024 will be our first year to watch these eagles.
2024
We were thrilled in October 2023 as we watched two adults come to the nest and make themselves at home. They were perhaps a bit uncertain about the cams initially, and we were careful to move the cams slowly until they decided the cams were things that moved at times, and nothing to be concerned about. We can’t be sure it was the same pair as the previous year, but it seems very likely since the eagles seemed comfortable with each other and with the somewhat unusual nest. The zoomers named them Mère and Père (mother and father in French, which is Canada’s other official language, with the accent marks optional). They laid two eggs and both hatched; the chicks were initially designated BB1 and BB2, and later named Bowen and Blue after Bowen Island and Blue River in BC. The power to the cams was turned off for several weeks in June while major electrical work was being done nearby – and when the cams came back online on June 25, the first thing we noticed was that the eaglets were huge! It took us a few days to realize that there were not enough food deliveries to support two large chicks. Older eaglet Bowen died the evening of July 3rd, possibly from lack of food or maybe from eating something toxic – Bowen had seemed to be getting more food until that last day. Happily enough food arrived at the nest that Blue survived and thrived, though she (or maybe he) was later than many eagles in starting to do serious flapping. Blue branched for the first time, then fledged on August 6 when she was 100 days old (a bit over 14 weeks). We last saw female Mere on the nest the morning of August 6, and there was an adult that may have been male Pere perched in a nearby tree for a little while on August 7. We haven’t seen any of the eagles since then. The instinct to migrate is strong in late summer, and watching Blue practice flapping for a couple of days before fledging, I think she (or maybe he) felt a strong urge to leave, and the adults waited just long enough to be sure Blue was on her way. Please check the timeline in the opening posts for more links – https://forum.hancockwildlife.org/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709#p695565 – and there’s a longer version of the summary on the forum here – https://forum.hancockwildlife.org/viewtopic.php?f=136&t=709&start=7830#p766208.
Please join us on the Boundary Bay Central Discussion Forum and share your observations, click below.
This is truly a community funded nest!
Farmer Ralph Gough provided the land right on the waterfront, neighbor Steve Ishii electrified the site, and Warren Edwards across Boundary Bay above Ocean Beach receives the wireless streaming signal and downloads into his Telus web connection. Then along came two of our most serious Eagle Monitors, Surrey residents Barbara Hamm and Dieter Knobelsdorf, and they funded the two wonderful 32X Cams and all this went into a nest the Beatty Developments had provided the previous year as a recurring contribution to rebuilding up areas with no or few trees. (Beatty was also a major contributor to the Delta 2 pole, nest and new cams last fall.)
Thanks to all of you!
– David and all the viewers
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Nest Adoption
2025 Nesting Season – September 2024 – August 2025
This Nest has been Adopted By:
~ RoseA and MurielAK ~
~ gemini ~
~ Charlie Ipcar ~
~ JudyB ~
Nest Location (map clicks bigger)
Boundary Bay Central Bald Eagle Nest DE-570
and surrounding nests with cams
The City of Surrey (46 Active Nests) is along the east side of Boundary Bay with the City of Delta (83 Active Bald Eagle Nests) bordering the north and west sides of the Bay. Point Roberts, with its 11 bald eagle nests, is part of the United States. The City of Blaine, Washington, is just south of the east side of Boundary Bay. Over a hundred nesting pairs of bald eagles forage Boundary Bay. Many of the additional 35,000 wintering eagles who nest in the northern boreal forest lakes also forage the Bay and the Vancouver Landfill.
The Boundary Bay Central nest (De-570) is in the upper middle of the map; the Delta 2 (De-2) territory is a bit inland on the left/west side, our White Rock (WR) nest is on the right, and Surrey Reserve (SR) nest is on the far right/east side of the map, inland a bit from Semiahmoo Bay, which is the southeastern section of Boundary Bay.
Note, the map is for reference only; the exact location is not public to avoid any potential disruptions in the lives of the eagles and those living near them. Thanks!
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