Boundary Bay Central Log
2023-24 Nesting Season
by Judy Barrows (“JudyB”)
with a lot of help from other members of the Hancock Wildlife Forum Support Team
2024 is the first year that we’ve had cameras in this nest on the shore of Boundary Bay in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. The nest was installed in September 2022, and a pair of eagles used it in 2023 and fledged one chick; the cameras were added in late summer 2023. We believe the same pair returned for 2024 because they seemed at home with the nest and with each other when we began observing them on the nest in October 2023. The adults are named Mère and Père (mother and father in French, which is Canada’s other official language) (the accent mark is optional for simplicity when posting).
They laid two eggs, both hatched, and the eaglets were named Bowen and Blue, for Bowen Island and Blue River, both places in British Columbia starting with B. All seemed to be going well until June 6 when the cams went offline while electrical work was being done in the area. The cams came back online late on June 25th, and everything appeared normal for a couple of days, and then we noticed that there seemed to be much less food than expected being brought to the nest. Bowen, the older eaglet, seemed to be getting more of the food during the 3-4 days when food deliveries were down – but when food began to arrive again on the morning of July 3rd, it was younger eaglet Blue who got most of it, while Bowen appeared lethargic.
The weather was unseasonably warm – but that didn’t appear to affect the food supplies at our two other nests in the Surrey – White Rock area. We don’t know why the food supply suddenly slowed down (and we’ll never know if there were days without food while the cams were down, though both eaglets looked healthy when the cams came back online, and there were several food deliveries on June 26, the first full day the cams were back).
This log is an attempt to summarize what we observed based on observations posted on the Hancock Wildlife Foundation discussion thread for the Boundary Bay Central nest. I’ve pulled it together quickly to try to get a handle on when food was brought to the nest, and who got what, and also am including other potentially useful or interesting events. Typos and incoherence are generally mine and mine alone; some descriptions are copied without credit beyond my saying “thank you” to lead Topic Assistant RoseA and the Boundary Bay Observer team, and to all of you who were watching these challenging and stressful events and taking the time to describe what you were seeing. ~JudyB
Clicking on the date should bring you to the forum posts for that day, with additional information, pictures, and videos.
| June 6 – June 25 | |
| June 6 | The power to the cam was turned off as part of a major electrical upgrade being done by the generous folks who provide the power for the cams; it was initially thought it would be back in a few days, but as often turns out, the work required turned out to be much more extensive than originally anticipated. |
| June 13 | Photographer (and HWF forum member) AP Hovasse visited the site on June 12 and saw both chicks and both adults – the link in the date on the left will take you to the post with them, and there is an additional picture from the ground in the next post. |
| June 20 | Additional pictures by AP and pictures and videos by forum member Ryan. |
| June 25 | Ryan got additional pictures from the site in the afternoon, and power was restored in the evening so we could see both eaglets settling in for the evening, watched over by Mere. |
| June 26 Bowen 61 days old, Blue 59 days old | |
| 7:14 am | Mere delivers small rabbit (?); Bowen gets it first; at 7:37 am, Mere claims the food and feeds Bowen while Blue steals bites, then she began to feed both; both ate well |
| 8:10 am | Both adults were on the nest; one brought straw; no food delivered |
| 4:20 pm | Pere (?) arrives with something small in his beak; one of them grabbed it; Bowen grabbed Pere’s talon with his/her beak; Pere got loose and left |
| 7:18 pm | Mere on nest, no food |
| 8:21 pm | Adult delivers a fish; Blue gets it first, then Bowen goes in for the steal and gets it all |
| 8:57 pm | Mere in with rabbit; Bowen gets it first, then Blue grabs it and eats some |
| 9:21 pm | Mere takes the rabbit back and feeds both; Blue gets more |
| Summary | 2 rabbits and a fish; both ate well |
| June 27 Bowen 62 days old, Blue 60 days old | |
| 5:37 am | One of the eaglets works on nestovers while Mere watches from the side perch; Mere begins to feed the nestovers at 5:52 pm; both get some |
| 6:57 am | Pere delivers a small fish; closest eaglet (Bowen?) grabs and downs it before other one can get up |
| 9:02 am | Bowen up and doing some flapping (not food, mentioned as indication of health/strength) |
| 9:22 am | Blue does some flapping |
| 11:38 am | Both poking around for nestovers |
| 1:40 pm | Mere brings straw to the nest with small morsel of food that Blue grabbed and gulped down |
| 3:43 pm | Pere delivers food – not sure what; they have a tug-of-war and Blue gets the bigger part; Blue may have eaten some, then Bowen went between Blue’s legs for a steal, and appeared to get at least most of what Blue hadn’t eaten |
| 6:07 pm | Bowen stretches wings while Blue lies on nest |
| Summary | Small fish, tiny morsel in grass, unidentified food item; both ate, Bowen may have gotten more |
| June 28 Bowen 63 days old (9 weeks), Blue 61 days old | |
| 7:06 am | Pere (?) on nest; no food delivered |
| 8:49 am | Mere keeping watch on south perch; still no food this morning |
| 10:51 am | Mere delivers a good-sized bird (duck?) and leaves it for them to work on; Blue has it first; Bowen snaps at Blue and Blue backs off so Bowen has a turn; Bowen manages to get into the duck and pull out some meat; it’s not defeathered, which slows them down; Blue gets the meal back at 11:25 and also gets some bites from it; Bowen gets it back at 11:35; Mere returns to the nest soon afterwards and begins defeathering while the eaglets watch intently; feeding begins a few minutes later with Bowen trying to put Blue into submission several times, but Blue keeps bouncing back and even grabbed a piece away from Bowen; both eaglets were fed before Mere went to a perch around 12:18 and then flew off |
| 4:41 pm | RoseA posted closeup pictures of Bowen and Blue which make me (JudyB) think Bowen may be male and Blue female; I had the same impression from an image RoseA posted June 27 |
| 6:53 pm | Pere arrives with straw/grass and gets his talon bit again |
| 7:57 pm | Mere arrives with a plastic baggie that apparently contains something edible; Mere feeds Bowen who pecks at Blue to put her/him in submission and gets most of the meal; by 8:06 Mere had left and Bowen was working on the last bit before stepping back, at which point Blue grabbed the little that remained |
| Summary | Large bird (duck?), plastic baggie with unidentified food; both got duck, Bowen got most of second delivery; Bowen put Blue into submission twice |
| June 29 Bowen 64 days old, Blue 62 days old | |
| 9:28 am | Adult delivered a fish; Blue got it first but could not eat it in one bite or work on it effectively while Bowen was trying to grab it, and eventually Blue let Bowen have it; Blue does manage to grab small morsels several times; at 9:47 Blue grabbed the last piece from Bowen and managed to eat it; Bowen didn’t make much of an effort to get it back – so Bowen got most, but Blue got some |
| 10:27 am | Mere (?) delivers something that looks partly eaten; Blue gets it first, but Bowen grabbed it; Mere took it back and fed the chicks – bites for each but not much food – it seemed to be largely bony, like a spine with a bit of meat attached; the eaglets continued to pick at it after Mere left |
| 3:34 pm | Bowen does some flapping with a bit of lift off the nest; Blue also does a couple of flaps but gets less lift |
| 9:51 pm | Eaglets settle in for the night; another bad food day – not really enough for either, and Blue got significantly less than Bowen |
| Summary | Fish, bony food item; both got some but Bowen got more; no food delivered after 10:27 am |
| June 30 Bowen 65 days old, Blue 63 days old (9 weeks) | |
| 11:59 am | Pere(?) brings a branch to the nest (no food in over 24 hours); adult back at 12:04 pm – again no food |
| 1:29 pm | One of the eaglets did a bit of flapping |
| 7:30 pm | Pere(?) landed with a small food object (maybe a small rodent); Bowen grabs it and mantles; Bowen ate the largest portion, then Blue managed to grab it and get some bites as well; by 8:05 pm Bowen has managed to push through Blue’s legs from behind and gets part of the meal back; Bowen works on it for a bit, then Blue grabs it back and got the last bit. Bowen got more, but Blue had some; meal was over around 8:13 pm |
| Summary | Only observed food delivery was small object (rodent?) at 7:30 pm; Blue got some, but Bowen had more |
| July 1 Bowen 66 days old, Blue 64 days old | |
| 9:14 am | Pere arrived with a small food item (maybe a small crab); Bowen grabbed it and ate most, though Blue may have gotten a bite at the end. |
| 1:33 pm | Adult in with small food item (likely a fish); it looks as if Bowen grabbed it, then there was a bit of a tussle; Blue may have grabbed the item, but it’s not clear who got it in the end – lots of wings in motion; Bowen put Blue into submission afterwards, but not clear who got the food |
| 4:22 pm | Mere in with food, both anticipating the arrival, and it looks as if Bowen got it; there was a bit of a tug-of-war, and Bowen got the food; Blue made several attempts to grab it but Bowen kept control; Blue managed to grab a chunk at 4:35 pm, but Bowen seemed to get most |
| 7:33 pm | Female Mere delivers food; Bowen is there first and grabs it’ a minute or two later, the ?food item? was on the nest, but neither of them seemed interested, though both should be hungry; Blue grabbed it and mantled it at 9:35 pm and Bowen tried to grab it, then both of them appeared to back off – not sure it really is a food item, though Blue may have gotten a couple of bites |
| 8:15 pm | Blue does a bit of flapping |
| 9:18 pm | RoseA was able to zoom in on the possible food item and it looks like some sort of paper wrapper that might have contained food, so not surprising that the eaglets were not very excited |
| Summary | Three small food items and something that might have been food; Bowen seems to have gotten most of the food today, though Blue may have gotten some; older eaglet Bowen is the dominant chick on the nest |
| July 2 Bowen 67 days old, Blue 65 days old | |
| 1:16 pm | Pere delivered a bundle of straw |
| 12:43 pm | Blue is working on the thing that looks like wrapping paper and may have gotten something possibly edible off of it; from the other cam, it looked as if Blue may have been eating strips of paper: Bowen put Blue into submission and the paper blew off the nest |
| 8:18 pm | Bowen was pulling on Blue’s leg; (personal note from JudyB – years ago I watched a cam on a nest in Maine where the parents stopped delivering food for a few days, and the older eaglet tried to pluck and eat the younger one – not a happy memory; the younger eaglet fell from the nest and died from the fall – perhaps not the saddest of possible outcomes, but right up there; the parents returned a day or two later, and the older eaglet fledged successfully) |
| 9:28 pm | Bowen attacked Blue again, putting the younger eaglet into submission |
| 9:49 pm | Adult landed on the nest, but apparently didn’t bring food; adult looks at the eaglets for a while, then heads out onto one of the perches |
| Summary | No food deliveries; Bowen appeared to be attacking Blue twice, first pulling on Blue’s leg, and latter putting Blue into submission |
| July 3 Bowen 68 days old, Blue 66 days old Bowen died at 10:39 pm | |
| 6:31 am | One of the eaglets had what looked like a healthy poop shot |
| 8:43 am | Adult landed on the nest and was rushed by the eaglets, but apparently did not deliver any food |
| 11:40 am | A small fish landed on the nest; it looks as if it was Blue who grabbed it initially |
| 11:44 am | It looks as if Bowen managed to grab some of the small fish and is also eating; it appears that Blue got more, which seems good as Blue has apparently had less food the last couple of days; added later – Bowen was usually very successful at grabbing food away from Blue by going through the younger eaglet’s legs; the fact Bowen only got a little of the fish away from Blue suggests that Bowen was already feeling weak/lethargic |
| 1:37 pm | Cams were down for a while, and when they came back, Blue appeared to be eating a fish while Bowen stood by without trying for it |
| 8:02 pm | Mere on the nest with food (maybe a rodent?); Blue jumped up to grab it while Bowen remained lying on the nest |
| 8:39 pm | (We missed this at the time – discovered it while recording videos) Adult brings small food object; we think it is Blue who leaps up and rushes to grab the food |
| 9:26 pm | Bowen’s breathing is appearing labored – very much not a good sign |
| 10:28 pm | It looks as if Bowen is suffering from seizures |
| 10:39 pm | Bowen appears to have stopped breathing – rest in peace, beautiful young eagle, and fly free forever, far beyond the sky |
| Summary | Two fish landed on the nest, small food delivery by Mere; Bowen tried to grab some of the first fish by going between Blue’s legs and may have succeeded, but afterwards didn’t make an effort to get food. Bowen’s breathing became labored, then a little later, he or she appeared to have seizures; Bowen died at 10:39 pm Videos for July 3 start here |
| July 4 Blue 67 days old | |
| 10:27 am | Blue does a little flapping |
| 1:11 pm | A chunk of fish landed on the nest, and Blue had to work a bit, but was able to eat at least most of it |
| 3:01 pm | Cams weren’t focused for the best views, but an adult was on the nest and appeared to deliver food, and Blue seemed to be eating afterwards, so likely a connection; the food may have been a duck |
| 4:04 pm | Blue appears to have a plump crop |
| 6:29 pm | Blue has a decent poop shot |
| 9:48 pm | Mere(?) on the nest, apparently looking for nestovers to eat; she did offer Blue a couple of little bites |
| 10:22 pm | Mere is on the nest keeping watch while Blue sleeps – haven’t seen her spend the night in a while; she flew off at 4:14 am |
| Summary | Piece of fish landed on nest and Mere delivered a larger food item, maybe duck; Blue had a plump crop by the end of the day, and produced a decent poop shot; Mere spent the night on the nest with Blue |
| July 5 Blue 68 days old | |
| 6:41 am | Adult delivers a fish to Blue, who initially tries to swallow it whole, then settled down and ate it normally video: Fish for Blue and Some Flapping (6min01) video: Blue Doing Eaglet Things (5min02, both cams, highlights from 8:57-noon) |
| 12:17 pm | A chunk of fish landed on the nest, and Blue grabbed it; the stream from the cam was breaking up, but a second chunk of fish may have arrived a few minutes later; the fish was challenging for Blue, but she/he kept working at it; Blue walked away from the food at 1:07 pm, perhaps full for now |
| 1:16 pm | Mere (?) landed and ate some of the nestovers (our word for leftovers on the nest); when she stepped aside, we saw that she had brought a flat fish into the nest |
| 3:02 pm | Blue pulled the flatfish closer and got some bites off it – not easy as this kind of fish is hard to open |
| 5:39 pm | Eaglet Blue did some flapping |
| 5:45 pm | Blue worked on the flatfish for a little while, but no easy food there |
| 5:50 pm | Mere arrives with another fish for Blue |
| 5:57 pm | Pere brings a fish, sees there are already two fish on the nest, and flies off carrying the fish |
| 6:02 pm | Mere drops into the nest from one of the perches and feeds Blue some of the fish; it looked as if the fish was gone when they were done |
| 6:51 pm | Mere flew off with the flatfish, which was probably near impossible to eat after being in the sun all day |
| 9:24 pm | Female Mere arrived on the nest; Blue appeared excited and grabbed at a clump of straw in front of Mere – and there appeared to be a fish in it, looking more stiff than fresh; Blue tried eating it but soon gave up, walked away, and settled down on the nest |
| 10:09 pm | Mere moved over to where Blue was lying, appeared to peck at Blue’s beak, and then settled down beside Blue on the nest; Mere was standing on the nest later, and I think she spent the night |
| Summary | One or two chunks of fish landed on the nest; 3 fish delivered by Mere; 1 delivered by Pere but he flew off with it after seeing food on the nest; Mere spent the night again; Blue is more active, and had several large, healthy poop shots |
| July 6 Blue 69 days old | |
| 4:40 am | Mere flew off, and Blue began working on the nestover, finishing about 25 minutes later |
| 6:19 am | Mere in with fish; Blue claims the fish; Mere leaves while Blue has a second breakfast |
| 6:29 am | Some flapping by Blue; more at 8:07 and 10:54am – the sort of activity I’d expect from a 69-day-old eaglet; I’m not going to document additional flapping or poop shots now that it appears both are happening frequently unless I see something unusual |
| 12:49 pm | Mere delivers a fish |
| 5:51 pm | Adult delivers fish; Blue grabs it and moves it, but didn’t start eating – maybe full? video: Adult Brings Fish for Blue (1min30) |
| 8:02 pm | Mere(?) arrived with some straw; Blue charged her in case there’s food, then rushed to the fish on the nest as if to protect it; Blue tried to eat some of the fish but had trouble getting into it; Blue finally got some, but then appeared to give up; the adult had gone to a perch, but came back to the nest at 8:18 pm and began feeding Blue; Blue appeared reluctant to take bites from their parent initially, which has been more true since the adults cut way back on feeding the eaglets, but the adult tried again and Blue began readily accepting bites; feeding over by 8:37 pm and adult goes out to the lower north perch |
| 10:13 pm | Adult (Mere?) appeared to be spending the night on the lower north perch; I’m noting that was in sight of Blue more clearly than the upper perches, and that the lower perches are likely places for Blue to branch |
| Summary | At least 3 fish delivered by parents, more flapping, normal eaglet activity |
| July 7 Blue 70 days old (10 weeks) | |
| 11:25 am | Noticing that Blue doesn’t have many visible feathers on her/his legs yet – not sure when exactly that happens but I thought there would normally be more by now. |
| 11:39 am | Blue is starting to get some visible lift while flapping |
| 2:46 pm | Mere in with a small fish which Blue gulps down almost whole |
| 3:25 pm | Adult brings another fish, too big to swallow hole; Blue finishes eating it by 3:34 pm |
| 3:54 pm | Another fish brought by adult and claimed by Blue; finished by 4:08 pm |
| 6:09 pm | An observer noted that Blue had a mint green poop shot; Topic Assistant RoseA noted that the cams occasionally have discolorations along with issues with the signal breaking up, so it might be a cam issue; a subsequent ps was normal. Link to post with the pictures |
| 6:38 pm | Mere in with some food and what looks like a plastic bag (link); she feed some of the food to Blue but eats most of it herself |
| 10:45 pm | Mere did not come to the nest to stay with Blue, though she might have been on one of the upper perches |
| Summary | 3 fish delivered in mid-afternoon; Blue showing visible lift while flapping |
| July 8 Blue 71 days old | |
| 6:58 am | Adult brings fish for breakfast; Blue eats part, then steps away at 7:18 am; Mere comes in and starts feeding the rest to Blue; feeding over by 7:21 and Mere heads to lower north perch (one of Blue’s options for branching) |
| 1:24 pm | Adult in with a fish; Blue waited a bit then started working on it; fish appeared to be finished by 2:07 pm |
| 4:02 pm | Third fish of the day delivered; Blue tried to swallow it whole but it was too large, so Blue started working on it and finished the fish by 4:10 pm |
| 4:51 pm | Observer reported that the plastic trash bag from yesterday blew off the nest this morning when Blue did a hop while flapping; also noted that the gray pantaloons are showing signs of feather growth |
| 7:09 pm | Adult brought food, looking similar to what came last night with the white bag; signal on the cam was breaking up some, so hard to get a clear picture; parent ate some, then left it for Blue; Blue walked away from it at 7:13 pm; adult (Mere?) back at 7:19 and eats most of what’s left, then Blue grabs a piece; Mere begins feeding some to Blue while eating herself; Mere left at 7:27 pm; Pere drops into the nest from one of the overhead perches and finishes the food |
| Summary | Adults deliver 3 fish and an unknown food item |
| July 9 Blue 72 days old | |
| 7:09 am | Adult brought a small fish; Blue claimed it but then dropped it and didn’t eat it |
| 11:12 am | Blue is getting good height flapping |
| 2:43 pm | It looked as if Blue grabbed a piece of fish; signal from the cam was breaking up, so not sure if s/he ate it; it looked as if Blue kept working at it and finally ate it |
| 6:52 pm | Blue appeared to be eating something she/he found on the nest – maybe the little fish from morning |
| Summary | Adult delivers one small fish; Blue also ate some food found on the nest |
| July 10 Blue 73 days old | |
| 7:39 am | Adult in with food – possibly partly eaten rabbit; Blue did a good job getting food from the rabbit; by 8:42 am Blue was ready for a break and displaying a nice plump crop |
| 9:38 am | Mere arrived on the nest a few minutes earlier, offered a bit of food to Blue, then ate some herself; she left at 9:43 am; Blue continued working on the meal a while longer; Blue continued working on the rabbit on and off until around 1 pm, even doing some de-furring, which may not be something the youngster had done much before |
| 2:15 pm | After a bit of resting, Blue did some more flapping, getting some good height, then back to snacking on the leftover rabbit |
| 4:04 pm | A parent, maybe Pere, dropped into the nest and began de-furring the rabbit; Blue did a bit of yelling at the adult, then grabbed the rabbit from the adult; the adult then found some other leftovers to offer Blue, who continued working on the rabbit; at 4:25 pm, Pere and Blue appeared to be side by side working on the rabbit; angle of the cam wasn’t great to compare sizes, but I think Blue may be bigger than Pere now (by fledging time, eaglets are almost always larger than the same-gender parent, and since the females are usually bigger than the males, almost all fledglings are larger than their dads); Pere left at 4:42 pm |
| 8:37 pm | More flapping by Blue – jumps seem to be getting higher |
| Summary | Adult delivered rabbit; Blue got quite a bit of food from it and was also fed by adults |
| July 11 Blue 74 days old | |
| 10:11 am | Blue cast a pellet |
| 11:34 am | Adult in with food – some type of flat fish (not easy to eat); meal finished by 11:57 am |
| 1:18 pm | Blue appears to see an adult, and is calling for food; no food appeared |
| 5:55 pm | Blue began pulling Bowen’s body out of the corner of the nest under the screen, moving it nearer the center of the nest; Blue then went to lie in the corner where the body had been; Blue moved the body a little more at 7:26 pm video: Blue Moves Bowen’s Body – Part 1 (9min56) video: Blue Moves Bowen’s Body – Part 2 (6min01) |
| Summary | Blue cast a pellet – something that hadn’t been noted before, at least since the cams came back up; adult delivered some type of flat fish – not easy to eat, but Blue succeeded; Blue moved Bowen’s body to the center of the nest, and may have been picking at it a bit to see if it was food, but didn’t get far |
| July 12 Blue 75 days old | |
| 12:08 am | After getting up for a small poop shot, Blue stood briefly on one leg with the other tucked up under the feathers, as adults often stand video: Night Moves (2min53) |
| 5:36 am | Blue drags Bowen’s body further away from the edge of the screen |
| 5:40 am | Mere arrives with a fish which Blue promptly grabs and takes to the back of the nest to eat; meal was finished by 5:45 am |
| 6:55 am | Adult arrives with another fish; Blue grabs it and begins to eat; adult flies off; meal over by 7:06 am |
| 12:38 pm | Blue started working on a piece of fish – not sure if it was delivered or a nestover; finished a minute later; Blue found a couple more pieces of fish and promptly ate them |
| 2:04 pm | Adult arrived with a small prey item which Blue claimed; adult left, and Blue began working on the item (maybe a rodent?); as Blue was finishing that, he found what might have been a fish from earlier and also ate that; meal over by 2:28 pm |
| Summary | Blue moved Bowen’s body a bit further from the edge of the nest; adults brought two fish and maybe a rodent; Blue found and ate several additional pieces of fish that were found in the nest – a good day for food |
| July 13 Blue 76 days old | |
| 7:43 am | No food do far this morning; Bowen did poke at Bowen’s body a little and pulled off some feathers but didn’t appear to do more than that |
| 7:05 pm | Blue appeared to discover several small pieces of fish on the nest and quickly consumed them |
| Summary | Not a lot of food today, but there was some, and Blue had a healthy ps at 9:37 pm |
| July 14 Blue 77 days old (11 weeks) | |
| 11:45 am | Blue found and ate five pieces of fish, and has a nice bulge in her/his crop by noon |
| 8:45 pm | Adult arrives with a small food item, maybe fish |
| Summary | Blue had five chunks of fish in late morning, and adult brought a small food item in the evening |
| July 15 Blue 78 days old | |
| 1:29 pm | Blue found and ate five pieces of fish and had a visible crop by 1:57 pm |
| 2:41 pm | Dark feathers are coming in on Blue’s lower legs; I think that’s the last (or one of the last) areas for feathers to emerge. Wing feathers may still be growing, but Blue is getting more height when she/he does a hop/flap. |
| 4:55 pm | Adult on the nest; Blue grabbed adult’s foot and tugged; not sure what adult brought – possibly plastic bag or something inedible. |
| 6:30 pm | Adult in with food, maybe partly eaten or roadkill squirrel; Blue did a good job self-feeding, and had a healthy looking ps at 7:34 pm |
| 6:50 pm | There was/is a concern that one of the adults may be missing; zoomer confirmed that the adult perched above the nest is Mere; it was noted that there appeared to be a skirmish involving three eagles before Mere arrived with the food at 6:30 pm, one of which was likely Pere; unfortunately most of what we could see with the rollback was shadows of eagles overhead; there are pictures out of sequence further down the thread. |
| 8:40 pm | Adult in with more food, maybe a small bird; adult confirmed to be Mere at 9:04 pm (she has a small dot in her right eye) |
| 9:04 pm | Mere turned to face the cam, and we can see what looks like blood on her face and neck, hopefully from a messy meal, but possibly from a confrontation |
| Summary | Lots of food today including three deliveries by an adult; zoomer confirmed Mere is in the area, and there appeared to be a skirmish involving three eagles, but we couldn’t tell if one was Pere |
| July 16 Blue 79 days old | |
| 5:11 am | Blue’s leg feathers are continuing to come in; the lower legs are generally the last place to become fully feathered |
| 6:45 am | Blue found and ate some nestovers, including some that appeared to come from Bowen’s body video: Blue Works on Leftovers (4min54) |
| 2:48 pm | Blue did some flapping, and is getting more height with her/his “wingers” |
| 3:06 pm | Mere arrives with food, something in her beak and maybe something in her talons (or Blue might have been checking, just in case); food appeared to be a small field critter (or part of one) |
| 5:56 pm | Many of our streams went offline due to a computer glitch; back up an hour or so later |
| 8:30 pm | Blue was working on a nice piece of fish, and appeared to find a couple of other leftovers |
| Summary | Mere brought some food, maybe a small field critter, and Blue found some additional food on the nest; the cams were offline for an hour or so, so we may have missed a food delivery |
| July 17 Blue 80 days old | |
| 7:13 am | Good closeups of Mere on the south perch. There have been some questions as to whether we are seeing both adults in the area, and the ground observers report that they are both around. As you may know, fledglings are usually larger than their same-gender parent because their first set of feathers is longer to help them as they learn to fly. (My guess as a non-scientist is that it takes more energy to flap those huge wings, but they don’t need as much skill to ride the air currents as they will develop after a few months of flying.) Female eagles are usually bigger than males – which means that dad eagle is usually the smallest eagle in the nest at this stage, and needs to be a bit careful of exuberant offspring. |
| 1:16 pm | Blue found and consumed 3 or 4 good-sized chunks of fish |
| 2:47 pm | Screenshot shows Blue getting good height while flapping, and shows the leg feathers continuing to grow. |
| 3:21 pm | Mere dropped off a small food item; Blue grabbed her foot first (good thing that eagles have tough feet!), then got the item she delivered and gulped it down. video: Little Oops as Blue Grabs Foot Not Food (28sec) |
| Summary | Blue ate 3 or four chunks of fish, and a food item delivered by Mere |
| July 18 Blue 80 days old | |
| 12:37 pm | Blue found and ate five or six chunks of fish |
| 5:24 pm | Adult, maybe Pere, in with food, maybe a fish, which Blue promptly begins to eat (after grabbing Pere’s toe – is this becoming a habit?) video: Pere Brings Food to Blue at Boundary Bay (1min34) |
| 8:17 pm | Blue is getting more height flapping on the nest; hard to judge height, but feet were maybe twice as high as the opening at the bottom edge of the sunscreen. |
| Summary | Blue ate 5 or 6 fish chunks and a fish delivered by an adult, maybe Pere |
| July 19 Blue 82 days old | |
| 8:54 am | Blue starts the day with lots of flapping. |
| 1:32 pm | Blue found a piece of fish and began working on it; I think Blue eventually found 4 or 5 pieces of food, one of which he swallowed whole but others required more work. |
| 5:06 pm | Adult (Mere?) arrived with a small food item in her beak; Blue went for her foot first, then grabbed the food. |
| 6:51 pm | Blue gets some nice height while flapping |
| Summary | Blue got a reasonable amount of food and did some strong flapping |
| July 20 Blue 83 days old | |
| 11:47 am | Observer noted that Blue appeared to have food in her/his crop, which is a good sign. |
| 2:58 pm | Adult arrived with a reasonably large fish, which Blue mantles and then begins to eat; it looked as if the adult may have gone to sit on one of the perches over the nest after delivering the food, which may be why Blue was mantling the food. The signal was breaking up quite a bit, possibly partly because of the heat (around 30C/86F), but it looks as if Blue ate most of the fish, then settled in for a nap. |
| Summary | Adult delivered one reasonably large fish, which Blue ate |
| July 21 Blue 84 days/12 weeks old | |
| 6:56 am | Blue moved Bowen’s body nearer the edge of the nest and turned it over. Blue has been picking at it occasionally, as eagles do with nestovers that might have a little food on them. video: Blue Moves What’s Left of Bowen’s Body (3min57) |
| 8:55 am | Pictures of Blue flapping are showing even more feathers on the lower legs. |
| 10:40 am | One of the adults delivered a flat fish (flounder) to the nest; there may have been an intruder following the adult in. Flounder and similar fish are harder to access than other fish, but Blue is working at it. |
| 11:18 am | Blue continues working on the flounder, occasionally moving it around on the nest; not easy to get through the tough skin. |
| 12:03 pm | Adult landed on the nest; Blue screeps at the adult, protecting his/her food; the adult leaves, and Blue goes back to working on the fish. |
| 1:24 pm | Blue had been taking a bit of a nap, then got up, grabbed and ate a piece of food, then returned to working on the flatfish/flounder. By 1:34 pm, Blue was getting some good bites of the fish |
| 1:54 pm | Blue is making good headway with the fish, having finally gotten through the tough outer layer, and continued eating on and off for another two hours |
| 6:04 pm | Noted that Blue has had several good poop shots this afternoon |
| 8:00 pm | Blue appears to be finishing the flounder, having done a good job getting all the meat, and learning how to access them, which will be useful in the future |
| Summary | Adult brought good-sized flat fish (flounder?), and Blue spent much of the day working on it, finally getting in to the meat and eating most of it |
| July 22 Blue 85 days old | |
| 5:44 am | Blue is up and continued working on the flatfish from the previous day (must admit I didn’t think there was much left); Blue swallowed a big piece at 5:48 am – maybe the last of it. |
| 1:47 pm | Blue found a good-sized chunk of fish on the nest and proceeded to eat it. |
| 2:50 pm | Adult arrived with something reddish and messy; Blue checked it out, but apparently didn’t consider it food; the possible food item is still untouched on the nest as of 3:55. |
| 6:01 pm | The unknown food(?) item is still on the nest; Blue picks at it briefly but doesn’t eat any; item was still there pretty much intact when Blue settled in to sleep at 9:57 pm. |
| Summary | Blue ate the bit of the flatfish that was left from the previous day and a decent-sized chunk of fish in the afternoon, then an adult brought something that might be food but Blue didn’t eat it, so it seems that food intake was less than it has been. |
| July 23 Blue 86 days old | |
| 7:25 am | The streams went down sometime overnight so no ability to look back; we don’t often see food delivered in the early morning, and there was no indication any was, but we can’t be sure; cams were back streaming at 7:25 am. |
| 11:00 am | It was noted that machines were clearing the brush in the field behind the nest; not likely near enough or unusual enough to upset the adults. |
| 12:39 pm | Blue was mostly standing and looking around, and it seemed not lying down as much as usual. |
| 1:20 pm | Some nice flapping, getting a bit of height, but not looking to me like an eaglet ready to fledge. video: Blue Shows Off Big Wings (78 sec – both cams) |
| 2:16 pm | Blue found and ate nine chunks of fish, some of which she/he could swallow whole and others requiring a bit of work. Blue appeared to have a nice plump crop afterwards! |
| 9:57 pm | We noticed that Blue was sleeping standing up, the way adults do. (Looking back on the dvr the following morning, it looks as if Blue was standing all night, with the usual breaks to move around. I think this is one of the behaviors that suggest an eaglet is outgrowing the need for the nest.) |
| Summary | Blue had a record 9 chunks of fish today, and spent the night sleeping while standing up, the way adults normally do. |
| July 24 Blue 87 days old | |
| 10:55 am | Blue did some wingers (big flaps, often with lift) and appeared to get a bit more height than yesterday, but feet are only maybe 1/2 to 1/3 of and eagle height off the nest. |
| 12:09 pm | Pantaloon/lower leg feathers are longer but not completely grown in yet. |
| 7:54 pm | Blue ate four pieces of fish; they all appeared to require a bit of work, so hopefully provided a lot of protein. |
| Summary | Blue ate four pieces of fish, and is getting a bit more height while flapping. |
| July 25 Blue 88 days old | |
| 1:08 am | Blue was sleeping standing in the nest; the South cam, which works best with the infrared light for night vision, was offline much of the night, so hard to be sure that nothing happened, though most nights are generally peaceful. When it was getting light around 4:55 am, Blue was lying on the nest sleeping, so only stood up part of the night. |
| 11:47 am | Blue was getting more height while flapping, possibly helped by the strong wind this morning. video: Blue Gets More Height (71 seconds – both cams) |
| 1:47 pm | Mere arrives on the nest with a small food item, which Blue quickly claims and eats. |
| 2:38 pm | Blue ate six pieces of fish, several of which required some work, so fairly good sized. |
| 9:45 pm | Blue was standing on the nest, possibly dozing, as darkness fell. |
| Summary | Mere delivered a small food item, and Blue also ate 6 pieces of fish. |
| July 26 Blue 89 days old | |
| 1:08 am | Blue was sleeping standing in the nest; the South cam, which works best with the infrared light for night vision, was offline much of the night, so hard to be sure that nothing happened, though most nights are generally peaceful. When it was getting light around 4:55 am, Blue was lying on the nest sleeping, so only stood up part of the night. |
| 6:04 am | Adult arrived with a decent sized fish which Blue claimed; Blue then stood over the fish for almost an hour before beginning to eat at 6:55 am – perhaps Blue was feeling full; Blue finished eating around 7:12 am. |
| 4:25 pm | Adult arrives with food, which is promptly grabbed by Blue; it was identified as a fish when Blue swallowed the last bit – the tail – at 4:28 pm. |
| 9:28 pm | Blue was dozing while standing in a corner of the nest when the IR light came on. |
| Summary | Adult delivered two fish; Blue waited a while before starting on the first one. Blue slept most of the night standing. |
| July 27 Blue 90 days old | |
| 6:34 am | Blue slept while standing up until a little after 4 am (good preparation for leaving the nest), then did a bit of preening and lay down for a little longer. |
| 9:09 am | Blue did some “wingers” (flapping involving some lift); not getting much height, so maybe more like a bit of morning stretches. |
| 12:29 pm | Some more vigorous flapping with reasonable height (maybe as high as her height while standing). |
| 4:20 pm | Another winger/jumping session; maybe a bit more height than usual. Blue also did some flapping and some loud calling earlier in the afternoon. |
| 4:55 pm | Adult arrives with a small unidentified meal which Blue promptly claimed and ate, finishing at 4:59 pm. |
| 5:46 pm | Parent in with another meal which Blue grabbed and mantled; finished around 5:59 pm. The signal was breaking up during both deliveries so hard to identify – second one looked like it might be part of something, and delivery appeared to be by Mere. Better look at the food around 5:56 – looks to be red meat, not that small, already opened up… possibly a partly eaten/mangled rabbit. |
| 6:26 pm | Third food delivery, looks like Mere again. It took a while for Blue to finish this meal, ending around 6:48 pm; food was not fish. |
| 7:02 pm | Fourth delivery by an adult; Blue began working on the food item, but then left it for later. |
| 10:08 pm | Blue was sleeping while standing with head tucked in, as adults do. |
| Summary | Four meals delivered by an adult today, and a little more height in flapping; Blue was full enough to leave the fourth meal for later. |
| July 28 Blue 91 days/13 weeks old | |
| 2:00 am | Blue slept while standing until about 2 am, then went to lie down on the nest for the rest of the night. |
| 5:54 am | Blue was up and nibbling on some of the nestovers, then did a bit of flapping. |
| 6:20 am | Adult delivered a small meal, possibly a piece of fish; it might have been Pere this time. After finishing the fish, Blue went back to work on the nestovers. |
| 10:49 am | Blue was nibbling on nestovers from time to time – nice to see enough food come in so there are leftovers! |
| 3:10 pm | It looked as if Blue jumped at an item on the nest while flapping – perhaps working on the instinct that helps young eagles occasionally catch food (though they do a lot of scavenging for the first year or two). |
| 7:01 pm | Adult brought some food, which Blue quickly grabbed and mantled; the food appeared to be a good sized piece of fish, and it looked as if some was left for later when Blue stopped working on it at 7:15. |
| 9:32 pm | Blue lay down on the nest as it was getting dark. Blue got up at 11:39 pm, and slept while standing the rest of the night, occasionally moving around. |
| Summary | There were some leftovers from yesterday, and the adults delivered two meals, both of which appeared to be fish. |
| July 29 Blue 92 days old | |
| 6:50 am | Adult arrives with a small fish; Blue grabbed the adult’s foot first, but did then grab the fish and eat it in almost a single bite. |
| 8:54 am | It’s a rainy morning at Boundary Bay, but Blue seems to be doing quite a bit of flapping. |
| 11:24 am | Blue was picking at the fish left from last night, but didn’t seem to eat any. |
| 12:01 pm | Quite a bit of flapping on and off for a couple of hours. |
| 4:14 pm | Both adults spotted, Mere on the south perch and Pere in a tree where he could watch the nest. |
| 4:33 pm | The video stream was off briefly from 3:46 until a little after 4 pm, and an observer noticed that Bowen’s remains had been moved during that time, probably by Blue. |
| 6:56 pm | Blue starts eating what appears to be the leftover fish from last night. Then a break, and some flapping, and back working on the fish at 8:06 pm. |
| 9:06 pm | Blue settled in to sleep, standing with head tucked over shoulder as adults do. |
| Summary | One small fish delivered; also ate more of the leftover fish from yesterday, |
| July 30 Blue 93 days old | |
| 12:41 am | Blue went to lie down at 12:41 am, then was up again at 3:51, and was sleeping while standing with head tucked at 4:19 am. |
| 5:15 am | Blue was up and working on the piece of leftover fish again. She or he then did some flapping, and was back working on the fish at 9:07 am. |
| 3:45 pm | RoseA got a lovely, large, clear picture of the Blue’s wing from above; since the previous entry, Blue finished the fish, did quite a bit of flapping, and a bit of standing and looking, which is something eagles seem to do frequently. |
| 4:29 pm | Adult (Mere?) brought some food, which Blue quickly grabbed; not sure what it was, but seemed a decent size; Blue was still working on it at 4:37 pm. |
| 5:05 pm | Another food delivery by an adult; Blue was working on it until 5:13 or so, then walked away, leaving some on the nest. |
| 9:36 pm | Blue is standing on the nest dozing. No post but I did look back and Blue was sleeping while standing from around 3:45 am until she or he work up and started looking around at about 4:48 am; there was another brief nap while standing, and Blue was up again and looking out by 5:15 am as it was beginning to get light. |
| Summary | Two food deliveries by adults, and finished the leftover fish from two days ago. Blue seems to be sleeping while standing more often, though still lies down at times. |
| July 31 Blue 94 days old | |
| 7:19 am | Adult (Mere?) in with food, possibly a young bird; not a food we’ve seen here as often as at some other nests, and perhaps good practice for Blue; Blue made a good effort, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of meat on the food item. |
| 7:55 am | Blue starts eating the leftovers from last night. |
| 8:00 am | Blue got a piece of the leftover food stuck on a talon, and moved around the nest with it stuck there for a couple of minutes. |
| 1:31 pm | Blue found a new piece of fish on the nest and began eating it; a total of 12 pieces of fish landed on the nest, and Blue appeared to eat until she/he was full. |
| 4:29 pm | Blue begins eating a fish head from earlier. After that Blue mostly stood and looked out until it got dark. |
| Summary | Adult (Mere?) brought food that looked like a young bird – not a food item we’ve seen recently; there were also 12 pieces of fish – not sure how many Blue finished, but I think Blue was very full by the end of the day. |
| August 1 Blue 95 days old | |
| 9:04 am | Lovely screenshot of Blue looking out into the foggy morning. Looking back on the dvr, Blue appeared to stand on the nest until 4:25 am, mostly sleeping but occasionally looking around or changing position; Blue then switched to lying on the nest, perhaps more dozing than sleeping, and looking around from time to time, and finally got up around 5:20 am. It was noted that there were lots of flying insects last night which might have kept Blue awake some of the time. |
| 10:01 am | Adult lands above the nest, then drops down into the nest with a fish; Blue appeared to grab the parent’s foot first and pull on that rather than the fish it was holding, but did get the fish, which looked like one of the flat fish. Blue made good progress with the fish, finishing it by 10:18 am – I was impressed with how much faster Blue got into the fish than a similar one a couple of days ago. video: Foot or Fish – Food for Blue (4min29 – South cam) |
| 12:04 pm | I like Roseann’s description – “Blue flapped/danced across the nest.” Blue is getting much more comfortable with those big wings, and there are some nice views of Blue’s pantaloons, or lower legs. video: Great Flapping from Blue (2min27 – South cam) |
| 3:48 pm | More shots of Blue’s wings – lots of flapping today. Includes some views of the undersides – not sure if they are clear enough to check feather development. video: More Views of Blue’s Big Wings (1min53 – South cam) |
| 5:24 pm | More flapping and hopping! Roseann’s video: More Wingers by Blue (41 sec) |
| 6:38 pm | Parent in with food – looks like a sizable meal, and no foot-pulling this time. It might be Pere making the delivery. Meal over by 6:47 pm. |
| 9:06 pm | Still light out, but Blue settled down on the nest; Blue was in the same spot at 9:51 pm, sleeping while lying on the nest. |
| Summary | A lot of flapping today, and two meals brought by the adults. |
| August 2 Blue 96 days old | |
| 5:21 am | Blue was up and doing some flapping as it got light. (I did not post on the forum, but did take a quick look back with the dvr feature, and my quick impression was that Blue was likely sleeping while standing for part of the night, but I think Blue was lying down more than in the last couple of days, perhaps because of how active Blue seemed today.) |
| 7:58 am | Blue is awake and flapping, with foot going almost out of sight on the current view on the South cam. More flapping around 9:50 am. |
| 10:04 am | Blue cast a pellet – not sure I’ve seen that or heard it mentioned recently, though it seems that much of Blue’s food is fish, and most of that may be able to pass through. |
| 1:43 pm | Photographer AP Hovasse visited the nest area this morning and got a great video of Blue flapping; ©2024, AP Hovasse, used with permission, all rights reserved. video: Bald Eagle Blue (20 seconds – best at full screen) |
| 2:31 pm | Blue found and ate at least four pieces of fish, then did some flapping. |
| 6:38 pm | Blue flapped hard enough to go up out of sight above the current view of the cam, which is focused on the nest – this is the highest we’ve seen Blue go! |
| 9:42 pm | Blue was sleeping while lying on the nest after a busy day. |
| Summary | Blue seemed to be lying down more during the night, perhaps because she/he was more active during the day; Blue cast a pellet – first one I’ve seen since the cams came back online; Blue ate at least four pieces of fish. |
| August 3 Blue 97 days old | |
| 5:21 am | Blue was up looking around, and the frame shook so likely a parent arrived. It appears that Blue was lying down the first part of the night, then up around 3:16 am, and appearing to doze while standing for a couple of hours after that, with breaks for preening and looking around. |
| 9:09 am | Both live streams froze; it was supposed to be a brief outage while some internet equipment was replaced, but it now sounds as if they won’t be able to reconnect until sometime tomorrow. |
| 1:52 pm | We received a report from a ground observer that Blue received a fish delivery at about 1:30 pm |
| misc | There were several pictures of Blue in the nest taken by local observers, and an observer thought Blue was eating something in the evening. |
| Summary | Cams down again for what we’d hope was a brief outage to swap out some equipment; there was at least one fish delivery, |
| August 4 Blue 98 days/14 weeks old | |
| 9:51 am | It sounds as if it will be Monday, August 5, before they will be able to continue work on the internet equipment. |
| 11:30 am | Observer got a picture of Blue perched on the edge of the nest, very close to the lower perches; not quite branching, but very close. |
| misc | An observer reported Blue was doing some flapping this morning, but less active than some other days; it was sunny and hot for BC, which might be a factor. An observer provided some evening pictures. |
| Summary | Internet still down; observers got photos of Blue on the nest, looking less energetic but it was a hot day |
| August 5 Blue 99 days old | |
| 11:40 am | Internet is still offline; Photographer AP Hovasse visited the site and reported that it appeared that Blue was getting close to fledging; he has video. video: Blue Prepares for Flight (26 seconds – uploaded after August 6 fledge) ©2024, AP Hovasse, used with permission, all rights reserved. |
| 2:52 pm | Viewers reported that the streams were back up. |
| 5:50 pm | Adult on the nest with food; Blue mantles the food while the adult goes to the lower north perch. |
| 7:31 pm | Blue had a healthy-looking PS – great screenshot of the stream. |
| 10:51 pm | Blue asleep, lying on the nest. |
| Summary | Cams down most of the day; observers reported that Blue was doing some energetic flapping. Adult made one food delivery after cam was back, and we saw several productive poop shots. |
| August 6 Blue 100 days old | |
| Blue was lying on the nest the first part of the night, then got up at 2:07 am, and stayed on her/his feet until morning – I suspect part of the time Blue was dozing, but hard to be sure from the angle of the cam. | |
| 11:35 am | Blue branched onto the lower south perch, then spent some time going between the nest and the perch, doing a jump-flap back to the nest. |
| 12:11 pm | Blue stepped out onto the lower south perch (the branches attached to the nest frame cross at the corners). |
| 1:08 pm | Blue may have tried to fly-hop to the top of the sunscreen; was looking up, and went almost out of sight on the cam, with just a foot visible. Blue did a lot of flapping hops between the near perches and the nest for the next couple of hours, and looked as if she or he was thinking of trying for the upper perches at least once more, around 3:35 pm. Video: Blue Getting Ready to Fledge (2min20) |
| 3:57 pm | Blue Fledged! After spending several hours going back and forth to the branches on the side of the nest nearer the pumping station, Blue moved to the other side of the nest, looked around a bit (probably moving her head to triangulate, but the cam was focused on the area where she had been so we couldn’t see her head) – and then took off. We couldn’t see her or her shadow, so she probably headed towards the part of the bay hidden a bit by the sunscreen. Blue is 100 days old today. Video: Eaglet Blue Flies Away from the Nest (1min50, both cams) |
| The zoomers looked around with the cams, and while no one from the ground crew was there when Blue fledged, several arrived soon afterwards, and spent some quality time looking and listening without finding Blue. | |
| Female Mere usually slept on one of the upper perches while Blue was in the nest, and she did not return to the nest at night. I don’t think anyone saw Mere, Pere or Blue after Blue fledged, which makes me (ever the optimist) think that she is with at least one of the parents. | |
| Summary | Blue branched for the first time at 11:35 am, then spent a couple of hours flapping back and forth between the perches beside the nest and the nest. At 3:57 pm, Blue fledged. Some larger birds were seen in the distance by the zoomers and/or ground observers, but no confirmed sightings of Blue or either adult. |
| August 7 Blue 101 days old | |
| 12:51 pm | One of the adults was perched on what looks to me like a safety bar for eagles on the top level of a transmission pole – didn’t notice the perch initially – happy to see that! It was reported later that there were ground crew there and they thought it was Pere perched there, though couldn’t be sure. |
| posted 5:30 pm | Someone with great eyes who was watching the cam thought they saw Blue briefly near the adult on the pole. I went back and watched at full screen, and at the time thought they might be right, since I didn’t know there were “feet on the ground” with more information. I did post my video and a couple of pictures showing what I could see from the cam; there was a crow(?) pestering Pere as the video started, and this could have been a crow. video: Maybe a Glimpse of Fledgling Blue (1min17) |
| Summary | Brief sighting one one adult, maybe Pere. |
| August 8 Blue 102 days old | |
Reserved