Nest History

2011-2014

The eagles have laid two eggs every year since we began watching them in 2011.  The first year we watched, chicks Oreo and Jet (named by local schoolchildren) both fledged – but older eaglet Oreo took a bit of a detour, falling from the nest when he wasn’t quite old enough to fly and spending some time at O.W.L. (the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society) before taking his first flight.  2012 was a sadder year – older chick Goldwing died when he or she was a little over seven weeks old, but happily younger chick Linux fledged successfully.  Only one egg hatched successfully in 2013, and Tux fledged successfully.  2014, the year when the female broke her leg just before the nesting season, both eggs hatched, and Ariel and Hunter fledged successfully.

2015-2017

2015 started normally and the pair laid the usual two eggs, but something disrupted incubation partway through the nesting cycle, and the eggs were often left uncovered, and didn’t hatch; it may have been a bit of a blessing in disguise, as having a longer break away from the nest than usual may have helped the female’s leg to heal.  We didn’t think we’d be able to watch the eagles in 2016 – the nest tree was blown down in a windstorm just a couple of weeks before they usually return from their summer break – but happily HWF was able to bring in a lift and climbers, build a nest in a nearby tree where the pair often perched, install two cameras – and have everything ready for the return of the eagles!  The eagles accepted the new nest and laid two eggs, both of which hatched; older chick Ace fledged successfully, but sadly Pippen died when he or she was about 6-1/2 weeks old.  2017 was a happier year – the pair laid the usual two eggs, and Spirit and Jewel fledged successfully.  As the 2018 nesting season begins, the eagles have returned and are working on their nest – and Ma’s leg is looking great!

2018-2019

The pair laid two eggs in 2018, and both hatched successfully.  However, on June 17, when the chicks were about 7 weeks old, Pa Delta disappeared, perhaps as a result of a fight with another male trying to take over the territory.  There were intruders in the area, but Ma safely raised Dusk and Dawn to fledging.  By the end of the season, there was a male helping to defend the territory, and he seemed to be courting Ma and not threatening the fledglings, and he was named Trooper by forum members. Ma and Trooper both returned for the 2019 nesting season and laid two eggs, and Bella and Coola (named after the community of Bella Coola on the west coast of BC) both fledged successfully.

2020-2021

For the first time since we’ve been watching, Ma laid three eggs in 2020 – which is a tribute not only to her health and strength but also to her belief that Trooper will be able to provide food for a larger family.  As it turned out, only two of them hatched; the chicks were named Sunny and Shadow.  Older eaglet Sunny had an accidental fledge, slipping from the nest when 81 days old; local observers found Sunny on the ground that evening but weren’t able to catch him/her, and Sunny never returned to the nest.  Shadow had a similar accidental fledge a few days later but was able to fly to a nearby tree, and remained in the area with Ma and Trooper for almost another month.  An interesting footnote to Sunny’s disappearance – soon afterwards, two eaglets were observed in a nest that was thought to only have one chick, and that nest was in the direction Sunny was heading, so maybe….  Ma and Trooper produced three eggs again in 2021, and two of them hatched, becoming Hope and Chase (named for communities in British Columbia); both eaglets fledged successfully.

2022

2022 was a year of many changes.  Trooper disappeared on February 8; there were males around during the spring, but Ma did not choose one and nest in 2022, though she appeared to have a consistent companion by the end of summer.  He was named DM (for Delta Male) once it appeared that he would be Ma Delta’s new mate.  On June 13, observers noted that Ma had apparently reinjured her left leg, which had healed successfully after having been broken in 2014; it improved over the summer, but she had a significant limp for the remainder of the season.  If that weren’t enough, the nest tree was dying and began to fall apart.  The branch holding the West cam broke in November 2021; the cam continued to stream for a while, though at a strange angle, but the branch and cam fell to the ground in mid-March.  The remaining camera came loose, showing a slanted view of the nest, and the cam finally went offline in August.  HWF started a GoFundMe drive to replace the dying tree and falling nest with a secure nest on a pole – and that new nest was installed on September 12 (lots of pictures starting here).  Now we wait for the eagles to return and see if they adopt the new nest that we provided for them.

2023

Well, the good news is that Ma Delta and her new mate successfully raised a chick in 2023; the less good news is that they did not use the new nest we built for them, but instead chose to nest on one of the large power line towers, out of sight of the cameras.  Local observers were able to visit occasionally, and the youngster apparently fledged successfully.  Ma did visit the nest at least once – and there were several visits by owls – but no one seemed interested in moving in.  We are featuring a new nest that’s similar in design and is located on the shore of Boundary Bay – please visit our Boundary Bay Central live cams page for more information, and to watch eagles using one of these nests!  We continue to hope that eventually Ma Delta and her mate will realize the nest on a pole could be a good option for them.

2024

Thanks to Zoomer and Forum Topic Assistant RoseA for gathering much of this information:  Since Ma and DM’s return to the territory after their summer migration we saw very little of them up close and personal. In 2022 when they returned after the new nest pole installation, they often slept in the stick tree overnight. This year if they came into the stick tree the visits were short. It’s not believed they slept there overnight even once. As well there were no visits to the nest itself that we know of. They were around and we saw them in the distance at a tower or pole, or rarely in the East Field. It appears that they mostly stayed on the side of their territory closer to Centre Tower, which is where their nest likely was again.  We think they may have had one or two chicks, and at least one likely fledged, but unfortunately we can’t be sure of that since we don’t have a camera focused on the nest they are using, and there is no convenient place for ground observers to view the nest.

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