Lafarge Cam - Hancock Wildlife Foundation

Update – April 5, 2018

I’m afraid we have bad news about the cam at Lafarge – it was the oldest cam in our network, and it finally died. It was actually purchased and installed by Lafarge, and they allowed us to use it to watch the eagles that nested on their site – so it will be their decision whether or not to replace it. Our tech person who met with them and tried his best to revive the cam said they would like to replace it, but they are a corporation, so it will have to go through channels. Please keep your fingers crossed. I do have good news about the eagles – our great local observers say they are nesting again in a nest without a cam several blocks away, and they may have laid their first egg March 28 or 29, and were definitely appearing to be tending an egg on the 30th! AUGUST 2018 Update – The eggs hatched, producing two chicks. They thrived under the care of their parents and grew into beautiful eaglets. Artemis and Apollo, so named by the ground observers, both fledged in mid August. You can read the reports from the local observers on our forum – https://forum.hancockwildlife.org/viewtopic.php?p=20242#p20242.

Lafarge Nest Information

The Lafarge downtown Vancouver concrete plant is on the waterfront of Vancouver’s inner harbor, beside the main CP rail tracks and sidings, in the heart of Vancouver’s busy container and grain port facilities. The nest tree the eagles used for a number of years is alone on the property, right on the water’s edge and outside the property’s fenced area. An artificial nest structure, designed by David Hancock, sits beside the tree where it can be used by the eagles both as a perch and as a replacement nest site if something happens to the tree – and in fall 2014, the part of the tree holding the nest blew down in a windstorm. Unfortunately, the eagles did not move to the artificial nest, instead rebuilding a nest several blocks away which they had used before moving to the Lafarge site – but they are seen perching there frequently, and the cam provides a nice view of the beautiful Vancouver harbour and surrounding mountains. As of the 2018 season, we have watched the eagles raise ten young eagles at the Lafarge site, and local observers report that they’ve raised another five at their new nest.

The camera has stopped working;
we are hoping it will be replaced soon.

Nest History

Thanks to Lafarge for preserving and broadcasting this site!

The eagles laid three eggs in 2011, and Sharp-Eye, Speedy and Winnie fledged successfully. There were three eggs again, and Sky, Starlet and Sorrior (for warrior who soars) fledged successfully (the eaglets were named by classes in local schools). The pair laid three eggs again in 2013 but only one fledged; the third chick died shortly after it hatched, and the middle one died for no obvious reason when he or she was about 10 days old. They laid three eggs again in 2014, two hatched successfully and J.J. and Jess fledged successfully.

2015 was a year of changes – the nest came down during a bad storm in October 2014, and the pair moved back to a nest several blocks away that they had used before moving to Lafarge. And then the female died when the chicks were about 7-1/2 weeks old; she was being chased by a number of crows and flew into power lines, dying instantly. The male did a great job raising the chicks, and Pan and Dora fledged successfully. The male found a new mate for 2016, and we were able to watch them get to know each other as they perched on the artificial nest and other spots around the Lafarge plant; we think they laid eggs, but there were not chicks – not unusual for new pairs. The pair used their alternate nest again in 2017 and raised their first chick together, named Houdini because he or she was several weeks old before local observers were able to get a picture of the youngster. We keep hoping they will try the artificial nest eventually – but even when they nest elsewhere, we see a lot of them as they hunt by the harbour and guard their territory.

Please join us on the Lafarge Discussion Forum and share your observations, click below.

Lafarge Discussion Forum