Surrey Reserve Nest Information
There have been eagles in this territory for at least 20 years – but these cams show a new nest set up in the fall of 2018 to replace one that blew down. Happily for us, the eagles named Sur (M) and Res (F) for Surrey Reserve accepted the nest, and successfully raised two chicks in 2019 and two more in 2020. The Surrey Reserve is a tract of land set aside for the eagles in an area of rapid development (read more about that below) and fortunately the eagles don’t seem to mind the construction in their back yard – and perhaps they’re taking notes: 2020’s nest preparation looked much plusher than the perfectly adequate nest of 2019.
Updates
Dad Sur put in an appearance at the nest on September 26, and Mom Res arrived back on October 2nd. As of November 8, they haven’t done a lot of work, but one or both are stopping by fairly often.
The eagles have been busy – and we have eggs! Res laid her first egg of the year at 4:02 pm on February 24 (3 days earlier than last year) and laid the second at 6:20 pm on February 27. We usually start watching for signs of a hatch in 35 days (though most eggs take a few days longer than that), so we’ll be on hatch watch beginning March 31st.
We have chicks! SR5 hatched at 11:27 am on April 3rd and SR6 hatched a day and a half later, at 9:49 am on April 4th.
The eaglets have been named – SR5 is now Tiku and SR6 is Tucca! They were named by students from ÉÉC Saint-Joseph in Port Colborne, ON, who had been watching the cams (link to the story behind the names).
Both eaglets are flying well now – but they had a bit of a rocky start at 8:39 am on June 24 when Tiku bumped into Tucca while landing on the little perch (Tiku 82 days old, Tucca 81 days old), and both tumbled to the branches below the nest. Tiku had been more actively branching and recovered fairly quickly and flew off, with an official fledge time of 9:00 am on June 24 (the time he flew out of the nest tree). It took a couple of days before Tucca got out of the tangle of branches and managed to fly off at 10:05 am on June 26.
You can read all the details on our Facebook page here, and I’m hoping to add the story to the website soon. You can also read the whole story as it developed on our forum with lots of additional pictures and videos starting here – https://forum.hancockwildlife.org/viewtopic.php?f=114&t=505&p=478325#p478327 – (and we’d love to have you join the discussion; you need to register to post, but it’s easy – and free!).
Surrey Reserve North/Closeup
Surrey Reserve South/Wide Angle
Nest History
Eagles have been nesting in this rapidly developing part of Surrey for at least 20 years, and cam sponsors Dawson & Sawyer were the second developers who approached David Hancock for advice on how to develop a region that contained an active bald eagle nest. There were some challenges – the original nest fell down, the eagles moved, a new nest with cameras was provided in the fall of 2018 (full story here) – and happily the eagles adopted the new nest built for them in British Columbia’s first bald eagle reserve. (A bald eagle reserve is a section of forest large enough to support an eagle nest which is set aside by a developer who is clearing land adjacent to it.)
2019-
Male Sur and female Res moved into the nest that had been built for them, and made it their own – and laid their first egg on camera on March 7, 2019, with a second egg three days later, on March 10. Both eggs hatched, and eaglets Dee and Ess (pronounced like the letters D and S) fledged successfully. The eaglets were named in honor of Dawson & Sawyer, the developers who helped make the Surrey Eagle Reserve and this nest possible. The pair returned in 2020 and laid their two eggs a little earlier; both hatched, and Thor and Loki (named by owners of the Eagles townhome complex next to the Reserve) both fledged successfully. Loki had a mishap a few days after fledging and ended up dangling from a powerline; she was rescued and spent a couple of weeks in rehab where it was determined she had no serious injuries (and that she was probably female, based on her weight). She was released near the nest, but did not stop by to wave to viewers before heading north; she was banded (blue band on left leg with silver D over 3) – and equipped with a tracker (link for interactive map) (link for discussion on our forum). She moved into Alaska at the end of August 2020 and the cell towers there have a different frequency so we may not hear from her until it’s cold enough for her to head south to BC. Thor was last seen on the nest around the time the tracker showed Loki heading north – so they may not have flown up together, but I think they got the same signal that it was time to go. ~JudyB
Please join us on the Surrey Reserve Discussion Forum and share your observations, click below.
Thanks to Dawson & Sawyer for developing the
first British Columbia Bald Eagle Nest Reserve
and installing… (more)
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Nest Adoption
2021 Nesting Season – September 2020 – August 2021
This Nest has been Adopted By:
~ Irish Eyes ~
~ gemini ~
~ dragonfly/Liana ~
~ JudyB ~
~ The very generous ongoing support from Jane McLennan on behalf of her grand-children Tamsyn, Lucille, Finola, Hanna and her great-grand-children Ivy, Winter and Winona ~
Thanks to Dawson & Sawyer for developing the first British Columbia Bald Eagle Nest Reserve, installing the nest frame and the two CAMS. This whole project first required considerable faith that the Hancock Wildlife Foundation history of developing successful Mitigation Plans could again be effective. The British Columbia Ministry of Forestry, Lands and Natural Resources had to work within the BC Wildlife Act and with the City of Surrey and Dawson & Sawyer on the basis of developing a practical plan to benefit bald eagles. Will it work this season or will the development in the region cause a pause holding off the eagles from using the artificial nest for a year or two? See the background of the nest for the full story.
Nest Location
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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