Another nest, another egg.

There91裸聊视频檚 been some excitement in the bald eagle-watching community, with the arrival of the first eggs of the season in a White Rock nest.

Located on a private portion of the White Rock bluff overlooking Boundary Bay, only about 100 feet from the back porch of a private home, the nest is captured on three cameras and featured on a 24/7 livestream.

The first egg was laid on March 17; the second followed three days later, on March 20.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e at the busiest time of the year with eagles 91裸聊视频� they91裸聊视频檙e all in the middle of laying eggs, or just finished, or just about to start,91裸聊视频� said local biologist David Hancock, founder of the , whose website features several live eagle nest cameras.

Then, at 4:22 p.m. on Friday, March 24, according to the Hancock Wildlife Foundation91裸聊视频檚 Facebook page, the South Surrey bald eagle pair laid their first egg, in their nest near 0 Avenue and 172 Street

91裸聊视频淐ongratulations to Brit and Rey. At 4.22 p.m., Friday afternoon, their first egg was laid. Brit gave us the first view at 4:43 p.m.,91裸聊视频� the Facebook post said.

Eagles usually lay one to three eggs, which take around 37 days to hatch, Hancock said.

While the White Rock nest is the first to feature eggs and the South Surrey nest is the second, there is one other eagle pair that followers are watching closely, as they also appear to be preparing their nest for breeding 91裸聊视频� in Delta, not far from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.

The nests were built by the foundation, a non-profit society aiming to promote the conservation and appreciation of wildlife and their habitats through science, education, and stewardship.

91裸聊视频淲e build nests because trees just aren91裸聊视频檛 big enough with the right branch structure to support91裸聊视频� they like our job better than their own. We can build them better,91裸聊视频� Hancock said, noting that tall trees that are large enough and strong enough to support bald eagle nests are usually the first to be cut down when development happens.

The Delta eagles are both mature adults; the Surrey Reserve nest 91裸聊视频� located on a half-acre bald eagle preserve made possible by Hancock, developers Dawson & Sawyer, the City of Surrey, and the province 91裸聊视频� is now home to a new pair of younger eagles (Brit and Rey), only five or six years old.

There had been another pair using the nest, but the male disappeared late last year and the female 91裸聊视频済ot beaten up, we think by the other new female.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭his will be their first year breeding 91裸聊视频� we91裸聊视频檙e hopeful that they91裸聊视频檙e just a bit later than the White Rock pair91裸聊视频� the fact they91裸聊视频檙e both young birds 91裸聊视频� we weren91裸聊视频檛 overly optimistic they91裸聊视频檇 get it all together this year, but they seem to be trying and that91裸聊视频檚 the best you can hope for 91裸聊视频� so whether they91裸聊视频檙e successful or not is the thing,91裸聊视频� Hancock said, prior to their first egg being laid.

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91裸聊视频淲e coax them on with good spirits but they have to get together with themselves and figure out how to properly create a home 91裸聊视频� we91裸聊视频檝e got the foundation there for them, but they have to do all the intricate work of building the nest up and they have to do their mating correctly, which is a learning function, and then they have to figure out can they co-ordinate catching food for babies and all that kind of thing 91裸聊视频� it does take practice.91裸聊视频�

While he and others are hoping they91裸聊视频檒l pull it off, Hancock noted that 91裸聊视频渦sually what happens, is one mature bird is lost and the other mature bird gets a new partner 91裸聊视频� often a younger one 91裸聊视频� that comes into the breeding cycle.91裸聊视频�

Even with both parents keeping an eagle eye on the nest, it literally takes a raven 91裸聊视频渁bout three seconds91裸聊视频� to steal an egg.

91裸聊视频淚t happens. They land on the nest, they grab the egg and they91裸聊视频檙e gone,91裸聊视频� he said, noting that when parents exchange incubating duties is often when ravens will strike.

91裸聊视频淎t the exchange some birds haven91裸聊视频檛 learned 91裸聊视频� initially 91裸聊视频� if you move off and he moves on, if there91裸聊视频檚 dilly dallying around one covering up after the other leaves, boy, we91裸聊视频檝e seen it on the cameras. The raven is there and BAM! He91裸聊视频檚 got the egg and it91裸聊视频檚 gone.91裸聊视频�

Watching the eagles can be funny as well, with some behaviours strikingly similar to humans.

91裸聊视频淭he female absolutely, absolutely controls the nest,91裸聊视频� Hancock said.

91裸聊视频淵ou can see a male 91裸聊视频� he brings in a stick, places it, looks at it, then takes it and places it again 91裸聊视频� he91裸聊视频檒l spend 25 minutes placing the stick. Then the female comes and lands and she walks over, immediately picks up that stick and puts it somewhere else.91裸聊视频�

There are 680 occupied eagle nests from Horseshoe Bay/Point Roberts to Hope, Hancock said, noting his foundation just signed a contract to record the City of Chilliwack91裸聊视频檚 eagle nests, to be a resource that the city, developers and builders can check before building, as every bald eagle nest is protected by law.

That91裸聊视频檚 a huge change from the 1950s, when there were only three eagle nests in the entire Fraser Valley.

Back then, no predators were protected at all, Hancock remembered. Americans would head up to Alaska for summer fishing and would 91裸聊视频渢ake a bucket full of eagles91裸聊视频� legs and pay all their gas there and back91裸聊视频� gas was only 23 cent a gallon back then,91裸聊视频� as they could get $2 bounty for eagle legs, so they could kill as many as they liked.

Eagles weren91裸聊视频檛 the only predators targeted.

He recalled being in a federal research vessel off Tofino in 1963, as he was going to be dropped off on a little island for a month to study sea birds.

91裸聊视频淪omebody yells 91裸聊视频極h! Orcas! Orcas! and a guy goes running past me as I91裸聊视频檓 talking to the captain, then he comes up from the hold carrying a machine gun, mounts it on the front of the boat and (making a machine gun noise) with the machine gun, (shoots right) into the pod of orcas. That was killer whale management in 1963,91裸聊视频� he said.

Rachel Carson91裸聊视频檚 book, Silent Spring, published in 1962, really helped to start changing the public91裸聊视频檚 view and perspective about predators, Hancock said.

About to turn 85 on April 1, Hancock has been passionate about saving wildlife since he was 14, when got his first eagle from the fish and game branch, as there were no wildlife rehabilitation facilities back then.

91裸聊视频淚 became the first formal (wildlife) rehabber on Vancouver Island91裸聊视频� I91裸聊视频檝e had hundreds, even thousands, of birds and animals 91裸聊视频� that91裸聊视频檚 how I got started,91裸聊视频� he explained. 91裸聊视频淚 was the kind of the person who would take the things when they were turned in, so I became a rehabber, then a biologist.91裸聊视频�

He also made wildlife films for years and started a publishing company for specialized books about conservation.

If someone knows of an eagle91裸聊视频檚 nest, Hancock actively encourages them to contact him through his foundation or through its many volunteers, so they can add it to their database of the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e been doing this for a long time. I91裸聊视频檓 still as enthusiastic about trying to save things now as I was then,91裸聊视频� Hancock said.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 more important today than it was then 91裸聊视频� we destroy things at such a rate, so it91裸聊视频檚 still important.91裸聊视频�

tricia.weel@peacearchnews.com
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