The Great and Good White Headed Bald Eagle, or Kipawa

Its a beautiful day today in Vancouver, BC, Canada...the sun is shining and I walked home all the way through downtown from waterfront across the Burrard Street bridge to our home here in Kitsilahno Point.  It was a great thing to do, for the exercise and also I checked on my two Eagle friends well I don’t' know if I can call them friends.  More like they are my God/Goddess connexxion!  Anyway their nest is in the big tree just by the Burrard Bridge.  I have been observing them for about six years now.  I know the yearly cycle off by heart.  It goes like this

Nov - January - fix up tree/nest for this years offspring by getting new branches and re-enforcing the existing nest infrastructure when necessary.  Photo below:  Susi Milne

January - February - play around and kiss each other and sit on the totem pole together preening each others wings and finally mating.

Photo below: Susi Milne

 

February - April - eggs are laid!, and the two take turns sitting on them, while the other gets food and flys around

Mid-april - eggs hatch!  I spy on them with a great birdscope I have, a telescope for birdwatching that is amazingly magnified.  I have certain vantage points and I can see right into the nest!  There is nothing sweeter in this world than the experience of seeing the new baby eagles upon hatching with their HALARIOUS furry round balls of fluff- heads, big eyes, they wobble around and fall over all around the huge nest! 

April - July - the best oh the best...the Eaglets grow up slowly, they are fed by the parents, crow, seagull, small mammels like mice, etc., its wonderful to watch the parents feed them down their little throats

May - July - the Eaglets wobble at first then get stronger and prance around the nest, trying out their wings...flapping and flapping until they get the hang of it..then they flap and flap and go up into the air a little bit...THEN!  the most wonderful - they start to do their flying exercises...they climb up and up in the nest, until they are sitting on the very edge of it and they flap their HUGE by this time - wings and jump up! And 'fly' down into the middle of the nest!  It is SO HALARIOUS!!!

July - Maiden Flight -  After practising in their huge tree for a good month,   they start to fly from branch to branch and then finally in July, they make their maiden flights.  I have been lucky enough to witness one maiden flight out of the dozen or so babies I have watched. How do I know it was a first flight you ask?  Well...the baby was on the branch flapping and flapping and the parents were BOTH flying around and around him/her and make encouraging eagle noises, you could just tell by listening that was what it was...and the baby was flapping and jumping from branch to branch, and suddenly!  He/she flew OUT into the AIR with both wings going crazy flapping and the bably was making these high pitched sort of scared silly but very excited noises!!! And the parents were screaming their heads off!  The other baby was squaking and jumping up and down in the nest...then the baby did a complete circle out in the air by the tree and came back to land on a branch by the nest.  All the other eagles were so happy and screaming praise and happiness at the bird, it was so cool.

Below is a photograph I took of a Juvenile Eagle about one year old.

I sit on a fold out three legged stool with my birdscope and my supplies for a good 4-6 hours during the May - July period and just WATCH them interacting with each other in the nest.  I canot believe how it holds my attention. I have no problem sitting there for HOURS, its so wonderful.  I draw them and paint them and take photos. I love it, and I am so grateful to the Creator for this uplifting and joy giving experience.  Here is a photo I took of an Eaglet three months old

I heard a great story about Eagle Nests from a friend of mine once at an  art opening, his name is Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun - here is his site go look at it he is truly amazing

http://www.lawrencepaulyuxweluptun.com/

anyway I was at this opening with him, and we happened to be standing together waiting for something to happen, a video to start or another action... and I was making small talk with him.  I said "Hey Lawrence, I have had the honour of viewing some wonderful Eagles for the last few years, at Kits Point" and proceeded to tell him all about it.  He was looking at me in a funny way...and he said, "you know Susi, a few years ago they did a surveillance project with all of the Urban Eagle Nests to determine stability and get some numbers on what is happening with them - there were thirty-six healthy Eaglets born in the GVRD last year." 

Below two Adult Eagles Mating Ritual - Photo: Susi Milne

"they found that the Urban Eagles nests were built with a surprising amount of materials that the Eagles had scavenged from humans.  Many of them have parts of and whole leather collars all twined and fitted into their infrastructure - some nests have been there in the same location, each with the yearly renovation for forty years.  These collars are all different colours some baby blue and some mostly pink with the names "fluffy" and "fido" - from small dogs and cats that they get to eat".

Below a gorgeous shot of Adult Eagle - photo by Susi Milne

I have never been able to confirm Mr. Yuxweluptun's claim about this but I bet its true. He had a twinkle in his eye when he was telling me though!

Anyway I just LOVE that visual!  Those nests all brown and black twigs and roots and tree branches, with the bright baby blue and pink peeking out all through!  So hilarious!