Author Topic: Big Bear Bald Eagle Cam (Read 100899 times)

Joe Schmoe · « **Reply #40 on:** Mar 24, 18, 12:44:22 AM »

I checked in on them late last night and it looked pretty miserable up there. No obvious signs of trouble, but a dead bird wasn't really anything I was looking for. It was then that it occurred to me that the late season timing of our rain and this storm was an issue because the chicks were just too big to fit under the mother and didn't have feathers yet. Interesting that it's the kind of thing that you learn on nature shows - rain, no rain, hot, cold, timing, etc. Too bad one of them didn't make it. But, that's precisely why there were two. Now the odds improve for the remaining one since it gets all the food and has a better shot at fitting under the mother in case we have more rain. It also just occurred to me to check on the pair in Azusa Canyon. We almost went up there last week but passed. In light of this we'll go up there next week for some pictures.

Wrightwood · « **Reply #41 on:** Mar 27, 18, 11:17:33 AM »

Wrightwood · « **Reply #42 on:** Mar 27, 18, 10:37:07 PM »

Just checked the site and the camera is working. Looks windy

Wrightwood · « **Reply #43 on:** Mar 28, 18, 04:54:21 PM »

Today at 2pm the dead baby was removed and the remaining live baby was banded with identification. Overall took the guy about 17 minutes.

Wrightwood · « **Reply #44 on:** Mar 28, 18, 04:58:05 PM »

Lady Hawk
Published on Mar 28, 2018
This afternoon, several biologists including Pete Bloom were at the Big Bear nest along with tree climber & bander Joe Papp to band Stormy. The nest is up 150' in a tree on National Forest Land. Banding provides extremely useful information in the tracking of the eagle in migration, nesting and if ever found injured or killed. Stormy received two leg bands - one silver for the Fish & Wildlife and the other a blue band to help with visual identification from a distance. Measurements were taken to determine the gender of Stormy but not blood. Dr. Pete Bloom, Biologist uses feather length in his calculations for determining the sex. The body of Triple B. was picked up and put in a bag. Joe Papp may have dropped the body on his way down - listen closely to the words spoken at the end of the video at the 22:26 mark saying "unfortunately I think it fell out". As soon as information is released I will update everyone. Otherwise, the banding was very successful and the parents are in the nest tree. Stormy is 45 days old. Thank you for watching!

Video https://youtu.be/5beuokOscwE

Wrightwood · « **Reply #45 on:** Mar 29, 18, 07:42:57 AM »

Here's the live feed link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNdo6wu_Xug

Joe Schmoe · « **Reply #46 on:** Mar 30, 18, 08:26:45 PM »

Here's some video of the pair in Azusa Canyon. I think the food delivery is a frog. The nest has become so huge that it appears one of the branches holding it up has broken under the weight and the nest seems to be barely hanging on. Hard to tell when it happened, and hard to tell what orientation the nest is actually in, but it looks to be in a very precarious position. Either way, they are still raising a chick in it. I brought my 11-year old niece up to see it. She's really into animals so I kept our destination a surprise until we got out of the car and I immediately pointed up to one of the eagles that happened to be flying overhead right at that moment. Then I turned her around and pointed out the nest with the mother and baby in it. She loved it.

As an aside, the really expensive Canon lens I rented a while back did a much better job than this Tamron lens I purchased. The Canon lens is 3X the price ($2000), but the quality difference is certainly equal to that.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HKZpgCSdy8s" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/HKZpgCSdy8s</a>
Nest in 2014:

Nest in 2017:

ForestGal · « **Reply #47 on:** Mar 30, 18, 08:50:45 PM »

Thanks for sharing this, Joe. Wow, I sure hope that nest hangs on until the little one is ready to fledge. Looks as if its wings are developing nicely, but it seems to depend on Mom and Dad for meals.

Joe Schmoe · « **Reply #48 on:** Apr 03, 18, 05:17:37 PM »

Wrightwood · « **Reply #49 on:** Apr 03, 18, 05:27:32 PM »

Sad to hear.
Didn't know they were the first nesting pair of bald eagles in the Angeles and in mainland Los Angeles County

Joe Schmoe · « **Reply #50 on:** Apr 03, 18, 05:50:31 PM »

When we found it in 2014 we knew it was very significant, hence our kind of silly secrecy regarding it's location. It's a real bummer that it didn't hang on. Now I have to decide if or how to tell our niece. It's nature, that stuff happens, so I think she should know. In wondering what if it fell our worry was what the parents will do about another nest. Will it be in the same tree? Will it be too far to see well? Will they not come back at all?

And I re-uploaded the video in case anyone wants to see it now. No one was really looking before. https://youtu.be/E1kBNRncNGc

Elk · « **Reply #51 on:** Apr 26, 18, 09:18:21 AM »

San Bernardino National Forest
?@SanBernardinoNF
1h1 hour ago
The bald eagle chick fell out of the nest about 6:23 a.m. Biologists are en route to see if they can find and check on him.

AvocadoFlyer · « **Reply #52 on:** Apr 26, 18, 09:53:11 AM »

Apparently this is somewhat normal. I think the parents will find him and feed him "off nest" according to the message board. Hope the little guy is OK.

Wrightwood · « **Reply #53 on:** Apr 26, 18, 10:28:16 AM »

Wrightwood · « **Reply #54 on:** Apr 26, 18, 10:39:16 AM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uR9HH9vjJA

Lady Hawk
Published on Apr 26, 2018
Early this morning at 6:23am PDT, Stormy was wingercising on the edge of the nest and accidentally fell off. Mom arrives with a stick first as Stormy is vocalizing at her. He flaps around at her - she departs for her branch. Stormy goes over and is standing on the edge of the nest and starts to flap and falls off at the 2:56 mark. You can hear him as he fell below the nest and is flapping below on a lower branch in the tree. The US Forest Service & Friends of Big Bear Valley have been notified and are going to the area to check on Stormy. Stormy is fine and although this was not an intended fledge, eaglets find their way back to the nest in time. It could take a couple days or longer for Stormy to figure out how to do this. If he goes to the ground, the parents will bring him food and keep an eye on him as him starts to explore the world. Stormy is capable of flying at this point, for short flights - he just needs to realize it and maneuver back to the nest. Stay tuned for more updates! Thank you for watching!

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

Elk · « **Reply #55 on:** Apr 26, 18, 11:21:16 AM »

San Bernardino National Forest
?@SanBernardinoNF
1h1 hour ago
We continue to look for the bald eagle chick that slipped out of the nest this morning. The ground has been thouroughly searched and we are now scanning tree branches in case he survived and flew up to one. The parents are remaining in the area.

Elk · « **Reply #56 on:** Apr 26, 18, 12:21:17 PM »

Wrightwood · « **Reply #57 on:** Apr 26, 18, 09:18:11 PM »

Elk · « **Reply #58 on:** Apr 30, 18, 12:20:03 PM »

Elk · « **Reply #59 on:** Apr 30, 18, 12:43:33 PM »

San Bernardino National Forest
?@SanBernardinoNF
2m2 minutes ago
For some perspective on where the bald eagle chick is, this photo shows him (red circle) about 30 feet below the nest, where one parent is perched (yellow circle). And in case you were wondering, this is a 120-foot Jeffrey pine tree.