VICTORIA — It's reality broadcasting at its rawest, complete with love and death, squabbles over who gets food or who has to sit around looking after the young ones.
And it comes courtesy of two webcams that overlook the nests of two pairs of B.C. bald eagles.
One camera is on Hornby Island, located in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The nest is behind the home of Doug and Sheila Carrick where a pair of bald eagles are preparing to mate and lay eggs. It's their 20th year in the same nest.
They've produced 17 eaglets so far, but not all have survived.
"I have a feeling this year they're not just going to lay eggs but they're going to have chicks," Doug Carrick, 76, said Monday.
Meanwhile, another webcam will be keeping tabs on a pair of bald eagles in Saanich, northeast of Victoria, as they brood over two eggs laid March 1 and March 4. They usually hatch after 35 days, about the same time Carrick expects the Hornby eagles to lay their eggs.
Three years ago, the Hornby pair fascinated people around the world who watched by webcam as two eggs were laid. But neither hatched.
The next year, the pair laid another two eggs. Both chicks hatched and fledged but nobody saw because Carrick's webcam was damaged by storms.
The webcam is now repaired and Carrick is just excited about the next few weeks. "They generally move their nest every three or four years," he said, adding: "Maybe they like all the publicity."
Renovations to the nest could, however, threaten the view of the nest from the webcam, said Carrick. "The nest is about a foot higher than it was before. In fact, they're adding so many branches I'm getting a bit worried they'll be above the camera level." By Sandra McCulloch, Victoria Times Colonist
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Technology/Webcams+keep+eagle+nests/1371238/story.html
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
And it comes courtesy of two webcams that overlook the nests of two pairs of B.C. bald eagles.
One camera is on Hornby Island, located in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The nest is behind the home of Doug and Sheila Carrick where a pair of bald eagles are preparing to mate and lay eggs. It's their 20th year in the same nest.
They've produced 17 eaglets so far, but not all have survived.
"I have a feeling this year they're not just going to lay eggs but they're going to have chicks," Doug Carrick, 76, said Monday.
Meanwhile, another webcam will be keeping tabs on a pair of bald eagles in Saanich, northeast of Victoria, as they brood over two eggs laid March 1 and March 4. They usually hatch after 35 days, about the same time Carrick expects the Hornby eagles to lay their eggs.
Three years ago, the Hornby pair fascinated people around the world who watched by webcam as two eggs were laid. But neither hatched.
The next year, the pair laid another two eggs. Both chicks hatched and fledged but nobody saw because Carrick's webcam was damaged by storms.
The webcam is now repaired and Carrick is just excited about the next few weeks. "They generally move their nest every three or four years," he said, adding: "Maybe they like all the publicity."
Renovations to the nest could, however, threaten the view of the nest from the webcam, said Carrick. "The nest is about a foot higher than it was before. In fact, they're adding so many branches I'm getting a bit worried they'll be above the camera level." By Sandra McCulloch, Victoria Times Colonist
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Technology/Webcams+keep+eagle+nests/1371238/story.html
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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