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STRATHCONA
RAPTOR
SHELTER
(Est.1988)
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NESTING BALD EAGLES
On March 27 of this year we were
feeding in the large aviary when the Bald Eagles started acting strangely.
The large female was defending an area underneath some scaffolding (courtesy
of Spar Aviation) that was used as a feeding area. Eva announced that
she thought they were making a nest. It didn't seem likely.
The male has been here since 1988. Christened "Thor", he had
been accidentally shot as a first year bird and was missing the equivalent
of his hand, on the right side. Now in his 21st year, he has been a fixture
here.
The female came here two seasons ago, with a wing injury and missing flight
feathers. The feathers had come back but she hadn't shown any interest
in flying. That was until we installed a 50 foot pond system with help
from Henry at Nature's Corner Store in Edmonton and Jeff of Blue Planet
Water Features. She was really happy about the water and started making
short flights which grew to 75-80 feet. It was great.
There doesn't seem to be a record of a Bald Eagle nesting on the ground
in Alberta, even a captive one. There are other records. In the north,
above the tree line, nests are recorded although they are rare. Oddly,
a study of 206 Bald eagle nests in Florida reported 3 ground nests! I
had never heard of it.
The next day, the 28th of March there was an egg. In the 25 years we have
been rehabilitating raptors, only once has any resident bird nested here
and that was an imprinted Red-tail hawk. Her egg failed to hatch. We had
high hopes for the Eagle nest, so we set up a game camera to get some
pictures and waited.
The potential date of hatch was calculated at April 25, or 26. Over the
next 4 weeks we had two major snow storms, the last one over 3 days with
overnight temperatures dipping to -13 C. (9 F) The Eagles took turns at
the nest faithfully through all of this, tending the egg to term until
the 25 of April when it was no longer seen. As the snow melted, it was
found, broken and eaten by magpies. It was not fertile.
Here are some of the pictures that were taken over the 32 days. If you
have any questions or comments our email is asibp@tic.ab.ca.

Here both of the eagles are working on the nest before the first
snow storm.
We are in need of volunteers
at the Shelter, the economy being what it is.
If you have the time and the
inclination, you will need a resume and a couple references.
Our number is still 922-3024.

Here is the female after the third day of the second snowstorm, relining
the nest. The last day of incubation was April 25.
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Here are
the eagles March 30 and 31. The top picture is the female, the bottom
picture appears to be the male on the nest.
. There
was a fourth year Bald in the aviary while all this was going on.
It didn't seem to bother either bird. You an see the young bird
on the left.
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Here are some of our owls
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This is the nest site on the 24th of April. The birds
are still close by.
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Rehabilitation
Since
starting in 1988, thousands of birds and animals of more than 80
species have been treated at the Shelter.
Of these, approximately 50% were healthy enough to be returned
to the wild. Some have stayed to help with programs.
Volunteers
Developing volunteer involvement
in the treatment of birds is an integral part of the SRSs
activities. Currently,
20 volunteers donate 3-4 hours of their time weekly.
Our volunteers are scheduled Monday to Friday from 7-10 PM
and Saturdays from 1-5 PM.
Space is limited so we only have room for 3 volunteers at
a time.
Since 1996, volunteers at
the Shelter have donated more than 8500 hours.
The majority of them are students looking for a career in
Environmental Studies and Conservation Management but it's not
a prerequisite for volunteering.
You do have to be 18 years or older though.
Contact us:
STRATHCONA
RAPTOR SHELTER
Phone:
780-922-3024
Fax:
780-922-2084
Cell:
(new) 780-720-5507
E-mail:
asibp@tic.ab.ca
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Here they are in the nest the young
bird in the background.
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