Keeping an eagle eye on the nest
Images from Hornby Island stop work around the world
Peter Clough, The Province
Published: Sunday, April 09, 2006
Like about two million other nature-loving city-dwellers, I've been wasting valuable time at the office this week making regular checks on The Eagles of Hornby Island.
It was meant to be just a quick peek -- to see the live webcam that everyone's talking about. How is it possible that two bald eagles and their eggs, nested high above a Gulf Island beach, can slow productivity and affect share trading in Manhattan and Canary Wharf?
Now I get it.
A whole hour had slipped by before I realized that nothing had actually happened yet -- just me and momma bird sitting there in the breeze, keeping an eagle eye on the neighbourhood.
For a minute, I thought I could make out one of the eggs. But then she changed position and it turned out to be a stray white feather.
This would have been a good opportunity to get back to work and actually start writing the story about the man who's behind the world's latest Internet phenomenon.
But just then she spots something, and I'm turning up the volume. She's letting out the fiercest squawk you've ever heard. Maybe it's the mate coming back with a dead mouse or something. Oh . . . oh . . . wait a minute. She's standing up! She's tucking in the eggs!
The story will have to wait.
So you can you see why bosses are beginning to worry about April 26, when the two chicks are expected to hatch.
The man to thank -- or blame -- is retired teacher Doug Carrick. For 17 years, Doug and his wife, Sheila, have been observing and
documenting the domestic lives of the two eagles who live beside their waterfront home.
"She's the bigger eagle and she's also the tougher and meaner eagle," says Doug of the neighbours he's come to know so well.
"The male is rather passive. He'll bring a branch, she'll grab it, put it in place, and he'll go get another branch."
Two years ago, Doug was granted a permit to install a video camera hidden in a bark-camouflaged box just above the nest. The eagles were away at the time -- on their annual migration to Alaska.
At first, the live feed went no further than Doug's home computer.
Everything changed when he met David Hancock recently. David is the owner of Hancock House Publishers and a raptor biologist who's known for his study of Vancouver's urban eagles.
He told Doug that the eagle-cam should be shared with the rest of the world and quickly persuaded Arthur Griffiths, head of
Vancouver's Infotec Business Systems, to carry the feed on his website.
"Then it just exploded," says Doug, who's found himself working late into the night dealing with e-mails from around the globe.
"People are watching it in working hours," he says. "One guy comments that he's got an HCTB button -- Here Comes The Boss. He presses that and on his screen comes some kind of work simulation."
Now Hancock House is looking for a major sponsor to provide the technical support needed for April 26.
"I believe there'll be at least 10 million people watching that day," says David. He suggests the most logical sponsor -- hint, hint -- would be an organization like Tourism B.C.
David tells me he's also trying to arrange another live feed -- this one featuring the white spirit bears of Princess Royal Island. He's talking about installing a camera on the river where the bears go to fish.
But enough of that. I'm missing The Eagles already.
By week's end, the daily audience has grown by another million or so. Only now you have to endure an annoying Infotec ad before the birds appear.
Early Friday, my wife -- who's beginning to neglect our own little nest -- is making loud noises in front of the computer: "OHMYGOD THE MALE'S HERE . . . HE'S COME BACK WITH A TWIG . . . LOOK AT THAT . . . HE'S TAKING OVER THE EGGS . . ."
You've been warned.
Catch The Eagles live at www.infotecbsi.com. Full-screen view recommended.
© The Vancouver Province 2006