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Lovesick eagles stall Sea to Sky construction
Nesting activity forces delay along highway north of Lions Bay
Darah Hansen
Vancouver Sun
May 30, 2005
CREDIT: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun
The eagle-caused delay affects only a small portion of the current phase of work on the Sea to Sky Highway upgrade.
For the love of eagles -- and eagles in love -- highway-widening along a one-kilometre stretch of the Sea to Sky Highway has been halted, at least temporarily.
Children are at the heart of this construction conundrum -- or, rather, whether or not a pair of resident bald eagles have started a family in their waterfront nest. It's in a Douglas fir beside Highway 99, about five kilometres north of Horseshoe Bay and smack in the middle of a $40-million provincial road-widening contract let in preparation for the 2010 Olympics.
Conservationists fear blasting rock in the area may cause the birds to abandon their eggs, and last week called for the roadwork to be halted.
"We're all aware there is a need to widen the road, but our position is firmly that the rush to widen the road shouldn't be done at the risk of important wildlife species, especially the majestic bald eagle," said Jim Cuthbert, a biologist and spokesman for Nest Environmental Stewards Team, a group dedicated to protecting the eagle duo.
Cuthbert said the pair have been seen recently performing romantic rituals -- such as feeding each other raw salmon -- that would indicate that eaglets may soon be on the way. But, so far, no nesting activity has been verified.
Blasting was scheduled to begin Monday on the section of road that runs parallel to the nesting tree, with the work coming within 65 metres of the nest at its closest point.
Ron Ahola, project manager for the highway, said those plans were put on the back burner after Cuthbert and other NEST members met directly with the construction team and provided photographic evidence that the nest was active with the antics of the adult couple, if not their offspring.
Under provincial legislation, active eagle nests are protected from disturbance during nesting season, which runs from February through mid-August.
The construction crew and conservationists are now playing a waiting game to see if eggs are in the feathered couple's future.
Ahola has agreed to stop major construction within one kilometre of the nest at least until June 30 -- the date when eggs, if there are to be any, will be apparent. Should there be eggs, blasting cannot commence until Aug. 15. If not, the roadwork will continue in the beginning of July.
Ahola said the wait will not mean a delay in the completion of the first phase of the highway project -- a seven-kilometre section which began in January and is scheduled to wrap up in the fall of 2006.
The entire highway project -- valued at more than $600 million -- is scheduled to finish in time for the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
Cuthbert said his group will keep a close eye on all activity in the area to make sure the eagle pair get the respect -- and provincially mandated protection -- they deserve.
"Many of us in the natural history field know and love these eagles," he said. "It's really a treasure to have this [nest] so close to Vancouver, and to see adult eagles feeding their young. It's a tremendous attribute in our community that we don't want to see displaced."
Cuthbert said the nest has borne at least three sets of eaglets to the same adult pair in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
The nesting pair of eagles is one of four eagle nests identified as a potential concern in an environmental inventory conducted by the province in preparation for the highway project.
A peregrine falcon's nest has also been recorded along the route, as has the tailed frog -- a rare species that requires the capture and relocation of tadpoles from creeks along the route before roadwork can continue.