VANCOUVER — A baby eagle from B.C.'s Hornby Island — whose 11 weeks of life were followed by more than 11,000 people through a webcam — has died, prompting an outpouring of emotion by bird-lovers online.
Phoenix the eaglet was hatched on April 29 in a tree in the yard of Doug and Sheila Carrick.
Doug has had a camera installed in the nest since 2004, at which time he was approached by eagle enthusiasts who wanted to transmit the images over the Internet.
The webcam-filmed nest has been extremely popular, drawing thousands of viewers online.
"This is sad news which nobody was expecting," Doug posted on the The Eagles of Hornby Island website Thursday, following the baby eagle's death.
"We will keep you all informed at every step. The plan is to get Phoenix down from the tree to find out exactly why this happened."
At 11:13 a.m., as 2,325 people watched a live videocam, a climber wearing an orange helmet pulled the lifeless bird out of the nest.
There was an immediate outpouring of sorrow from the thousands of fans of the eagle website.
"There are no words for the sadness here today," wrote Alexis Davidson. "Watched Phoenix pop out of the egg and kept close vigil. It is so devastating as I remember most the love the parents showed for their sweet little one."
Others wrote RIP notes and poems to the young bird.
Lisa Kelm Primrose wrote a verse which ended:
"Fly, fly little wing,
Fly where only angels sing,
Fly away, the time is right,
Go now, find the light."
Wrote Lori Anderson Armstrong: "This is so very sad. We've been watching Phoenix grow and were excited to see his/her first flight. RIP."
For more information also go to
www.hornbyeagles.com.
Rest in Peace little Phoenix...poor baby!
