Webcam captures struggling B.C. eaglet British Columbia

[Donna]

A baby eagle in B.C. whose birth was watched by thousands of people online has run into some trouble, and a webcam has been capturing it all.

The eaglet, nicknamed Flyer, is one of three babies in a nest in Sidney on Vancouver Island that hatched just a few weeks ago.

Last week, the largest of the chicks appeared to be struggling as though its foot or leg was snagged on something.

Days later, the baby is still stuck and fishing line may be the culprit, according to the Hancock Wildlife Foundation, which has put five cameras near nests around the province.

"Almost every eagle nest has fish line in it because it's naturally attached to a lot of the fish they find. They're wounded incapacitated fish -- perfect food for eagles," said biologist David Hancock.

Hancock believes the eaglet freed itself once and then got caught up again on Saturday.

The foundation wants to come to Flyer's rescue but the dead tree where the nest is located is not safe to climb. A giant crane is required to get to the top but the wet ground is too soft for heavy machinery.

"If over the next couple of weeks it dries out then this big crane will get on there and it's quite possible this chick will survive that," Hancock said.

The foundation has intervened in nests in the past, but is hesitant to for fear the birds would abandon the site.

"They'll never abandon their young, but they may go and move to another nest next year," Hancock said.

More than 1.5 million people watched the webcams last year to check on the eagles.

See live streams from the Hancock Wildlife Foundation's eagle cameras here.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber


http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110517/bc_struggling_eagle_110517/20110517/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome video

[Donna]

Tangled eaglet won't be rescued by helicopter

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A six-week old eaglet tangled in wire or a fishing line in its nest in Sidney on Vancouver Island won't be rescued with a helicopter.

Biologist David Hancock streams the bird on a live webcam and hopes the eaglet can free itself or hold on until they can get a crane near the nest.

"As a biologist, there is nobody more aware of the live and let live, but this is kind of an exception. Number one, there is thousands of you watching it. But the other thing is, this is probably man induced, and so maybe we have a responsibility to correct it, if we can."

The parents are still feeding it but in a few weeks they will expect it to try flying. Hancock says getting someone up there to free the bird is no easy task. The ground around the tree is too wet to support a crane and that tree is dead and brittle, so it's impossible to climb.

The nest is streamed live on www.hancockwildlife.org.

[MAK]

This is quite a dilemna for this young eaglet. I hope it can be saved somehow. 

[Donna]

SIDNEY, B.C. - Rescuers will try to reach a six-week-old eagle reality star that is tangled up in fishing line in his nest.

The eaglet is one of a trio of baby bald eagles featured in a live wildlife video stream from his nest in Sidney, B.C., on Vancouver Island.

Wildlife biologist David Hancock, whose foundation established the eagle cam, feared the bird he's dubbed Donald would not make it after a plan to try to reach the nest by helicopter had to be abandoned Wednesday.

A crane was brought in to install the cameras but the ground has been so wet that it was feared it would sink if it was used to rescue the little bird, so that plan was abandoned earlier.

Now Hancock says an area company has offered huge mats that should allow the heavy equipment to come in and raise him up to free the baby eagle.

The nest is one of four featured on www.hancockwildlife.org, and the most popular, getting 55 million viewers from around the world in one month when it first went up six years ago.

UPDATE


David Hancock of Hancock Wildlife Foundation rescues a 5 week old eaglet that had caught its foot in nylon line - wrapped around one of its talons near the claw. The eaglet was removed, checked over and replaced - then the two web cameras in the tree were given a quick service.    Yay for him and thank you nycbird for letting me know.

A baby eagle snagged on fishing line in its Vancouver Island nest has been successfully freed in a rescue operation Thursday.

A three-tonne crane was manouevred into position under the tree near Sidney, B.C., and the eaglet was cut free, removed from the nest briefly and put back.

The rescuers were hoping to free the bird's leg and leave the eaglet in place with its two siblings and two parents, but were prepared to bring it down for nurturing at a wildlife reserve. That plan turned out not to be necessary.

"It was a very, very successful operation," said biologist David Hancock, whose foundation has placed webcams near the nest and close to eagle nests in several other locations in southwestern B.C.

Hancock was one of the two men aboard the crane platform and personally took the young bird out of the nest.

He said the line around the animal's leg was not wound too tightly and so had not cut off circulation. He removed the line from the three-kilogram bird and put it back into the nest.
Eagle parents a concern

Rescuers were anxious to see if the parents would return to the nest following the human intervention. The two full-grown birds could be seen watching from a distance during the rescue operation.

The struggle of the eaglet had been broadcast live online by the webcam mounted near the edge of the nest.

The animal's predicament had prompted calls from concerned viewers around the world for Hancock's foundation to mount a rescue.

But the operation at first seemed impossible because the nest is at the top of dead tree that is too dangerous to climb, and the ground around the nest was too soft to support a crane tall enough to reach it.

But the ground had dried by Thursday afternoon and special heavy-duty mats were brought in to help support the huge machine.

[MAK]

  Fantastic news!   

[Bird Crazy]

KUDO's to the company that donated the mats for the crane.