Early Wednesday morning I met an employee of Diamond Head Consulting (DHC). He was standing on Old Marine Drive under an eagles’ nest tree waiting to see if any birds flew by. “We saw something here in February.” he said. We chatted a few minutes and then I continued running north along Old Marine Drive. As I made my way up the hill toward Totem Park one of the eagles flew across the road. I paused to observe. The eagle alighted on a snag at the top of Old Marine, just across from Totem Park Residences. Maybe the eagle was waiting for ‘the coast is clear’ signal before moving south to the nest.
On March 27, 2023, UBC Properties Trust forwarded to me a draft memo from their consultants, DHC. The memo reports on observations to date (2 visits in December 2022, 1 visit each in January and February 2023, and then once more March 22, 2023). DHC reported no eagles at the obstructed nest or the replacement artificial nest during their visits.
Eagles do continue, however, to be sighted by community residents around the coned Ross Drive nest. Since January I have personally seen eagles perched in the nest tree. Other residents have reported similar sightings. The eagles have been seen perched in the nest tree as recently as the week of March 20th.
In response to a question asked on a local area facebook page residents living near the nest shared eagle observation.
“My partner and I can see the original eagle trees from our apartment … and I walk by the replacement nest almost every day.”
“We've been seeing them in the original trees pretty much every sunny day this year, rarely when it isn't sunny. Haven't been writing down the exact days, but we have seen them multiple times in the past 30 days for sure” (Wesbrook Resident, March 21, 2023).
Another resident reported:
“I was heading to the una gym on Saturday morning [March 18] and could hear them but it was still dark so I couldn’t see them. I have a picture that I took of one of them last month on a balcony by the corner on Gray Avenue” (Wesbrook Resident, March 21, 2023).
“One just flew over Mundell Park at 12:15 today.” (Wesbrook Resident, March 22, 2023).
An Orchard Commons resident has been logging sightings of eagles flying by their apartment. They have observed a pair with what seems to be an immature eagle flying together regularly over the past several months. They’re certain these are the same eagles who have nested on Ross Drive.
Residents are, of course, resident in our communities. Our daily activities will give us a more wholistic view of the eagles than a consulting firm that spent 20 hours on site over the past four months. That said, it is clear obstructing the eagles’ nest has had the desired effect of preventing them from using it. Everyone also agrees that the artificial nest UBC Properties Trust set up has not attracted they eagles.
The DHC Memo
The DHC Memo (March 27, 2023) outlines the history and context - most of which is a summary of previous reports. The core new info relates to their employees’ recent observations of eagles along Old Marine Drive.
“March 22, 2023”
“Three nests were identified during the nest survey in February 2023 (Figure 3). Nest 1 is a raptors nest that was suspected to be under construction. Nest 2 is an established nest located in a 38 m tall grand fir. Nest 3 is an established nest, previously identified by the Stanley Park Ecological Society (SPES) Eagles Nest report in 2014 and labelled as the UBC Botanical nest. During the February nest survey, two eagles were observed mating at the Nest 3 (UBC Botanical).”
“All three nests were observed during the monitoring session at various times of day. Monitoring of the nests began at 7:56 AM and concluded at 1:15 PM. Weather conditions were clear and cool in the morning (5°C) and warm in the afternoon (12°C). A summary of eagle activity during the February nest survey and this March 22 monitoring session are provided in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively” (DHC Memo, p.3).
Summary of observations on March 22nd was then presented. Eagles were briefly spotted around nest two on Old Marine Drive. None at the other two nest locations. DHC concludes their memo as follows:
“The monitoring session was split between 3 different nests. As such, no one nest was monitored for a full monitoring period. The following conclusions and recommendations are summarized per nest:”
“Nest 1 – It is likely that nest 1 is partially collapsed, rather than partially built, as previously suggested. Given its incomplete nature, the lack of eagles observed near or in the nest, and the timing in the season DHC is confident this nest is likely to be inactive for the 2023 breeding season.”
“Nest 2 – Nest 2 was confirmed to be active for the 2023 breeding season. Photos were taken of this nesting pair and compared to photos of the breeding pair at Ross Drive & Birney Avenue; however, the biologist could not confirm if it was the same pair or not. Since the nest was unused in recent years, according to a volunteer monitor, it suggests that this nest may now be occupied by the pair that used to occupy the nest at Ross Drive & Birney Avenue.”
“Nest 3 (UBC Botanical) – No eagle activity was observed at Nest 3 (UBC Botanical) for the duration of the monitoring period; however, the monitoring was inconclusive. Given mating adults were observed using the nest in February, it is recommended this nest be monitoring continuously for at least one additional 4‐hour period to determine if it is active or not” (DHC Memo, p.6).
Is it all OK?
One hopes that it is all OK.
Yet, there remain unanswered questions and unquestioned assumptions in this entire eagle saga.
As DHC themselves state, they don’t know if the pair they observed in February and March are the same pair who were nesting for years on Ross Drive. This is complicated by the fact there have been at least two active nesting sites along marine Drive (at Wesbrook and 16th and on Old Marine Drives’ nest 2) these past few years. It’s quite possible the pair DHC has been observing twice now are simply one of the two Marine Drive couples, not the Ross Drive pair.
Then we have the persistent assumption that development and construction is the priority and should not be disrupted simply for the sake of birds. I requested a conversation with the developer, Polygon Homes to get their thoughts on the issue. My requested was acknowledged, but as of publication no actual conversation with the developer has occurred. Polygon explicitly references their pro-environment sensibilities in their advertising for their ‘Wordsworth’ development, the one that led to obstructing the Ross Drive eagles’ nest.
Eagles are relatively resilient. One wildlife expert I spoke to last fall said the eagles will likely be really annoyed by the obstruction, but once they finally decide their nest is unusable they will quickly make a move elsewhere. The expert said it could mean that the pair breaks up, finds a new site, or gives up for the year. But the expert still felt the eagles will manage despite our human disruptions.