O, money can’t buy the delights of the glen,
Nor Poetry sing all its charms:
There’s a solace and calm ne’er described by the pen
When we’re folded within Nature’s arms!
~James Rigg, “Nutting Time,” Wild Flower Lyrics and Other Poems, 1897
Oh my WORD … it’s like we’re sitting RIGHT in the tree IN the eagle’s nest! Just LOOK at that PIP … it WON’T be long NOW!
Since the beginning of March, we’ve been observing the eagles in White Rock and Delta! We’ve spent time predicting how long we think it will take for eggs to hatch and incubate … we’ve recorded our wonders collaboratively on our google doc and we’ve learned how to do INCREDIBLE research AND detailed answers to our wonders. We’ve learned SO many things about eagles … watching them sit through unBEARABLE weather … laying their eggs … working on their nests … incubating then CARING for their newly hatched eaglets!
What follows are just SOME of our thoughts about this learning journey SO far:
“Cheep! On March 6 and 7 at 2:41 and 7:10 we had two eggs! Wow! WOW … WOW! What? Two eggs in Delta!!! I thought the Delta eggs would never get laid BUT I was wrong; I wonder when they’ll hatch? (One month later.) Oh WOW! Babies! I wonder what their names are? Two years ago there was Kilo and Lima. David Suzuki and David Hancock are scientists. They study eagles and help SAVE them! Ma keeps on nesturating and making holes. They live in BC. When they were hatched they were oogly but 1 day after they were SOO cute I CRIED!” ~Zari
If you look VERY closely … can you spot the teeny tiny EGG TOOTH the eaglet uses to peck its way out of the egg? This is SO exciting!
“In White Rock the first egg was hatched on April 13. The second was hatched on April 15! The Delta egg was hatched April 14 and April 15! The eaglets look so cute! I wonder why the older one was pecking at the youngest? Why does the oldest get more food than the youngest? My lowlight was when the youngest was getting pecked at. My highlight was when the mom dug a hole and put the oldest in the hole so he would stop pecking at the youngest.” ~Brooklyn
“The Delta and White Rock eggs HATCHED! They are so cute and when they hatched they looked oogly! In Delta one of the eaglets poked the other eaglet and was eating all the food. But, the White Rock eaglets are okay. I wonder what the eaglets’ names are going to be. White Rock or Delta were protecting their eggs by fighting tough for the eggs. I wonder if eagles eat worms like other birds.” ~Beyazit
We LOVE how these cameras make us feel like we are RIGHT there in the TREE with these amazing eagles!
“Hi! Today I’m going to talk to you about the eagle discoveries. I wonder what would happen if another eagle gets to a different eagle’s egg? I wonder hoe much energy does an eagle use protecting and defending its babies? I wonder do eagles smell and if they do how bad do they smell? We discovered that eagles eat duck! Oh! Here is a super good scientist with animals: David Hancock. I wonder how many eagles are in the world? How many times does a baby eagle peck? What is an eagle’s purpose in the world?” ~Eric
“We watched eagles on eagle cams and we found lots of discoveries on the way. I wonder if the mom eagle or the dad eagle leaves their baby when the baby eagle gets big? I discovered that the babies can die very easily when the baby is born. A highlight is that the baby eagles are out of the eggs. A lowlight is that the baby eagle might die because predators might eat the baby. I really hope that the babies won’t die. I can’t wait until they are older. I was really looking forward to seeing it when it is older.” ~Tareq
“Crack! Split! Bam! All our eaglets have hatched in both Delta and White Rock!!! Yay! In Delta, the oldest eaglet was pecking the younger eaglet. I hope nobody got hurt. (By “I hope nobody got hurt” I mean: I hope the little one did not get hurt!) YIKES! A day or two later the little eaglet started to pick on the big one. But, luckily they both stopped … sort of!” ~Rowen
These eagles take SUCH great care of their eggs, sitting through ALL kinds of uncomfortable weather!
“The first egg for White Rock got laid March 6 at 2:41 pm and it hatched on April 13. It took 38 days to hatch! The second egg got laid March 9 at 7:10 pm and hatched April 15. That’s 36 days. The first Delta egg was laid March 5 at 6:14 pm and hatched April 14. That’s 39 days. The second Delta egg was laid March 8 at 3:55 pm and it hatched on April 15. That’s 37 days. I wonder why the mom eagle won’t stop the bigger eaglet from pecking at the smaller eaglet. I wonder why the White Rock eggs were more cleaner than the Delta eggs?” ~Colter
“There are two eagle cams and the cams are in White Rock and Delta. The White Rock mommy laid an egg March 6 at 2:41. The White Rock mommy laid a second egg March 9 at 7:10 pm. Okay … let’s get to Delta. Delta mommy laid an egg March 5 at 6:14 and her second one on March 8 at 3:55. Now, back to White Rock. The eggs for White Rock hatched April 13th and 15th and the Delta eggs hatched April 14th and April 16th. One of my highlights was to see the mommy eagle feed the eaglets. I wonder if the eaglet’s grandparents are still alive? I discovered that an eagle’s wing span is TWO METRES! WOWZERS!” ~Reid
It was a little worrying seeing the second Delta eaglet stuck in his shell but finally the shell fell off! GREAT screenshot, Payton!
“Yo! My name is Colby and I’m going to take you on a trip about eagles! My highlights were that both of the eggs in both nests hatched. The eaglets are SO cute. The mama was an awesome protector and the daddy was an awesome hunter! I discovered lots. I will tell you some. I discovered that the eaglets use their egg tooth, (the egg tooth is on their beak), to break the egg open. The adult eagles have a bare spot on their stomaches and it is called the brood patch. It takes 36 to 38 days until the eggs hatch. (Sometimes they hatch late or the egg dies.) My lowlights are when the eaglets peck each other. The older one usually wins. (I call when the eaglets peck each other: war over food!) I have one wonder. How are the eaglets getting named? Well, I have a question for you! Would you ben an eagle? Bye!” ~Colby
“Me and my class are watching the eagle cams. The mommy laid two eggs and then she had to incubate them for 38 days with RAIN and SNOW! They finally hatched on April 13th.” ~Alinah
If you look VERY closely you can see this tiny eaglet’s egg tooth … AND … a pip on the second egg!
“Hello! Today I am going to be writing about these here birds called eagles and their eaglets! The nests and LIVE webcams are called White Rock and the other one is Delta! First it started off when one morning our teacher said today we are going to be looking at Bald Eagles and they are LIVE! Then, later one … on March 6th at White Rock the first egg was laid! Then, three days later … March 9th … another egg was laid!!! Yay! I was so happy because I knew in a month or so we would be mamas and daddas! But, that was only for White Rock though! By the way, this is in BC! Then, there was another eagle webcam called Delta! When the first Delta egg was laid it was on March 5th and then three days later again … March 8th! Yay! Again … a month later we started seeing pips! (These are little cracks in the eggs.) Then, at White Rock on April 13 an egg hatched! Then, the next day at Delta there was a first eaglet for Delta, (April 14th)!!! Then, on the same day, (April 15), White Rock AND Delta both hatched! So … that’s the story of both the eaglets at both nests! I have a couple wonders though. So, the first one is: I wonder why the eaglets peck at each other? The second one is I wonder why the mom USUALLY doesn’t split them up when they are pecking? One of my highlights about the eagles are that the eaglets hatched because they are so adorable!!! My lowlight is that the eaglets peck at each other. That’s all I have for today! See you next time! Bye!” ~Vivian
“Me and my class are watching eagle cams! We are watching two eagles. One is in White Rock and one is in Delta. The White Rock eggs were laid on March 6 at 2:41 pm and on March 9 at 7:10 pm. The Delta eggs were laid March 5 at 6:14 pm and March 8 at 3:55 pm. And they were hatched April 13 and April 15 for white Rock and April 14 and 15 for Delta. They are so fuzzy and cute! When the eaglet comes out it uses something on its beak called an egg tooth. They use it to peck their way out. When the eagles come out, they look oogly! They are so cute! I hope they grow to be big and strong!” ~Leah
Their feathers are SPECIALLY designed to repel the raindrops and keep them warm!
“Oh! Hi there! It’s nice to see you again! Today I’m going to tell you a little bit about eagles! So, you might remember last time I told you about the eagles next door but it’s been a pretty long time so there’s more going on with the eagles! Okay. This is going to be exciting but there were two eggs in White Rock and Delta and they hatched so now we have TWO baby eaglets in BOTH nests! You should have seen my face when it was trying to peck its way out! Did you know that the eaglets DON’T peck with their beaks and they peck with an EGG TOOTH? An egg tooth is something that grows on their beaks and they use it to peck out because their beaks are all curved! I was really surprised when my teacher told me! I really, really REALLY loved it when I saw the first eaglet come out of it’s egg! It was magical! My lowlight is probably that in the Delta nest the older one is pecking at the younger one and I’m kinda worried because earlier today the younger one was just lying down in the nest but then he or she got back up and I was so relieved! But, other than that, I have no more lowlights. Oh, and I forgot to tell you this but I also loved it when I saw the pip because I was about to scream but I’m not allowed to! I wish you were there because I had an amazing time from this adventure. It was so much fun sharing this with you! I hope you liked it too! Maybe now, since you read this, you might want to watch the eagles too! Well, I’ve worked on this all day so I’m going to go do some other things! Bye!” ~Connie
What a DIRTY nest! They can get SO smelly once the eaglets hatch that the parents bring in evergreen boughs to mask the smell! ANOTHER great screenshot! THANKS, Leah!
“3, 2, 1 … ACTION! Oh, hey! I didn’t see you there! I was talking about the eagles in Delta and White Rock. So, let’s get to it! So, first let’s talk about Delta. So, the first egg was laid March 5 at 6:14 pm. Egg number two was laid March 8 at 3:55 pm. And, the White Rock egg number one was laid March 6 at 2:41 pm. Egg number two was laid March 9 at 7:10 pm. Then they hatched. It takes like 38 to 39 days until they hatch. They are the cutest. They are so small. Cut. Okay. That’s a rap for the day. See you later!” ~Emily
“I wonder if the eaglets will be really strong? I wonder if the eaglets will not fight and the mom will do something about the fighting. I wish that the mom would feed them at the same time so they grow and become adults. They are so cute.” ~Nic
Look at this GRUESOME, yet YUMMY dinner they are about to share! A TRUE West Coast diet!
“Hi! We’re learning about some eagles on cameras. David Suzuki knows about them and he studies them. David Hancock studies eagles too. The eagle that lives in White Rock and Delta both have eaglets. Well … they have two eaglets. Now the mom has to protect them. Also the mom or dad get fish also and sometimes the eagle gets duck to feed the eaglets too! Oh, and one eaglet looks like it is going to die but it is not.” ~Daniel
“Crack! This was so exciting! The first pip in the egg! I was crying it was so happy! I wonder what can eat eagles? Did you know that eagle eggs weigh 120 grams? That’s TWO chicken eggs! My lowlight was the bigger eaglet gets all the food! Poor eaglet! But as we watch a bit more the mom made a hole for the eaglet to stay in and it didn’t peck a lot anymore! YES!” Evelyn L
“Hi! I am going to talk to you about our eagle discoveries! I am going to tell you my highlights. One: watching the eagles. Two: doing this great experience with my class! My last highlight is watching the eaglets!!! Now … for my lowlights. One: We did not get to see the eagles lay the eggs. We were so disappointed. Two: In the Delta nest one of the eaglets is very weak. We are getting very sad. Now. Now more lowlights. So, maybe we should start talking about what the White Rock and the Delta eagles eat. They live very close to the Pacifi ocean so they eat fish and ducks and birds. That’s my discoveries!” ~Arash
Eagles are such fiercely strong predators … just LOOK at those talons! And yet … they are so GENTLE with their eggs!
“It was awesome to see two eggs in each nest!!! In one or two months the four eggs HATCHED! Delta egg one hatched April 14 and egg two hatched April 15. For White Rock egg one hatched april 13 and for egg two, it hatched April 15!!! Baby eagles are called eaglets. To get out of the egg the eaglet uses its egg tooth to peck its way out. The White Rock nest is right next to the Pacific Ocean. Mom or dad go get fish and when mom or dad gets back the eagles rip the fish and eat it.” ~Alex
“On March the 5th White Rock laid an egg and when it was laid I was SO excited because that meant in 38 days they’ll hatch. In the Delta nest there were two eggs and in the White Rock there were two eggs too! I wonder why the White Rock egg hatched before the Delta egg even though the Delta egg was laid first? I wonder why the bigger chick always pecked on the littler one? When the eggs hatched the babies looked so ADORABLE and cute! I wish that I was there so I could fish because I love fish! I wonder why when the baby eaglets hatch they are all gray except their beaks? I wonder if the mama or dada would switch turns when it’s snowing or raining horribly? My lowlight is that the mommy or daddy had to sit in the horrible weather because it was raining very hard and their nests were wet sometimes! My highlight is when the babies hatched because the babies looked super cute and adorable! I wonder why I haven’t seen a real bald eagle when I was in Vancouver for four, five or six days! I wonder how do the people get the cameras up in the trees without getting hurt or letting the eagles see them? The babies remind me of Smokey, Spot and Bandit because they look so fluffy, adorable and cute but the eaglets are gray and the ducks were yellow that’s the only difference. Why does the bigger one get the most food and why is the bigger one so RUDE? I wonder if the White Rock mom or dad injured their wing or was it hurt when it was fighting? I wonder how much food does an eaglet get a day? I hope that none of the babies die because the mom and dad did so much work to make them hatch for 38, 39 and 37 days! I wonder if they always get new fresh grass or evergreen tree boughs every day?” ~Sky
A FANTASTIC screenshot of DUCK dinner by a VERY keen webcam observer. THANK you, Leah, for helping us to capture this learning adventure … even while you’re at home!
“Have you ever seen a bald eagle or a bald eaglet? Well, I have. In fact I have been watching eagle cams in White Rock and in Delta with my class! We were watching the cams SO much that we even know when the eggs were laid! In White Rock, the eggs were laid on March 6th and the other egg was laid on March 9th! In Delta the eggs were laid on March 5th and March 8th! After we did some research as a class, and found out that it usually takes 36 to 38 days for bald eagle eggs to hatch! Those eagle eggs took 36 to 39 days to become TRUE eaglets! When eaglets first come out they look kind of oogly because they are wet, egg-shausted and they fall over because they are not very strong and sometimes because they are still exhausted. Once their down feathers dry out they look so CUTE it is hard not to want to have one, (as long as they stay that way)! I wonder if their egg tooth would be sore after pecking their way out of the shell? I also wonder if the eaglets have an instinct of sibling rivalry? Can eaglets be only children, (or two eagles only eaglets)? While I watched the eagle cams from home, I noticed that a day or so after the eaglets hatch they start bobbing their heads back and forth. I thought the eaglets might just be strengthening their necks so that when they’re older they are able to carry fish, ducks and rabbits, etc. in their beaks. In order for the eggs to hatch I learned that the parents take turns doing something called incubating the eggs. And, what it does, is it keeps eggs warm so the eaglet forming inside the eggs don’t freeze to death. Once the eggs hatched I learned another cool thing. The parents build something called a crib rail. It’s where the eaglets sit and stay, it looks like a bowl in the middle of the nest and it is called a crib rail because it acts like a crib for the babies! And, every once in a while the parents will bring evergreen boughs to the crib rail because the eaglets poop in the crib rail and their poop smells bad and they probably don’t want to smell the poop!” ~Payton
Building a BERM to protect their young from the wind and the rain! SUCH attentive parents!
“Hey, everybody! Are you wondering about eagles? Then you came to the right place! So, if you do want to check out some eagles type in “Delta eagle webcam” or “White Rock eagle webcam”. So, let’s get started with some eagle discoveries!!! Eagles roll their eggs so the temperature is even and to make sure that each side is hot not cold. When the eggs hatch the baby eagles are called eaglets. When it comes to lunch, the older eaglet gets the most food. When baby eaglets are starting to hatch they use this thing called an egg tooth to peck it’s way out. Okay, so now I want to share some highlights. These highlights are about the eagle site I told you about earlier. So, these are my highlights. The eggs hatched! Another one is that the younger eaglet was not getting enough food. I thought it was going to die but it didn’t! Time for some lowlights. I just have one lowlight and that is the younger one might die because the older is pecking it a lot and it looks weak! One of my wonders is will the younger eaglet die or will the older eaglet stop pecking it? Check out the webcams! Bye” ~Evelyn S
Just LOOK at how BIG these eaglets have gotten in only TWO weeks!
“We are watching the eagle cams and the first White Rock egg is laid on March 6 at 2:41 pm. Then we waited through March 7, 8 and then March 9 at 7:10 pm the second egg from White Rock was laid! Delta’s first egg was March 5 at 6:14 pm and the second egg was March 8 at 3:55 pm. We are waiting and waiting and there is a lot of rain. They are oogly and tired when they hatch because they could be chipping. Not with their beak because their beak is curved. They chip with this thing called an egg tooth. It is this thing that is on the beak that sticks out. When the chick came out it flopped on the nest. FLOP! It was so tired from pecking for so long. My favourite part is when the mom dug a hole and put the other strong chick in it and gave that chick a time out. It was so cute. My lowlight is when I thought that the Delta egg would not hatch because the eggs were more dirty.” ~Katherine
It’s AMAZING how quickly these eaglets are growing!
“Hi! I’m going to tell you about two eaglets. One in Delta another in White Rock, (British Columbia). The first one I’m going to tell you about is Delta. Egg number one was laid March 5th at 6:14 pm. Egg number two was laid at 3:55 pm. But, the one thing about Delta is that the eggs were so dirty we thought that they got diseased because they were so dirty but guess what. On April 14th and 15th we figured out that they were not but … earlier today we saw that one of the Delta eaglets were down and not getting any food. I thought that the older eaglet pecked at the younger one but the mother or father would not help it because the eaglets when they get older they have to hunt for their own food like fish, rabbit, duck and more but their main diet I would say is fish and duck! It takes 38 – 39 days to hatch an eagle egg. That’s all I’ve got to say about Delta. Now on to White Rock. Egg one was laid March 6th at 2:41 pm. Egg two was laid at 7:10 pm. And White Rock’s eggs were so much cleaner than Delta’s. Mrs. Renton got a great screenshot of one of the eaglets from Delta or White Rock but I can’t tell. And, if you know what an egg tooth is you can see the egg tooth. Now I’m going to tell you about what an egg tooth is. The white spot on the beak and it helps the baby peck its way out. But, the White Rock baby is doing so much better than the Delta baby. Here are some of my wonders. Why are the babies so aggressive to each other? I wonder why on one day that there were so many feathers in the Delta nest? I wonder why David Suzuki studies eagles?” ~Maya
Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.
~Standing Bear
