[EBB Sightings] "the eagles have landed"

Similarly, we have seen nesting or probable nesting pairs of golden
eagles in our "south watershed" (southwest of Moraga), at Sibley, in the
watershed northeast of San Pablo Reservoir, and just north and east of
Pinole Peak in the Franklin Canyon area.  We've never done GOEA nesting
surveys, and we can't say if these pairs have ever all nested in the
same year. But the south watershed pair is there every year. 

The San Pablo GOEA pair moves around (usually due to nest tree
failures), and has recently backed away from the reservoir (Lindsey
Museum has twice been instrumental in saving a golden eagle chick from
this pair after the nest failed or they were otherwise on the ground).
Last year we saw them closer to Briones Reservoir, and juveniles were
seen soaring in July.  The Sibley pair is not closely followed by EBMUD.
The Franklin Canyon (probably your "Alhambra Valley") pair nested this
year, and could frequently be seen foraging over Pinole Valley.  

So, ancillary observations during the course of our other work suggest
that the northern- and southernmost pairs nested this year.  Though we
usually see the nesting GOEAs near San Pablo Reservoir, we don't have
any reports for 2007. And as I suggest above, others track the GOEAs at
Sibley.

Roger

Roger D. Hartwell
Supervising Fisheries and Wildlife Biologist
East Bay Municipal Utility District 
Fisheries and Wildlife Division
500 San Pablo Dam Road
Orinda, CA 94563
(510) 287-2025
Business Fax (925) 254-8320

 

-----Original Message-----
From: sightings-bounces at diabloaudubon.com
[mailto:sightings-bounces at diabloaudubon.com] On Behalf Of Bob Power
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 7:15 PM
To: Linda Fishman; Sightings at diabloaudubon.com
Subject: Re: [EBB Sightings] "the eagles have landed"

Linda, while I hope that we're all sharing our eagles, And the current
Sibley pair may indeed have nested in Briones this year, an equally
plausible explanation is that the east bay is big enough to house
several breeding pair of Golden Eagles. 

Contra Costa's Breeding Bird Atlas
(www.flyingemu.com/ccosta/) shows confirmed breeding of Golden Eagle in
the Sibley area, the Tilden/San Pablo Res. area, and the
Briones/Alhambra Valley area.
The boundaries of Hwy 152/101/5/ and 780 contain the highest density of
breeding golden eagles in north america.  We're blessed.
There may be a local pair who have delighted all of us, or, there may be
several.

Thanks to the atlasers for doing the fieldwork and sharing it with the
rest of us. 

Bob Power
Oakland, CA

> The family that had been soaring daily over Alhambra Valley (Martinez)

> has gone. I'll place a bet that the parents have returned to Sibley 
> and the kids have been turned out on their own.
> 
> Last time we hiked Sibley, we noticed how close Lafayette Reservoir 
> really is by air. From there it is an easy flight over to Briones, 
> where I believe the pair was nesting this year.
> 
> Thanks for the loan of your favorites, Debbie! We certainly enjoyed 
> their antics and cries.
> 
> Linda Ott

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