After a brief mid-winter departure the Wesbrook Eagles have been sighted off and on for several weeks now. I personally observed the eagles flying around their obstructed nest and landing on branches near it in mid-January. I have reports of the eagles calling and flying around their obstructed nest site from other residents. Some people have even taken to posting notes about eagle sightings on the development sign.
As of publication no one has reported seeing the eagles approach the artificial replacement nest (which is situated a couple hundred meters to the north of the original nest).
Early stories on A Campus Resident raised concerns about the poor placement of the replacement nest. Observers questioned whether a nest about a third of the way down the tree and lacking a clear 360 degree flight access would be adopted by the eagles.
“The artificial platform lacks the same clear line of sight and flight access and is relatively lower down in the forest canopy than the actual nest site. The idea is, however, that once the original nest is coned, the birds will simply shift location a few hundred meters to the human built platform” (Eagle Nests @ UBC).
“Having spent many decades on the north coast of British Columbia I have accumulated some years of traditional knowledge from my family and my own observations. What I am concerned about (and hope my worry is unfounded) is the artificial nest looks nothing like any of the many nests I have observed in my lifetime. Typically nests are set almost at the top of the tree with 360 degree unobstructed access. The artificial nest set up by Properties Trust is about midway up the tree with restricted access. The revised Properties Trust update says nothing about this problematic placement of the artificial nest (Eagles’ Nest Coned).
UBC and UBC Properties Trust were asked for comment on the current status of their monitoring. They replied as follows:
A Qualified Environmental Professional from Diamond Head Consulting (DHC) is monitoring the nest to observe the eagle’s behaviour. As part of the ongoing management of the eagle habitat, DHC will report their findings to UBCPT and share them with UBC.
Essentially, UBC has not altered its narrative since the Board of Governors’ met last September, 2022. At that time they doubled down on saying they were doing everything right (under regulations and procedures) and the experts (Hancock Foundation and BC’s Ministry of Forests) backed them up (the UBC position is nicely summarized by UBC PT).
Meanwhile, fencing for the Polygon development site that provoked the obstruction of the eagle nest is proceeding today- expect excavators shortly thereafter.
Thank you for continuing to report on the eagles!