An unexpected occurance has forced us to suspend eagle feeding for the time being.  Unfortunately I am not at liberty to elaborate at the present time but expect to have more information later this week.  I deeply regret this necessity and apologize for the inconvenience caused to those who have travelled to attend the feedings.

9:00 am feeding

It was -14, sunny with a few clouds.  Some of the Quebec visitors have returned home via the Gaspe  peninsula but four remain.  I distributed two buckets of medium and large chicken with the help of two of them.

Two eagles came down quite quickly but the numbers took a while to build.  In the end there were forty or so eagles on the ground and in the trees.  Not much of a flying display, no doubt influenced by the size of the chickens.

11:00 am  feeding

The temperature had risen to minus 8 but the wind had picked up so felt just as cold.  The sun was still shining.  I distributed one bucket of medium and small chicken and one bucket of large.  After 10 minutes there was still no action so I went off on a couple of errands.  I returned forty minutes later and the show was already over.  Thirty eagles were reported on the ground at one time with at least 10 more in the trees.

A follow up on yesterday.  Due to the stormy weather there was only a 9 o'clock feeding.  My Quebecois friend reports only four eagles on the ground at any one time - perhaps half a dozen in total.  They didn't come down until 10:30.

9:00 and 11:00 am feedings

Again, not many eagles around.  I was fortunate to have my farming neighbour snow blow my driveway or I couldn't have made it.  The same chap cleared the way into the field and the viewing strip.  Many thanks, Dale.

While the chicken from the nine o'clock feeding had been taken before I arrived back at 11:00 I did not hang around to see the numbers myself.  I stayed briefly for the  eleven o'clock feeding.  I counted a half dozen eagles in the trees and only one on the ground before the cold wind got the better of me.

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Sorry to have missed a couple of blog days.

Because of the storm there was only one feeding today at 9:00 am.  There were some hardy souls from Quebec on site and a few eagles in the trees.  They had not come down after half an hour.

The previous two days saw good shows and 40 - 50 eagles for the 11:00 am feeding, slightly less for the 9:00 am.

Tomorrow's feedings are driveway (can I dig my way out?) and weather dependent. 

9:00 am feeding

It was cold at -9 but no wind and a bit of sun when I arrived at site.  I distributed one bucket of medium size chickens.  There were 30 - 35 eagles and they came down almost immediately and put on a good show for the 35 spectators.

11:00 am feeding

The temperature had risen to -3 and the crowd had grown to over 60 swelled by a delegation from the NSCC environmental program at Kingstec.  The recent pattern of prompt response from the eagles continued.  Eagle numbers were 40 - 45.  I distributed 2 buckets of medium to large chickens.  The ground display was one of the best of the season. 

9:00 am feeding

Weather was overcast with a light snow falling and a temperature of -6.  A couple of inches of powder fell overnight.  No wind, so temperature was comfortable.

I distributed one bucket of medium to large chickens.  Waiting time for the fifteen spectators was under five minutes.  As was the case yesterday it was mostly ground action, albeit pretty good.  I counted about 35 eagles.

11:00 am feeding

The number of eagles didn't swell as much as yesterday as the were no more than 40 eagles present.  The temperature had risen to +1 so that may have influenced numbers.  It remained overcast so no patches of blue and sun today.

I didn't have any chicks today so I distributed 1 bucket of small chickens and 1 bucket of medium to large.  Again, waiting time was under 5 minutes.  A decent aerial show and a very good ground show followed.  The crows and ravens were very active as well.  There were 15 - 20 spectators.

I have noticed that so far this year there haven't been as many juveniles.  I counted 5 today which means the adults are outnumbering the juveniles by 6 or 7 to  1.  I haven't recorded numbers for previous years but it feels like a low juvenile count this year.

9:00 am feeding

It was -6 and overcast as I arrived at site.  There had been a overnight powder snowfall amounting to about 4" (10 cm).  I distributed 1 bucket of medium large chickens.

The action started in about 5 minutes, some aerial but mostly on the ground.  There were 30 - 35 eagles and 8 spectators.

11:00 am feeding

The temperature had risen to -2 and some sun appeared through a partly cloudy sky.  Dylan joined me in distributing a bucket of medium and a mixed bucket of chicks and small birds.  Again the action started within 5 minutes.  Eagle numbers had grown to over 50 and there were 15 spectators.  

The aerial display was good with a number of chickens taken on the wing.  Following up from earlier speculation about the success rates of this manoeuvre, I observed better success rates today.  The powder snow is more like taking fish from the water, which seems to confirm my earlier view.  Also, some of the chickens being taken were larger.

There was also an excellent display on the ground.  We have had a good string of excellent shows seemingly coinciding with the arrival of the migrant birds to swell numbers and increase demand.

9:00 am feeding

It was -12 degrees and sunny as I arrived at the site.  I distributed 1 bucket of large chickens.

The eagles came down in less than five minutes - about 35 in number.  As it was yesterday, there was no great aerial display as the eagles came to ground almost immediately.  The good ground action was seen by about 30 spectators.

11:00 am feeding

It was still sunny when I arrived and the temperature had risen to -6 degrees.  The place was crowded with an estimated 80+ spectators, biggest so far this season.

I distributed one bucket of medium to large chickens and a bucket of chicks.  I had no sooner picked up the second empty bucket when the eagles flew in and continued to come, one flying over my car as I drove away.

It was amazing.  There were in the region of 100 eagles, the most I have seen in at least two years.  Both the aerial display and the ground action were fantastic.  It was all over in about 25 minutes but was an excellent advertisement.  I'm sure everyone who came enjoyed the show.

C-c-c-cold!  It was minus 22 degrees as I pulled into the eagle feeding site.  There were about 30 brave and hardy souls who had come out and about the same number of eagles in the surrounding trees.

I distributed a bucket of medium to large size chickens.  It didn't take long - about 5 minutes -  for the eagles to come down.  There wasn't much of a flying display but considerable action on the ground. 

By eleven the temperature was up to minus 13, the crowd had swelled to 50+ and there were 60 birds (estimate) in the surrounding trees.   This time the feeding consisted of a half bucket of chicks and a bucket of large chickens.  The delay in the action wasn't long - 10 to 15 minutes.  The wait was worth it as there was a fantastic aerial display with 25 - 30 birds circling at a time.  This was followed by some good on ground action.

I was asked why the eagles fail to take the chicken on the wing so often.  My explanation is that the diving action is commonly done over water in catching fish.  That's a far cry from doing the same trick over frozen ground.  Anybody else have some thoughts?

​All in all a good day and a very good turnout.

It has been a long time since my last blog entry on March 29th, 2020 and it is really good to be back.
I am pleased to report that my health issues are behind me, apart from the usual aches and pains of getting older.  Thank you to all my well wishers and to Mike, Dylan, Peggy, Jim and Bridget who filled in for me last year.

This season I began feeding on December 20th.  There are two feedings per day at 9:00 am and 11:00 am subject to storms and chicken availability.  Up until a couple of weeks ago we were typically seeing 20 - 30 eagles but the last two weeks have seen an increase in numbers.  Fifty is now typical with one report of 75 birds.  It would appear that the migrants are moving in.

There appears to be less "competition" in the immediate area.  I have not yet seen any activity on Fred Thomas Road or across from the Baptist Church on Middle Dyke Road.  There have been sightings of snowy owls at Grand Pre not far from Evangeline Beach.  There are at least three birds there.

The number of spectators at our site is usually five to ten during the week and double that on the weekends.  

As you will see from the website the pancake breakfasts have fallen victim to Covid 19 again this year.  Last year the donation box at our site saw $1,800 go into our hall operation fund.  Many thanks for your generosity!  Long may it continue!

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