The sudden death of an 11-week-old eagle born to a famous British Columbia bald eagle family has prompted an outpouring of sadness from fans around the world who have been watching the birds’ progress on the Internet.
The tree-top nest that was Phoenix the eaglet’s home is on the property of Doug Carrick on Hornby Island, one of B.C’s Gulf Islands.
Carrick, who has been observing this particular eagle family for about 20 years, trained a webcam on the nest in 2004. After he started live-streaming the images over the Internet, thousands began following the real-time daily goings-on of “Mom and Dad Hornby.”
“This family of eagles is maybe the most watched family of eagles in the world. They’ve been on for six years now and all their advances are followed intensely by everyone,” Carrick says, adding that viewers had been avidly following Phoenix’s rapid growth from a “lovely fuzz ball” to a “teenage brat.”
Both a forum and a Facebook page on the eagles have been inundated with comments since the young bird’s death last week.
“My heart aches and I feel such loss. Thank you for such a wonderful experience, watching him hatch in real time and watching him grow over the months,” wrote Debbi Robertson.
“I am still crying. This whole thing has brought many souls together to grieve and I am comforted by the fact that I am not alone,” wrote Cheryl B.
Valleygirl wrote, “That little rascal will be soooo missed and I just wish she/he had had the chance to feel the wind beneath his wings just one time!”
Phoenix’s fans had been looking forward to his highly anticipated fledging. He was about a week away from his maiden flight when he died.
“There’s something about these eagles; people get so attached to them,” says Carrick.
“I think it’s made it very personal and so people tend to get very attached, and also they realize these great, vicious eagles—how tender and caring they are for their offspring.... So it’s a very moving experience.”
Because people were worried that Phoenix’s parents hadn’t returned to the nest since his death, Carrick says he located the pair on a nearby beach and videotaped them. The female was perched in a tree while the male was feasting on a salmon.
“I’m able to put that video over the whole system and that made people feel much better seeing that mom and dad are carrying on, they’re still around. That seemed to be very therapeutic.”
After being removed from his nest at the top of a 120-feet Douglas fir, a preliminary examination was carried out on Phoenix in Courtenay on Vancouver Island. The bird was then flown by helicopter to Vancouver, where B.C.’s chief animal pathologist on Sunday determined he had died from acute pneumonia.
“They treated it like an international celebrity. I don’t think I’ll get treated that way when I die,” quips Carrick.
He says people have also been asking whether Phoenix’s parents will return to the nest to lay more eggs when the time comes. After migrating north to feed on spawning salmon, he predicts they’ll return the first few days of October—as they do every year.
“I’m expecting they’ll be back as usual and then in due time they’ll start putting more branches in the nest getting all ready for another year,” he says.
“This is their 21st year and I’ve been watching all that time. They’ve had tragedies before, but they come back every year and lay more eggs.”
The tree-top nest that was Phoenix the eaglet’s home is on the property of Doug Carrick on Hornby Island, one of B.C’s Gulf Islands.
Carrick, who has been observing this particular eagle family for about 20 years, trained a webcam on the nest in 2004. After he started live-streaming the images over the Internet, thousands began following the real-time daily goings-on of “Mom and Dad Hornby.”
“This family of eagles is maybe the most watched family of eagles in the world. They’ve been on for six years now and all their advances are followed intensely by everyone,” Carrick says, adding that viewers had been avidly following Phoenix’s rapid growth from a “lovely fuzz ball” to a “teenage brat.”
Both a forum and a Facebook page on the eagles have been inundated with comments since the young bird’s death last week.
“My heart aches and I feel such loss. Thank you for such a wonderful experience, watching him hatch in real time and watching him grow over the months,” wrote Debbi Robertson.
“I am still crying. This whole thing has brought many souls together to grieve and I am comforted by the fact that I am not alone,” wrote Cheryl B.
Valleygirl wrote, “That little rascal will be soooo missed and I just wish she/he had had the chance to feel the wind beneath his wings just one time!”
Phoenix’s fans had been looking forward to his highly anticipated fledging. He was about a week away from his maiden flight when he died.
“There’s something about these eagles; people get so attached to them,” says Carrick.
“I think it’s made it very personal and so people tend to get very attached, and also they realize these great, vicious eagles—how tender and caring they are for their offspring.... So it’s a very moving experience.”
Because people were worried that Phoenix’s parents hadn’t returned to the nest since his death, Carrick says he located the pair on a nearby beach and videotaped them. The female was perched in a tree while the male was feasting on a salmon.
“I’m able to put that video over the whole system and that made people feel much better seeing that mom and dad are carrying on, they’re still around. That seemed to be very therapeutic.”
After being removed from his nest at the top of a 120-feet Douglas fir, a preliminary examination was carried out on Phoenix in Courtenay on Vancouver Island. The bird was then flown by helicopter to Vancouver, where B.C.’s chief animal pathologist on Sunday determined he had died from acute pneumonia.
“They treated it like an international celebrity. I don’t think I’ll get treated that way when I die,” quips Carrick.
He says people have also been asking whether Phoenix’s parents will return to the nest to lay more eggs when the time comes. After migrating north to feed on spawning salmon, he predicts they’ll return the first few days of October—as they do every year.
“I’m expecting they’ll be back as usual and then in due time they’ll start putting more branches in the nest getting all ready for another year,” he says.
“This is their 21st year and I’ve been watching all that time. They’ve had tragedies before, but they come back every year and lay more eggs.”
