Whychus eagles are ready to fledge

The eaglets in the nest on Whychus Creek are in the fledge stage. According to Jim Hammond, one of the eaglets left the nest on Monday morning.

The Sisters Eagle Cam is the only active live camera observing a golden eagle nest that has been on-line this year (www.goldeneaglecam.com). Regular viewers of the camera are in locations across the U.S. and Canada.

2015 marks the sixth consecutive year that this nest has been occupied by a nesting pair of golden eagles, and there have been successful fledges of either one or two eaglets for each of the last six years. This year, there are two healthy chicks, probably both males. They were born a few days apart, each within a day or two of April 1.

Located several miles east of Sisters on Whychus Creek Canyon, this eagle cam was the brainchild of Janet Zuelke and Forrest Babcock, who at the time owned the property across the canyon from the nest. They built a gazebo to house the equipment, and engineered the optical system that is able to capture images from 1,200 or so feet across the canyon, and beam them out on the Internet.

The nest is on the Aspen Hollow Preserve of the Deschutes Land Trust and East Cascades Audubon Society has taken over the funding. During this season, the eagle cam and website have been operated and maintained by Jim Hammond (optics) and Leslie Lawrence (website, and current owner of camera site), with significant technical support from Anthony Kay.