Interesting article about this in the paper today.[size=10pt]Three million log on daily in hopes of seeing eagles hatch[/size]
Stuart Hunter, The Province
Published: Sunday, April 30, 2006
The eaglet has not yet landed. But Doug Carrick, the man responsible for broadcasting a Hornby Island eagle's nest to millions of online viewers, was cautiously optimistic yesterday.
"I've braced myself that it might not be a 100-per-cent success but I'm keeping my fingers crossed," Carrick, a 73-year-old retired accountant, told The Province. "I thought one was hatching on Friday, but it was a false alarm."
Carrick initially believed one of the two eggs was hatching, but what he thought was the fuzzy head of an eaglet was just fluff and dirt on the egg shell.
Carrick said eagle eggs usually take 35 days to hatch, but last year this same pair's two eggs took 38 days. This year's first egg was due to hatch last Friday; the second, laid four days later, is due Tuesday.
Last year, one eaglet lived for six days before dying.
The second died the same day it hatched, making Carrick "tentative" about success this year. In previous years, on four occasions two chicks survived, on seven occasions one chick survived and five times none lived.
Carrick's busy website --
www.infotecbusinesssystems.com/wildlife -- has received about three million hits daily, with about 100 million tuning in to watch the male and female with their no-non-sense looks and yellow beaks taking turns nuzzling themselves onto the eggs.
In a very egalitarian way, one sits while the other hunts.
shunter@png.canwest.com
