Jobb's Comfort Eagle Clan

Eagle pair on Lucy Island

Our first summer sailing we had a few days with a family named Jobb. We went into Work Channel, met the local humpback whale, and found a wonderful anchorage beside a tiny perfect island. The island had no name on the chart so we named it after our charter family – Jobb’s Comfort Island.

Every year we find new wonders in this special place – a seal family on the reefs, humpback whale circling in the channel, trolling for salmon in the dinghy. On this trip our delight was the eagles. There were lots of eagles, some alone, some in pairs, perched on high snags, rocks, beaches, and soaring high above. Sometimes competitive long dives for fish.

June 4. We were fishing. An eagle on the highest snag on the island beside us was watching. Thomas threw a small Pacific Cod from our catch out on the waters and immediately the eagle swooped down and grabbed it. “We could hear the swoosh across our shoulders!” Here he is carrying away his fish.

The eagle flew into the trees beside another eagle, and then we saw the nest. A huge pile of sticks high in a tree, visible only from the viewpoint our boat happened to be anchored in. So with our binoculars we enjoyed our neighbours for hours. She seemed to be wearing a lovely green woven shawl. Grass? No, more like ferns growing in the nest.
We couldn’t see chicks in the nest, but here’s a picture of what could well have been there, a 5 week old eaglet.

We watched each of the adults catch fish and return to the nest, one stting in the nest, one perched on a high snag nearby. At the end of the day both of them retired to the nest.

Here is an eagle on the nest, with the green ferns in front of her wing.

Above the eagle on the snag is the other one on the nest. Look carefully.

Later addition: In early August we saw this handsome eaglet sitting on his nest. He was watching our "Friends of Lucy Island" volunteer crew repair the boardwalk.


More adventures:
June 5. We think this is Miss Silver of the north bank of the Toon River estuary. We have seen her other summers in this spot. We're heading out now with son Cosmo and wife Susan to return here - we hope to see her again, and perhaps the large male down by the river mouth.


To find out about our sailing adventures see the posting on April 30, Welcome to La Sonrisa.
To read about the Sustainable Coast Project see May 16, The Sustainable Coast.