Thursday 10 April 2014

Eagle Banding at Merasheen Island

I've just started the monumental task of organizing and cataloging all of the photos that hubby has taken over the years in his work.  He is about to retire and I really want to organize all of the fabulous pictures that he has taken.  As you'll see, it's a job worth doing....I think so anyway.

The first group of pictures I'll share are from an eagle banding trip to Merasheen Island in July of 2006.  Merasheen Island is located in Placentia Bay, on the southeast coast of Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada.  On this trip, my husband and his cohorts actually went up on cliffs at the edge of the ocean and climbed out into eagle nests, to put a tracking band on one of the the legs of the baby eagles (known as eaglets).  Surprisingly, the mother eagle is very non-aggressive and didn't bother them at all while they completed this work.  To see where Merasheen Island is located on the island of Newfoundland, click here.  To actually learn a little about Merasheen Island, click here.


For this particular expedition, the group stayed in a wildlife camp on Merasheen Island.  The provincial government actually have many of these patrol/research camps all over the island.  This is a shot of the spectacular sunrise right form the wharf......


I wouldn't mind getting before daylight if I could look at this view.....


Merasheen was resettled many years ago, but many people come back each summer to fish and some have beautiful homes and cottages on the island.  There are lots of old stages and sheds all along the coastline, that are still used by the people who come each summer, like this.......


Here's a shot of mama eagle coming back to the nest...


This little guys just got banded, as you can see......

Notice the band on the left leg.


In the afternoon, after the days' work is complete, it sight-seeing time.  Here is an old abandoned stage near the water's edge........


Here, the boys pulled up and visited with some people who come back here to live each summer, to trap lobsters.......

  
This friendly little guy was really happy to see visitors.........






This is the view from the wharf at camp that they stayed in.......what a place to sit and relax after a day's work........wait for sunset, then crawl into a warm cozy sleeping bag.....


Cheers
:)