Remembering Eloise--The First Lady of HBEC

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Eloise, the original female bald eagle at the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam project.  She was spotted on the nest cam Saturday with an injury under her right wing.  On Sunday Harrison Bay State Park rangers responded to a local land owner reporting an eagle in distress.  She was captured and taken to the University of Tennessee Veterinary College for treatment but did not survive her injuries.

We have, as viewers of HBEC, had the distinct pleasure of watching her care for her nest and territory.  From watching her direct her mate Elliott as to where each and every stick should be placed around the nest perimeter to carefully and delicately rolling her eggs and feeding her chicks without the slightest chance of injury to them with her razor sharp beak or talons to protecting her nest from predators or other eagles that would like to take over, it has been a true gift to witness this.

Since 2010 Eloise has laid 12 eggs of which 10 successfully hatched and fledged from our nest to take to the skies and fly free.  Along that path we have had several close calls or frights including the premature branching and fledging of HB5 which lead to a capture and rehabilitation stint at the American Eagle Foundation before being released back at the golf course.  HB5 Flies Free Again

Watching Eloise care for her eaglets was a tremendous honor.  There were so many times where she would shelter them from rain and snow and stay awake all night long to make sure they were safe and sound.  It has truly been a blessing to get to see this magnificent animal in its natural environment and she will not soon be forgotten.

As many of you may remember Eloise left the nest last year and was replaced by Eliza.  Why this happened no one knows and we feared the worst but hoped for the best and we were all thrilled when she returned this year to reclaim her rightful place as the queen of HBEC.

Photo by Bret Douglas

Our eagle cam is a glimpse into nature at its rawest form.  We have witnessed all the elements that makes life, life.  From birth to death, caring to pain,  anger to love, all of these elements have been on direct display and many of them hurt.  We will miss seeing Eloise "boss" Elliott around about where to place the "furnishings" around the nest, seeing her care for her eaglets in the tender caring way she did, and being taken back by that distinct, heavy browed stare she had.

The Harrison Bay Eagle Cam (http://harrisonbayeaglecam.org) will continue to function as an educational conduit to allow interested viewers to garner a view of an active bald eagle nest in the wild.  Elliott, as his natural instincts tell him to continue his species, has returned to the nest this afternoon with Eliza, the female that took Eloise's place last year.  We can only hope for continued success of the nest and for many more eaglets to be fledged in the years to come to fill the skies.

Photo by Bret Douglas

Fly Free Eloise

We will miss you dearly

Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Almost Ready to Fly

We have had several people ask us about when the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam will be back on line again so I thought we should fill everyone in on the improvements we have made for this coming year.  We think you are going to like them.You just have to be patient a little while longer.

Last year when HB5 was injured and then rehabbed by Al Cecere and the fine people at the American Eagle Foundation we were able to gain some great friends and mentors in the eagle cam world.  The AEF team has been broadcasting live feed of eagle nests from Dollywood for several years and in the past couple years has added a site in northeast Florida to their portfolio.  They have provided us with information on the proper camera to purchase and streaming service so we can provide a better, high quality product to our viewers.

All of our equipment has been upgraded this year from the camera to the microphone to the website, all the way to the communication cable transmitting the signal to the world. If you want a clear signal then fiber optic cable is the way to go and so we did.  Harrison Bay State Park Ranger Matt Vawter has taken over the technological side of this project (it is all way over my head) and has done a tremendous job.  He and Mrs. Angie Underwood of the Friends of Harrison Bay State Park have created a new, user friendly website that we think everyone is going to enjoy.  Matt enlisted the assistance of his father, Paul Vawter, and his lifelong friend CL, to come to the course and terminate the ends on the fiber optic cable.  For one, I was amazed at the special care that had to be taken with this fiber but more amazed at the quality of picture it helps to produce.  Special thanks to Mr. Paul and Mr. CL for their help.

Once again this year Angelo came down to assist us with the installation of the camera and other items that go way up in the top of the tree.  We can not thank Angelo enough for his help, for if he did not help us I don't know if the project would even get off the ground.  I have to give him all the credit though.  He worked for over three hours at over 100 feet in the air in a pine tree that was swaying and twisting in the wind and did a fantastic job.

Although the website is not yet completely ready for public viewing I did want to provide everyone with a screenshot to show the clarity of picture we will have the pleasure to experience this year.  Also this year we will not have any ads or commercials running during our broadcasts so teachers, if your are out there, you can tune into the broadcast and let your students watch the activities without fear (short of the occasional bloody coot that they will eat).



Our site will go live in a week or so but if you want to see an active Bald Eagle nest right now we suggest you visit the American Eagle Foundation Northeast Florida website and see the activities of their beautiful Romeo and Juliet.  AEF Northeast Florida Cam

American Eagle Foundation Visit and Harrison Bay Raptor Center Opens

Mr. Cecere with HB5 before release

Back in June we had the great pleasure of getting to meet Mr. Al Cecere, founder and president of the American Eagle Foundation.  After one of our eaglets, HB5, was injured trying to learn how to fly, Mr. Cecere and his great staff at AEF took care of the eaglet, rehabbing it to get it healthy enough to return to the sky HB5 Flies Free Again. Mr. Cecere was gracious enough to invite us up to Dollywood to the AEF headquarters for a tour and to discuss the best options for us to improve our Harrison Bay Eagle Cam.

On Tuesday Mitch and I took a trip up to the AEF Headquarters which is located on the Dollywood property.  It was quite impressive to see the operation and hear Mr. Cecere speak about how his passion to protect the American Bald Eagle had grown to the size operation it is today.  Currently they have over 80 birds which are housed on property either as educational birds, repopulation mating pairs, or birds which are injured and are being rehabilitated with the hopes of returning to the wild one day.

The highlight of the trip, besides gaining all the valuable information from Mr. Cecere, was the upclose time we got to spend with Challenger, the Foundation's most famous ambassador.  Challenger is a 26 year old male Bald Eagle who can be seen flying at many sporting and social events around the country.  If you watched the opening of the Eagles-Redskins game on Sunday then you were able to see Challenger fly before the game and if you read this before Monday night you can tune into Late Night with David Letterman as Mr. Cecere and Challenger are scheduled to make an appearance.

We were fortunate to be there during Challenger's daily exercise time and were able to watch Mr. Cecere and another handler let Challenger fly back and forth down a 200 foot hallway in the enclosure house.  The silence as Challenger flew by use was amazing and made it very clear why they are such good hunters.  Prey simply can not hear them coming.

Challenger had to be placed in his travel case while they got his "treats" cut up and prepared for his flight time.  Even in a "cage" he still looks regal and demands respect.

Besides providing educational and instructional programs for Dollywood and many many other organizations the AEF also is very active in trying to repopulate the skies with American Bald Eagles.  This structure is known as the "breeding house" where they have mating pairs of bald eagles which have bred hundreds of eaglets which have been raised, trained, and released into the wild.  The adult eagles in this area are disabled in some form or fashion and would not survive in the wild so this is a fantastic place for them to live.  A free nest and free food plus a mate.  How could it get better.

If you have had the pleasure of going to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee hopefully you have taken the time to stop and watch the eagles in the Bald Eagle Aviary and have watched the "Wings of America Birds of Prey" show which is performed four times per day by the AEF.  There are currently 18 bald eagles in the aviary with a couple of nesting pairs inside of the enclosure.  It is quite a site to see all those white heads lined up at the top of the aviary basking in the sun.

Mr. Cecere was kind enough to take us behind the scenes to see the show operation where we got to see a very curious Bald Eagle named "Spirit" who was very interested in what we were doing looking into his enclosure.  Birds like "Spirit" and the other raptors on property make up the "Birds of Prey" show that you can see at the park on a daily basis.  The AEF has been putting on the raptor show since Dollywood opened over 25 years ago and is one of the most popular entertainment activities at the park.

One of the main reasons we went to AEF was to pick Mr. Cecere's brain about how we can improve our Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project for this year.  He was more than willing to show us the entire setup and gave us all the information we needed to copy his NE Florida operation.  Gaining friendships with experienced people in the eagle world is fantastic and will allow us to provide a better experience for our viewers.

Thanks so much to Mr. Cecere and everyone involved with the American Eagle Foundation for their time, experience, and encouragement.

Back home at Harrison Bay State Park we have some exciting news to tell you about as well.  Last week the rangers at the park were able to add three injured birds to the Harrison Bay Raptor Center.  These birds are injured or disabled and will remain at the Center where they will be cared for and will provide educational and viewing opportunities for park and community guests.  This is a great project initiated by Park Ranger Matt Vawter and funded by The Friends of Harrison Bay State Park.



We have a Red Tailed Hawk named "Scarlett" who doesn't miss a single movement outside of her enclosure.  Yes, eyes like a hawk.

The resident "camera hound" is "Happy" a Turkey Vulture who can not sit still and wants all the attention.  Shaking of a set of keys will get him hopping up and down and looking straight at you.

The last member of the trio is an owl named "Marley".  She has over half of her left wing missing and can not fly so she uses the branches and limbs which have been positioned in her enclosure to move about.  She also does not miss any movement outside of her enclosure and has "night watch" duty on all the guests coming in and out of the park.

We encourage guests to stop by and see the raptors.  For those interested in more information or how you can help support the project click here Harrison Bay Raptor Center.  Donations are readily accepted as feeding these birds will be an expensive venture.

HB5 Flies Free Again

Injured and infected right wing of eaglet on 5/29/14

As many of you might remember one of our eaglets, HB5, was injured last month and had to be taken to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for treatment as documented in this blogpost Harrison Bay Eaglet Injury Update.  Dr. Cheryl Greenacre and her staff at UT CVM did an amazing job of cleaning HB5s injuries and preparing it for transport to the American Eagle Foundation in Pigeon Forge, TN for rehabilitation.

After a short time in a solitary cage to regain its strength and mend its wounds HB5 was moved from the small netted cage area to a larger 150 foot flight cage where it could spread its wings and get stronger.  A sub adult bald eagle was placed in the flight cage with it for companionship and to help it cope with being in captivity.  In the short three weeks that HB5 was at the AEF facilities it quickly regained its strength and it was evident that it wanted to fly free, again.

Today was a special day at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay as Mr. Al Cecere and his staff from AEF journeyed to Harrison Bay to return HB5 back to the wild where he belongs and at the site where he was designed and destined to live.

After a little bit of a struggle and a "good bye" nip at Mr. Cecere's thumb HB5 was removed from the transport carrier.  Mr. Cecere stated that HB5 was one of the feistiest birds he had seen, using every trick in the book not to be captured each time they tired, and did not expect this bird to ever want to be near humans again.  Bad for us but great for HB5.

A small but very interested group of eagle watchers gathered for the release which was probably a once in a lifetime event for us all.  The support and interest in our program has been overwhelming this year and we hope to carry this momentum forward. Mitchell Sivley, Assistant Superintendent at Harrison Bay, looks on ready for the action.

Mr. Cecere was very patient and accommodating with all those in attendance allowing us time to be up-close and personal with HB5.  Golf Course Superintendent Paul L. Carter and his daughter Hannah, who gave the adult eagles their names, Elliott and Eloise, spend time some quality time with HB5 before its release.

Seeing this magnificent bird up close today was a highlight of my career.  We were so thankful that Mr. Cecere took his time and provided us his special observations about HB5.  Mr. Cecere stated that he had not seen a prettier eaglet and was amazed by the pure dark feathers on HB5s head and tail.

One feature of the eagle that I had never seen before were the black barbs located at the rear of the tongue.  These barbs are called "rear-directed papillae" and are used to aid in the swallowing of food.  In the very back of the tongue there is a hole called the "glottis" which is the entrance to the windpipe.  The "glottis" will close when swallowing or calling out.

Every eagle needs a little bling

HB5 was also banded with a special band from the US Department of Agriculture.  The band is unobtrusive to the bird and will help to identify it if is viewed by eagle watchers in another area or is injured or captured again.  The talons are extremely impressive up close and definitely demanded your attention.

Before the release of HB5 back into the wild Mr. Cecere took a moment to remember a great Tennessean and great American who he was a personal friend with and had recently passed away.  Mr. Cecere in a fitting tribute to his friend Senator Howard Baker asked if we could rename HB5 to "The Great Conciliator" in honor of the late senator's ability to bring peace and mediation between both political parties while serving his country in Washington.  Senator Baker's spirit will now fly free with HB5.

After everyone had gotten to see HB5 it was time for it to return to the sky where it belongs and in one quick toss Mr. Cecere released it into the air.  It quickly took to flight and flew directly to the perch tree beside the nest tree where HB6 had been sitting less than an hour before.  As we watched it sit on the tree both parents and HB6 came flying overhead as if to say "Welcome Home".

We cannot thank the Bear Trace golf course staff members who captured HB5, the Harrison Bay State Park Rangers who rushed it to be checked out, the fine doctors at UT College of Veterinary Medicine for treating it, or Mr. Cecere and his fantastic staff at the American Eagle Foundation enough.  Their hard work and dedication has returned another bald eagle into the wild and this is one experience I will never forget and consider myself blessed to have been a part of.

Coverage and updates on the release can be found at www.harrisonbayeaglecam.org and https://www.facebook.com/AmericanEagleFoundation

Fly Free HB5 Fly Free