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Burnaby Lake eagles in mourning as nest with eggs blows down

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A Burnaby Lake eagle sits perched in the nest tree the day after the nest blew down. (via John Preissl)

John Preissl is sad.

Normally the Burnaby nature photographer feels pumped while taking photos of local wildlife.

On Sunday morning, however, he witnessed something truly sad.

The Burnaby Lake eagles nest that Preissl says has been in place for about a decade had blown down on Saturday – destroying the eggs inside of it.

On Sunday, Preissl saw the eagles hunting ducks on the lake, but then things turned sombre.

“For the rest of the day, the eagle pair were mourning in the eagle nest tree and surrounding trees,” he said. “It was sad to witness. I told wildlife rescue about the nest. The lady told me that there is still time for the pair to try again. I don’t think so, though. It will take a long time to rebuild the nest if they do. I will check over the next few days to see if they are rebuilding.”

Preissl said the nest had been there for years and was exposed to the wind and elements.

“The branches were in pretty bad shape underneath from the years of rain,” he said. “This happens fairly often all over the coast.”

On a positive note, Preissl said, an eagle pair have “taken over the big Red Tailed Hawks Nest at Deer Lake. Eagles have not nested at Deer Lake in many years. We are keeping a close eye on them to see if they have eggs. It is difficult to see.”

Chris Campbell, Burnaby Now