Hopes remain for return of eagles to relocated nest at Bundaberg Hospital site

Wedge-tailed eagles have so far failed to return to a nest relocated from a Queensland hospital site facing construction delays.

The 1-tonne eagle's nest was removed from a tree by specialist arborists and taken to bushland nearby at a cost of about $100,000 in December last year.

Biodiverse Environmental director Liam Pratt said his firm was hired by Queensland Health to move the birds of prey from the site of the new Bundaberg Hospital.

Mr Pratt said the nest was moved as the birds were preparing to lay eggs because of ongoing construction on the site.

"We thought it was best to just go ahead and relocate them to try and minimise the disturbance over the longer period," he said.

A specialist arborist assisted in its removal from the tree, while a 60-tonne crane lowered the mass into a specially engineered basket.

The basket was then secured to a large pole structure and repositioned at its new location underneath another tree canopy nearby.

Mr Pratt said the company had been monitoring the nest since the operation but the eagles so far had not returned.

"They're very sensitive to, you know, if there's any threat nearby, they will give up nesting," he said.

"We were expecting the disturbance to impact them, but we also have very good hopes that they'll come back to it next year when they're more comfortable."

A spokesperson for Health Minister Tim Nicholls did not comment on how much the project cost.

But Mr Pratt estimated the work cost $100,000.

"It's over an extended period as well because there's a whole lot of monitoring happening and work to be done afterwards," he said.

Hospital delivery

It comes as the government has gone back to the drawing board on the new hospital design in Bundaberg.

In a statement, Mr Nicholls said work at the project site continued "delivering services including electricity, drainage, roads and access".

He said the state government was committed to a new hospital with more than 410 beds, emergency and maternity services and a multi-storey car park.

The government's Hospital Rescue Plan and new timeline for the delivery are expected to be announced by the end of the year.

The new Bundaberg Hospital is among a list of key Queensland health-related projects that are facing significant delays due to spiralling costs.

A spokesperson for the minister said a range of environmental measures had been included to support local wildlife on the site and meet obligations under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Monitoring wildlife

While the eagles were yet to return, the company said it had spotted a range of wildlife in the surrounding bushland.

Mr Pratt said the company had installed cameras and 40 nest boxes for a range of different species in the surrounding bushland, which would be monitored for three years.

"Immediately we had possums, sugar gliders, some small parrots … there's been a whole lot of activity in those nests," he said.

Mr Pratt said he did not believe the ongoing building works would have a "significant impact" on wildlife and nesting eagles, as there was a large parcel of established bushland near the project.