Berry College Bald Eagle Day 67 (Branching Milestone Today!), Nest Cam Round-up: Hays, Loch of the Lowes, Two Harbors, and White Rock, Bald Eagle NX Checked In, Norfolk Mayor and City Council Elections On May 6th, Eagle On Alliance Sale of Dad Norfolk Logo Items

Today is day 67 for the Berry College Bald Eagle and... It's Branch day!!! This is another step in the development of an eaglet. I didn't get s'caps of the first branching because I was away from my computer. But here's a link to a video of the big event. I did get s'caps of the eaglet branching later in the day. Here's my s'caps for the day. The eaglet spent the major part of the day off-cam...

 

...bending down here to self-feed.

The eaglet did finally make an appearance for me.

The eaglet did some feaking. (I saw it feaking for the first time yesterday. Nothing like a clean, sharp beak!)

Then there was some wingercizing. Such a fun time to watch a nest!

The eaglet then thought about the situation some.

 And then hopped onto the branch again. This was the first time I got to see the eaglet branching.

The eaglet didn't stay there long. When I finished saving this s'cap, the eaglet was back down in the nest.

There was a lot of stretching and flapping today.

And there was more standing around.

 And some more feaking.

I love this picture! It could be more clear, but I love how the wing is stretched out to the cam.

More standing around.

Then something caught the eaglet's attention. I don't know what it was, but the eaglet stayed like this for a while.

The eaglet has a habit of stretching first one side, and then the other.

That's when you know more wingercizing is coming!

I brought up the Hays nest to an interesting scene. The eaglets are spread out pretty equally, with one facing away from the parent with the food. I've seen eaglets that are old enough to self-feed turn away from the sibling that claimed the food. It's as if they don't even want to watch.

The two closest to the parent were being fed. Look at the crop on the eaglet on the left side.

Then the parent spotted something above the nest. After looking at it for a few seconds, it flew away. It was probably a raptor that needed to be chased out of the territory.

Much to my surprise, one of the eaglet stood up! I haven't been paying attention -- how old are these chicks? (I have since checked. They are 33, 31, and 28 days old. And how old was the Berry chick when it first stood up? The first day I saw it stand up was day 35.)

Then (pick my jaw up off of the ground) another of the chicks stood up. And then one just starts walking around like no big deal! I am going to guess that the two older chicks are males. Males develop faster than females because their full-grown size is smaller.

Look at those tail feathers coming in!

Here's a look at the baby with a fat crop. No worries, they are getting plenty to eat...

Later in the evening it's raining, with Mom trying to keep her babies dry.

I had a minute to bring up the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey cam. I was happy to see both on the nest, but can't say who is who...

I was hoping to see a shift change. Instead, the one standing flew away. But the incubating adult did raise up a little and I got to see two of the eggs.

The Two Harbors cam is frozen, showing the baby snuggled up in front of one of the adults.

One of the White Rock chicks has escaped from the nest bowl!

And gets sat on... Baby, "Hello. Did you forget that I'm back here?" Parent, "Didn't forget. Keeping you both warm!"

I checked on some other nests and when I came back, both chicks were in the nest bowl.

 And when I came back again later, Mom was just settling on the chick, facing the wrong direction. Still pretty from the wide angle cam and from close up...

 Bald Eagle NX checked in. She is sticking to familiar territory.

It's the event we have all been waiting for! Norfolk's Mayor Paul Fraim is up for reelection. This is the man who is responsible for the mistreatment of Bald Eagle Dad Norfolk and his girlfriend Dirty Tail. If you are a Norfolk resident, please vote on May 6th and get rid of Fraim! Please also support Tommy Smigiel (Ward 5), who is up for reelection. He is the only person on the Norfolk City Council that wanted to leave Dad Norfolk and Dirty Tail alone and take appropriate action at the airport to mitigate the risk of wildlife at the airport. The rest of the Norfolk City Council fell into line behind Fraim, who chose politics over safety. I could get behind cleaning house in Norfolk, with the exception of Tommy Smigiel. Too bad only one other incumbent is up for reelection: Paul Riddick (Ward 4). His seat is challenged by G.W. "Billy" Cook Jr. Please vote for Billy!

To summarize, here's who to vote for on May 6th if you want to increase safety at the Norfolk airport and have a hope of Bald Eagles Dad Norfolk and Dirty Tail being left alone:
Ward 4: Billy Cook
Ward 5: Tommy Smigiel
Mayor: Jane Bethel or Michael Muhammad

Eagle On Alliance (EAO) is doing some fund-raising by selling items with a logo of Dad Norfolk. Eagle On Alliance is doing great work, trying to get the city of Norfolk to take action at the airport and leave Dad Norfolk and Dirty Tail alone. Here's a link to the page that has the items for sale. (I am not affiliated with EAO and do not benefit from sales of these items.)