Berry College Eaglet Day 53, Nest Cam Roundup: Hays, Southwest Florida, White Rock, Berry Bluebird, Second Egg at Loch Of The Lowes, Bald Eagle Camellia Checked In

Today is day 53 for the Berry College Eaglet. When I brought up the cam this morning, both adults were on the nest. I was bringing up my screen capture software when Dad moved to the edge of the nest, so I knew he was getting ready to exit, stage right. Sure enough, I almost missed him. You can see him in flight over the right edge of the nest. (Love this s'cap!) And the eaglet is watching and learning.

Adult eagles like to do the "big stretch" too:

Then Mom fluffed the nest, right where the eaglet was napping:

Then Mom stood on what had been her gimpy left leg and stretched her right leg and wing. This is the first time I've seen her put all of her weight on her left leg, surely a good sign about her recovery!

Right before I took the above s'cap, it looked like the baby was nipping at Mom's foot. Then Mom scratched an itch on her head with her right foot. Then when she went to set her foot back down, the eaglet (who had been studying her closely -- head upside down and everything) grabbed her foot. And they held this pose for a few seconds...

A little later, the two of them huddled up together. I'm not sure what was so interesting. I think they were both fluffing the same bit of nest. It gave me an opportunity to take some s'caps to compare their sizes... Of course, the baby's tail feathers still need to finish growing. So just looking at the bodies, it looks like the baby is still quite a bit smaller than the Mom.

And then the baby did a big stretch:

The baby is sleeping alone tonight. But we can see the adult perched by the nest:

I was quite concerned for the Hays babies last night with the freezing temps. But they were all accounted for this morning. They've got another cold night tonight, but I don't think as bas as last night. This was the scene this morning, with Mom and Dad feeding their brood:

The Southwest Florida fledgling is sleeping in the nest tonight:

What can I say about the White Rock nest, except... Pretty! Hatch watch will start at this nest this weekend. There is no way to tell which egg was lost. If the first laid was the one that was lost, then we won't see a hatch until maybe a week from today. Hopefully, the one that was lost wasn't the middle laid, which would result in a big age difference between first and second hatch. That makes sibling rivalry a bigger problem. Talons crossed...

There is a second egg at the Berry Bluebird nest. I have yet to actually see a Bluebird at this nest:

Great news at the Loch of the Lowes nest. Lady Loch laid her second egg last night! This is huge since the first egg was left exposed after people scared her off of the nest...

Bald Eagle Camellia checked in today.