NX and Camellia, Gloucester Bald Eagle Release, Duluth Bald Eagle, Animal Prosthetics, Geese, Ferruginous Hawk on Feathered Photography, Really Old Water, Photo Galleries: Underwater, Ugly Bugs, Small World

NX checked in yesterday. She is near Brent Marsh. It is one year since her release. Maps are provided that show her explorations over the past year. They have also posted again the video from her release a year ago. There a phrase that was coined regarding NX: "Fear The Feisty!" And it makes sense if you watch the video! Overall, the post for May 16th is a nice review!

I posted Camellia's location the other day. There is a post today covering the location data up to that point. Usually, Reese posts same day. But when he travels, there can be a delay in his posts. I can only assume he's been traveling again since this post is a couple of days after the fact...

Looks like I missed another Bald Eagle release. Last night was pool league, so I didn't check my email yesterday. And of course there was an email about the Gloucester Bald Eagle #13-0283 being released today. Here is WCV's entry regarding the eagle release. I am so bummed that I missed this release! I've traveled far to attend a release. Then I miss one in my backyard. I am so disappointed!

I posted the other day about the Bald Eagles that crashed to the ground at the Duluth airport in what was probably a fight over territory. This article contains pictures. The picture of their locked talons shows how much damage they do to their feet when they fight like this. I've seen Bald Eagles on nest cams that have been fighting. You can always tell because of the ugly feet...

Here's an article about prosthetics for animals. It's amazing what they can do these days.

A pair of geese have been guest-starring on the Mission Nest Eagle Cam. The Bald Eagles at that nest decided to use a different nest, and the geese moved in. Today is hatch day, with a few more eggs left to hatch:

Ron Dudley has a Ferruginous Hawk in flight on his Feathered Photography blog. What a beautiful bird!

Water has been found that is at least 1.5 billion years old. Wow, that's really old! It was found in a pocket deep underground. They are analyzing it for signs of life. This could give some insight into the possibility of finding underground water (and life) on Mars!

Here are some photo galleries I found that I enjoyed looking at:

• Underwater Photography Contest Winners
• Gallery of Ugly Bugs
• Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition Top 20

This great article contains pointers on how to safely observe wildlife. The word "safely" applies both ways: how to keep you safe how to keep wildlife safe. Please read and heed!

Camellia's Location, Buddy is coming to Va Beach, Sooner Lake Eaglets Get Transmitters, Find Momo, Walk Hampton Clean Results, Gloucester and Chesapeake Bald Eagle Updates

Camellia checked in yesterday. He's at the Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek. Where in particular? The golf course of course! Something about golf courses that eagles just love...

Buddy is going to be in Virginia Beach at Wild Birds Unlimited on Sunday June 2nd. Don't delay in making your reservation if you want to go! Space is limited... It's only $10, so it will probably fill up quicklyThere are two times to choose from: 1:00PM and 3:00PM. I plan to be there at 1:00PM.

The Sooner Lake eaglets got transmitters today. They are seven weeks old now and are full grown now. That's important since the transmitter fits onto the eaglet like a backpack -- so being full grown ensures a proper fit for the lifetime of the transmitter.

Growing is hard work. Frequent naps are needed. A lot of times when you check a camera, all you see is eaglet pancakes:

Great "Find Momo" pics for 5/6 and 5/7. The 5/6 picture is a beautiful landscape. And I like how Momo is hiding in the 5/7 picture.

I participated in the "Walk Hampton Clean" event last month. Here is the statement about the event from the city:

Cleaning up Hampton

Walk Hampton Clean last month saw 258 people walk a total of 72.61 miles in six hour and resulted in 6,585 gallons of litter kept out of storm drains, 75,362 cigarette butts removed from the streets, and 571 volunteer hours donated to make the city that much cleaner. Walk Hampton Clean was sponsored by the Hampton Clean City Commission.

The Gloucester Bald Eagle (#13-0283) got a good report today. I hope we see this one released soon!

The Chesapeake Bald Eagle (#12-0001) had an update today as well. (This is the eagle that 'fell from the sky.') It developed bumblefoot, a condition more common among birds that spend a lot of time perched. The toe never healed and needed to have surgery to remove the tip of the toe. Once that has healed, it can be transferred to its new home, the Massachusetts Birds of Prey Center.

Gloucester Bald Eagle, Eastern Shore Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle Gopro Hero2 Video, White Rock Nest Intruder

The Gloucester Bald Eagle (#13-0238) at the Wildlife Center of Virginia seems to be recovering well. Its prognosis is good and hopefully we'll see it released back into the wild soon.

The Wildlife Center of Virginia also had a recent Bald Eagle release. They announced on 4/23 that they would be releasing Bald Eagle #13-0174 on 4/25 at the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This is the Bald Eagle from the Eastern Shore that survived lead poisoning and was found with four dead Bald Eagles. I was in Las Vegas, so I couldn't attend the release or shoot video of the release. Darn it! This article says that five Bald Eagles died in this incident and announces a $5000 reward for information about these poisonings.

Here's a neat little video. A guy saw a Bald Eagle feeding on a carcass, so he hid his Gopro Hero2 camera near it and left for an hour. This is the video that he got.

Yesterday was a sad day at the White Rock nest. A four year old Bald Eagle came into the nest and ate one of the eggs. We are in the hatch window for the first egg laid and it looked like the chick was pretty well formed. One of the adults arrived at the nest before the other egg could be damaged. I think. There was a little bit of hopping around by the juvenile when the resident came into the nest. But I don't think the other egg was damaged. The White Rock eagles haven't been the most attentive parents so far. I wonder if they are inexperienced parents. Maybe they will spend more time guarding their nest and eggs now... This is probably how they learn. I'm hoping that the other egg wasn't damaged and the chick will hatch soon. In any case, one chick is easier to take care of -- and this is especially true if these are inexperienced parents. Here's a link to the video posted by Hancock Wildlife. But don't watch this if you are sensitive. The resident did eat what was left. I've heard it explained that once the egg stops being "off-spring," for whatever reason, that it then becomes "food." When the eggs in the Norfolk nest were broken back in 2008, Mom Norfolk ate them. It gave her the calcium that she needed to make new eggs. At the time, they were more "egg" than "chick" so it was easier for us to understand. But the same principle applies here... Here are some stills if you don't want to watch the video:

The four year old in the nest:

Here you can see that the adult has come into the nest and is on top of the intruder. The feet in the nest are the intruder's, and hopefully not on the egg. The white is the resident's tail. They both fell out of the nest, toward the camera.



And this is the adult back in the nest, surveying the damage:

I think we are going to see more and more intruders such as this juvenile. The available land has a maximum capacity for a territorial species. I think most of the prime real estate is now taken. There are a lot of juveniles that are out exploring (and causing trouble) and there are also a lot of floater adults (adults that don't have nests). When these Bald Eagles come across an unguarded nest, they see food, not off-spring.

Camellia's location, Snow at Fort St Vrain Nest, Baiting Wildlife, Moon Rise Video, Buddy T-Shirts, Bald Eagle Caught in Fishing Snare, The Pet Collective on YouTube, Gloucester Bald Eagle

Camellia is exploring Chesapeake. There is a new location posted for him.

The Fort St Vrain nest has some snow. I saw the temp was 16⁰F. Ouch! There's some smudge on the cam, but this shows the snow and that it's feeding time.
 

Ron Dudley posted on his Feathered Photography blog about his dislike of baiting in order to get pictures of wildlife. He pointed out a story on his blog that I am also going to point out here. This makes the point that wildlife needs to keep it's distance from humans because of morons like one in this story. Here's a story and video of some paramotorist idiot chasing and twice kicking a migratory bird. There is evidence that the idiot is Dell "Super Dell" Schanze, whoever that is. If he's well-known, it's in different circles than the ones I pay attention to. I hope they can prove who did this and that he gets to spend some time in jail and pay a hefty fine for this behavior. This story does point out the importance of not doing things that cause wildlife to become accustomed to being around humans. There are idiots like this that think it's funny to harass wildlife if they can get close enough.

One of my eagle friends, Lola, sent me this link. It's a video of a moon rise. That may sound ho-hum. But you want to watch this! Read the explanation and turn on your speakers. Thanks Lola!

Good news if you ordered one of the T-Shirts for Buddy's 5th Birthday. They are being shipped!

I don't know what a fishing snare is. But I found this story of a family that had a Bald Eagle that got caught in their fishing snare when it went after their live bait. One of the quick-thinking family members googled what to do and they made sure the Eagle was free of the snare instead of sending it on its way while still tangled up or hooked. The video isn't too great, but you get the idea...

YouTube has a channel called The Pet Collective. You can watch a live stream of puppies, cats, or a Bald Eagle nest with three bobbleheads. Also available are uploaded videos of puppies and cats.

The Wildlife Center of Virginia has posted an update for the Gloucester Bald Eagle, #13-0283. This Bald Eagle is very feisty! Which is usually a good sign. Maybe we will be seeing an Eagle release in Gloucester soon!

NX and Camellia's Locations, New Pictures Posted by Duane Noblick - Rhoda Gerig - Sam Maggio - Bob Mislan, Gloucester Bald Eagle, Lead Poisoning in Bald Eagles

NX has checked in. She hasn't traveled far since her last check-in.

Camellia has checked in as well. He is in Chesapeake.

Duane Noblick has posted 10 new pictures of Dad Norfolk (Bald Eagle) that he took on March 30th.

Rhoda Gerig has posted a series of pictures of an Osprey nest.

Sam Maggio (DegasGoneDigital) has been busy. He has recent posts of Great Blue Heron babies, an Egret in flight, and various other birds.

Bob Mislan (ShutterBugBob) has posted pictures of the Norfolk Bald Eagles. He has pictures of the male and female taken over the last week.

A Bald Eagle from Gloucester, VA was admitted to the Wildlife Center of Virginia. It is being treated for lead poisoning. It is Bald Eagle #13-0283 and was admitted March 31st. The initial report and a few updates are available.

A sad story out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming: A Bald Eagle that was being tracked was recently killed by lead poisoning. It was found dead next to an Elk carcass, with some nearby gut piles. There was an average of 145 visible lead fragments in each gut pile. Another dead Bald Eagle was found in the same area in March. It died of head trauma, but it also had high lead levels. (There is no telling if the lead caused unstable flight, resulting in the head trauma. Lead poisoning causes neurological symptoms in Bald Eagles, reducing muscle control and coordination. Which could have caused the Eagle to have a collision while in flight.) In the area where this occurred, during the 2012-13 hunting season, they asked hunters to voluntarily switch to non-lead ammo -- and 41% of successful Elk hunters there used non-lead ammo. For the next hunting season, lead ammo will not be allowed. If you are a hunter, or know a hunter, please stop using lead ammo and encourage others to do the same!