Egg Laying Video, Upper Mississippi River Eagles Hatch!

Check this out! (And thanks to Eagleholic for the heads-up about this.) One of the eagle cams that I don't watch just laid an egg. And you can see the egg drop and bounce when it is laid. No doubt about when that egg was laid! Check the video at the link above and watch closely at the :39 second mark.

The Upper Mississippi River Bald Eagles are on hatch watch! I looked in on them just now to get a link for this blog entry and looky here! That's a baby sitting tall and looking around!

Upper Mississippi River Eagle Trio Third Egg!, White-bellied Sea Eagle 2015 Season Recap, Africam Black Eagles New Pictures, Trained Bald Eagles

I finally got a look at the two eggs at the Upper Mississippi River nest. I've got a bunch of s'caps from that nest from the last 24 hours or so. If it looked like eggs or was otherwise interesting, here it is. These first few are looks at the two eggs:

Mom needed a potty break in the middle of the night.

One of the other two Eagles came to the nest after sunrise.

Looks like a duet. (No sound at this cam.)

Two eggs by daylight.

Then we get the whole family on the nest.

Later in the day, we get a wing up close.

There was a visit after dark. This was shortly before Mom laid the third egg. Maybe she was vocalizing as some Eagles do and it got the attention of one of the males.

Here's a video of Mom Laying The Third Egg (5:25). Keep in mind that this cam streams a series of stills, the frequency of which is determined by the demand on their bandwidth. So, I put the video at 2x speed to make the time go faster.

I got this s'cap after the third egg was laid, but it's so hard to see eggs at this nest. They need a zoom! And maybe better cam placement! I can't tell if three eggs are visible here or not...

This is the only other view of the eggs tonight. I'll try again overnight and tomorrow to see if I can get a better view of 3 eggs.

If they lay a fourth egg, it will be on 2/10... I don't know what to expect from a trio. They did have 3 eaglets fledge last year...

Here's a link to a recap of the 2015 White-bellied Sea Eagle (23:10)nesting season. There's some real gems here. Sometimes I had to replay a part. Some parts made me laugh. It's a really great recap.

Here's a link to some new pictures of the Africam Black Eagles.

The Dutch have trained Bald Eagles to take down drones. Check out this video.

Upper Mississippi River Eagles First Egg!

Sure enough! The Upper Mississippi River Eagle trio laid their first egg! I thought all the signs were pointing in that direction! Look for a second egg on 2/4. Here's Mom, laying the egg.

I don't think they switched out. Hard to tell without a smooth stream...

You can just see the egg in the nest bowl.

Harrison Bay Eagles Second Egg, Africam Black Eagles Picture

Congratulations to the Harrison Bay Eagles on the laying of their second egg. If they are going to lay a third egg, it will be on Tuesday, February 2nd. (By the way, she is two for two sneezing right before laying an egg...) Here's my s'caps from today:

You can tell that she is laying an egg here from her hunch-backed posture and her feathers are standing up on her back.

You can see how much her feathers are standing up, having just laid the egg.

We get a quick glimpse of the eggs here.


Then after resting for a few minutes, we get a better look. Beautiful! I wonder if we will see a third egg this year?

Here's a video of the big event. Second Egg (11:58).

Check out this picture one of the Africam Black Eagles carrying a tortoise. While you are there, click through the other pictures.

Bald Eagle HE Has Died, Berry College Eagles Second Egg, Bald Eagle HK and Sterling, Black Eagle Makhaza, Africam Black Eagle Waterfall Video, Songbird Forest

Sadly, it's true that Bald Eagle HE was found dead this week onboard the Navy base at Little Creek. She died of blunt force trauma, but it likely wasn't witnessed since the actual cause wasn't listed. (It's not reported if she was struck by a vehicle or aircraft or if she flew into something.) Here's a link to the story. I started watching the Norfolk Botanical Garden nest in 2008 -- but the nesting season was cut short when Buddy was removed from the nest. So, my first year to truly watch this nest was 2009, the year of Azalea (HH), HK (now at Honey Bee Golf Course), and HE (who last year became the mate of her Dad). There has been a whole history of loss for Dad Norfolk, with this just being the latest. I'm sad at the loss of HE and for the loss of another of Dad's mates...

The Berry College Bald Eagles are right on time! Mom Berry laid her second egg of 2016 almost exactly 3 days after the first egg. She missed by less than 2 hours! If there will be a third egg, it will be Wednesday. Maybe late Wednesday. Maybe into the early morning hours of Thursday... Egg watch continues! Here's video of Mom Berry laying the second egg (10:15) -- vocalizing like she did while laying the first egg.

And here's another video from today of Dad bringing lunch and grass (9:56) to the nest.
(I will embed videos when it will let me...)

Here's a few s'caps from today. I like this one because we can see the egg and Mom is looking up:

She's not limping this year. But you can see how her leg sticks out. I think she had a broken leg and it has finally healed. It's not perfect... But she is able to walk on it and I suppose she can forage for herself.

This is from the second video I posted today. But I had to post a still as well. Dad was practically sitting on Mom's head while trying to do some nestorations. She was very tolerant.

Pam Monahan has a great post about Bald Eagle HK and his mate Sterling. She has a little of everything in this latest post, including them mating! Talons crossed for an egg this year! Here's a link to her post.

I had reported that Black Eagle Makhaza, from the 2007 Africam Black Eagle nest, was being treated. She has no improvement of function in her legs and wings. She is in pain. They have decided to humanely euthanize her. Here's a link to their statement.

Unfortunately, they used the phrase, "let her go" instead of euthanize. Which has led some people to ask for clarification. She is being euthanized. Then there's another group of people that are against euthanizing her. She would have died a horrible death without human intervention. And now, after no improvement, it would be cruel to keep her alive. She isn't living her destiny. She will not recover. She is in pain.

And speaking of the Africam Black Eagle nest... They had a hailstorm there. Check out this incredible video of their waterfall after a recent hailstorm. Mother nature can be pretty wild!

Check out this article about the "Songbird Forest" in Brazil.

Africam Black Eagle Day 32, Dyfi Osprey Day 28,30&31 Synchronized Wing Stretches, Loch of the Lowes Day 36,38&39 Banding & Transmitters, White-bellied Sea Eagle Second Egg Laid! & Dad Has A Mishap, White Rock Eagles Day 70&71, Duane Noblicks Photography

The Africam Black Eagle was just a puddle of fluff this morning.

There was a funny moment at the Dyfi Osprey nest this morning. They were all laying in different areas of the nest.

And then I could see why when they did Synchronized Wing Stretches (0:48):

The Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey cam was off air for a little while today while they were ringed (banded) and two got transmitters. (I'll need some good zooming so I can see the new bling...) Before:

After:

Today was a big day for the White-bellied Sea Eagles. Right on time, Mom laid her second egg! (Keep in mind when you look at the camera date/time that they are 14 hours ahead of us.) She was resting with her eyes closed earlier in the night.

At one point, she even had her head tucked.

Then, she was wide awake!

 She labored for about 8 minutes.

Then she moved around and we can just see two eggs through the sticks of the nest.

 Here's a video of her Laying the Second Egg (5:07):

Here's a close-up of the two eggs taken later in the day:

Shortly after that, Dad has a mishap at the nest. He went to take-off from the nest, but it looks like a talon got caught on the nest. He recovered, but I'll be looking for a limp... Here's the Failure To Launch video (1:02):

The White Rock Eaglets were just hanging out on a windy day during the brief time I had to visit with them this morning.

Duane Noblick posted a couple of pictures of a fledgling on the Norfolk Eagles Forum. He takes such nice pictures! Feel free to poke around the forum while you are over there. You can also click the link at the bottom of his post and check out his photography website. I think you'll enjoy them both!

The Harrison Bay Eagle Cam was down tonight when I checked in...

White-bellied Sea Eagle Egg!, Africam Black Eagle, Dyfi Osprey, Harrison Bay Eagles, Loch of the Lowes Osprey, White Rock Eagles

I have Verizon DSL which goes out when it rains. And it rained last night, so I couldn't do a blog post. So, I'm doubling down tonight!

We have the first egg at the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest! (Remember to take 14 hours off the cam date/time to get East Coast time. I usually refer to my time, not cam time.) This is from yesterday, what turned out to be the last of the preps before the egg comes.

I think these birds are beautiful. I like how this s'cap shows off the tail.

This is Mom laying the egg. Her back is arched a little here, you can see the feathers on her back are sticking up with the effort.

She was making little chirps as she worked to lay the egg.

She is really making an effort here. Shortly after this scap, she did an egg roll. She didn't let us see the egg though until a little while later.

We can just see the egg among her petticoats.

Today, we had plenty of opportunities to see the egg as Mom and Dad do a lot of egg rolls.

White-bellied Sea Eagles do delayed incubation in an attempt to have the eggs hatch closer together. It is common to see an egg not being incubated 24/7 until the clutch is complete.

 We got a close-up view of Dad's beautiful feathers!

The lighting at the Africam Black Eagle nest was not very good yesterday.

But it was much better today. I thought about something. I've compared this chick to the Osprey chicks. But that's not a fair comparison. Osprey fledge 49-56 days after hatching and Black Eagles fledge 90-97 days after hatching. So, this little one is not going to develop as fast...

It was a puddle of Osprey at the Dyfi nest yesterday.

They had rain today. Mom tried to keep her babies dry, but they are just too big! Dad has some interesting coloring. His eyes never lightened. You can see how dark his eyes are compared to Mom's. He's also got a lot of dark feathers in his collar. True, his collar is not as dark as Mom's (see above s'cap) but it's still quite a bit for a male.

One of the Harrison Bay Eaglets was playing with a stick in the nest this morning. Here, it's got the stick in its mouth, is standing on one foot, and grabbing the stick with its other foot.

Who is perched in the tree across the way? Two somebodies... 

It got super windy at one point. Here's Dad and one of the babies riding out the wind.

Pretty baby!

There was a food delivery and both babies went into full mantle. Pretty impressive!

I never noticed before that Dad has chicken legs!

I can't believe I caught all four in the nest together today! So awesome so long after fledge!

The feathers on the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey chicks are coming in great. They are starting to look like juvenile Osprey!

The two that were eating in the above s'cap shifted toward the camera and the third chick got to eat. It usually all works out in the Osprey nests.

The Osplets are starting to wingercize.

 
I'm always happy when I can get a s'cap with faces. Here, Mom is looking down. Drats!

This one has three baby faces and some of Mom's face is visible...

We got some nice close-ups of the babies today.

And Mom too!

The whole family.

I think only one of the White Rock Eaglets is getting up on the branch. I had an early morning yesterday, so I caught the nest before sunrise. I didn't realize how active these chicks are this early in the morning...

Both of them are flapping here.

That's a pretty s'cap!

Then today I was back to my normal time checking out this nest.

  They are both checking out the parent.

It looks like the other chick is thinking about going out on the branch. Maybe tomorrow!