A family scene at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest, with Mom and Dad in the back and the babies close to the camera.
Another family scene later in the day, with Mom and Dad to the left and the babies to the right.
We got some zoomed in views during a feeding. It was discovered that there was some fishing line brought to the nest along with this fish. At one point, Mom got some of it caught up in her beak. She shook her head and got free of it, but it might still be in the nest. Fishing line in the nest presents a hazard. I hope they all stay clear of it. The closest chick is FR4 and the one taking a bite is FR2. Standing just behind FR2 outside of the frame is FR3. Nothing can be done about this fishing line at this time -- it would not be good to flush these babies from the nest. Please make sure you properly dispose of fishing line and hooks!
That's a big stretch!
Lots of flapping today.
Beautiful in this light.
Some more synchronized flapping.
So, two of the Osplets fledged today! I had gotten some video of take-offs and landings, but don't know what happened to the file, darn it. I'll record again overnight tonight and see what I can get. It was funny, these two were laying in the nest, when you hear the third Osplet coming in, screaming all the way. The two that were laying down jump up and back away, giving plenty of room for the landing -- which went well...
It was another rainy day at the Harrison Bay Eagle nest. This must be the "drying off" branch. I love this scene. The silhouette is beautiful, the sky is interesting and the branches frame the Eagle so nicely.
There was the typical excitement for a food delivery. I always think it's funny how the parent studies what the child is doing. I wonder what they are looking for.
The sibling arrived and there was a bit of a disagreement about sharing...
There was another fish later in the day. The only problem is this little piggy is the same one that got the fish in the s'cap above.
This is the pre-launch pose. And sure enough, the Eaglet moved to the night-time roost.
They seem to like this spot for overnight.
Eagle cam viewers like this roost too. There is good back-lighting so we can see them all night long. Are you wondering how long they might stay in the area? Azalea stayed around the Norfolk Botanical Garden for a long time after fledgling, the longest I've ever seen. She was 153 days old when she was last sighted at the garden. This was 3-4 weeks after her siblings were last sighted. It was 70 days after fledging. These Harrison Bay Fledglings are 105&107 days old and they fledged 31&25 days ago. So, they could hang out for a while or they could be gone tomorrow... I'm enjoying watching them, so I hope they continue to stay!
It was raining today at the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest.
Nest exchanges happen a little quicker when it's raining.
Let's play "Where's Waldo?" at the White Rock Eagle nest. It's hard to tell in silhouette if those are the Fledglings or parents atop that pine tree. Nobody was at the nest, so it could be both Fledglings, both parents or a mix.
There's a post on the Dyfi blog about the train that crosses behind the nest. They are Well Trained...
Today is day 68 for the Berry College Bald Eagle. Not too many s'caps from today...
I was watching the Hays nest trying to get a good s'cap of the three babies laying in the nest. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get all three with their heads up so you can tell where one baby ends and the next one starts? See, this s'cap -- not good. (Is this called a s'crap?)
Much better!
Then one of the parents arrived with some food. The youngest was closest, so I was curious to see if it would get some bites. It kept its head down while the two older siblings perked up.
Then the youngest did a maneuver I've seen other youngest chicks do. At first I was worried because it was moving away from the feeding end of things... I'm thinking, "Wrong way!"
It still seemed to be going the wrong way...
Next thing I knew, the chick made its way up to the food, using the adult as a shield against the bigger siblings.
The bigger chicks laid down and watched as the adult fed the youngest chick. And fed it, and fed it, and fed it!
At one point, one of the older chicks looked like it was going to make a move.
But then the other adult arrived.
The other adult was reaching in for the food...
...was it going to feed the other two chicks? Was it going to help feed the littlest? Was it going to eat all of the food itself? We will never know, since this is when an ad started playing! And after the ad finished, it locked up instead of returning to the nest. Ask me how happy I am about these invasive ads!
By the time I refreshed and sat through the ad again (thank you!), the IR light was on and the littlest was still being fed -- getting a pretty good look at a fat crop in this s'cap.
The other two are looking at each other wondering what went wrong...
The parent notices that the other two are back there and turns around with the food.
Offering a bite here to one of the bigger chicks that hadn't gotten much during this feeding. (The older chick that is farther away from the cam did get a few bites when the parent was facing away.) It was great watching the little one demonstrate a great coping technique!
And now, with full crops, it's time for food coma!
It looks like the Two Harbors cam is frozen again today, with this never-ending scene. It's almost the same as yesterday, except there's no parent...
It's another beautiful day at the White Rock nest. Mom is panting so we know it's warm. She is trying to shade her babies.
I thought the other shade was more effective...
These babies are getting pretty mobile! I'm always surprised at how little they are when they start making their way out of the nest bowl. Today reminded me of the expression about trying to herd cats. Check out the s'caps and you'll see what I mean...
So Mom tries shading them this way...
She didn't get a moment's rest...
Up and down. Up and down.
Another escapee!
Turning to shade the escapee.
"Hey now! Where are you going?" Good luck Momma! You've got your hands full!
Hatch watch is on at the Berry College Bluebird nest. And the cam is down! There is much gnashing of teeth over this! People have been glued to their computers all day and then the cam goes down before the big event! Are they hatching RIGHT NOW? And we are missing it! (That's a little tongue-in-cheek. But I know it's frustrating... Hopefully, the babies will wait until the cam is back!) I got these s'caps earlier today:
Here's another Mom that's up and down, up and down. I don't see any signs of hatching yet... This was around 7:00PM.
I don't follow the RF Bald Eagle nest. But there was a bad situation there over the past couple of days. The chick in the nest was tangled up in fishing line. Today, someone got the chick from the nest, removed the fishing line (I understand it was tangled around its foot and wing) and then returned it to the nest. (Here is a link to a video of the chick being removed from the nest.) This story had a happy ending. But there are plenty of situations in nature where people aren't watching and the wildlife isn't so lucky. If you fish, please dispose of your fishing line in a responsible manner. And if you see improperly discarded fishing line, please pick it up. Dead Bald Eagles have been found hanging from trees by fishing line. There are plenty of sightings of ducks and herons with fish hooks stuck in them or tangled up in fishing line. Check out this link to Google images of the search 'wildlife fishing line hook' for some disturbing images of wildlife in distress...
Bald Eagle Camellia checked in.
I mentioned in my post yesterday about Eagle On Alliance (EOA) selling Dad Norfolk logo items. I sent an email to EOA asking what the colors 'Iris' and 'Azalea' were. I was surprised to find that Iris is light blue (was hoping for purple...) and not surprised to find that Azalea is pink. Just more info in case you are looking to place an order.
