Africam Black Eagle Day 104 Fledge Watch Continues, Big Sur Condor Day 117, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 35, Discarding Trash, Birds Using Fur, International Space Station

No fledge today at the Africam Black Eagle nest. I had other s'caps from today, but can't find them. If I can find them, I'll post them tomorrow. The chick is perching up on the rocks in the s'caps I can't find... I guess that's the equivalent to branching.

I have no idea what to expect for a progressing with the Big Sur Condor chick. There is a month long window when it might fledge. I guess we'll just watch and wait!

 
Dad came by for a feeding. Red67 on the wing is "Kingpin." He is the boss of this flock.

I think this chick is getting fed every day.

Here's a video of the Feeding With Dad (3:53):

The White-bellied Sea Eagle chicks were awake early.

They were looking around.

They eventually came beak-to-beak. There were a few nips, but nothing serious.

The IR cam turned off and the nest was suddenly in color.

The parents are always close by.

Look at how big SE16 is! These babies change every day.

It looks like we will see their backs for feedings...

Here's the whole family.

SE16 is a lot more steady when standing. It will be awhile before they stand upright. For now, they will appear bent over.

SE16 did a poop shoot without falling over.

Oh my! What big wings you have already! I'd say those wings are at least a foot long.

They are both feathering out nicely. It looks like SE16's feathers are starting to open up after coming through the shaft. SE15 still looks like pin feathers. I am still amazed by the differences in these two chicks.

Here's a story that reminds us all to be responsible when discarding our trash.

Birds like to use fur to line their nests. This bird wants it to be fresh!

Here's a way cool time-lapse of the International Space Station transiting across the sun.

Africam Black Eagle Day 98, Big Sur Condor Day 111 Feeding, Dyfi Osprey, Harrison Bay Eagles Flying to the Big Pine, NEFL Bald Eagles, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 29

The Africam Black Eagle was enjoying the evening...

...when a big thunderstorm moved through. This is the first time I've seen it rain at this nest.

These two Big Sur Condors were hanging out on a perch. I believe this is Black 67 McWay on the left and Black 74 Nomad on the right.

Suddenly, McWay took off, nearly knocking Nomad off his perch. And he didn't even say Excuse Me! (0:49)

I also caught a Feeding Bout today (4:19):

The chick has to stand in the doorway to wingercize, so one wing is ouside the nest. The inside of the nest cavity is 4-5 feet, so this chick has already got a huge wing span!

 

 

Dad Dyfi is still hanging out around the nest. Here's a big wing stretch.

And here's one of these stretches that we see so many chicks do.

Such a pretty bird!

The Harrison Bay Eagle parents are spending the night in the big pine. They coordinated their arrival at the tree... Look first at the white blur in the bottom right hand corner.

Then follow it up to the branches where they like to perch.

Then a few seconds later, the other parent comes in from the bottom left.

Here's the video that these stills were taken from. It's neat at the beginning of the video to see a host of Sparrows take off when they see the Eagles Flying to the Big Pine. (0:54)

The parents are tucked in for the night.

I caught one of the parents at home at the NE Florida Eagle nest today. They laid their first egg last year on November 16th. That means nestorations are happening now. (I wish they would straighten up this camera!)

The White-bellied Sea Eagle chicks still like to huddle under Mom for warmth, even though they don't really fit any more.

The feathers are coming in nicely on the chicks.

I would have expected the smaller chick to feather out first. The reasoning is that the chick the has the smaller size when full grown would feather out first because it doesn't have to expend as much energy for growth. But SE16 is just leaving SE15 in the dust in every regard.

Both chicks got bites. It's been a while since I've seen sibling rivalry at this nest.

 Look at how big their crops are! Neither one of these chicks is going hungry!

Their crops are so big, they both look like they've got sacks tied to their necks!

Wildlife Center of Virginia Release of Bald Eagle #15-1250, Africam Black Eagle Day 94, Harrison Bay Eagles, White-bellied Sea Eagle Day 25 Pin Feathers

It took forever to upload the video of the Bald Eagle release from Thursday 8/27. Here's some still pictures. Chippokes Plantation sits right on the water:

Ed Clark got stuck in traffic. Dr. Kelli Knight did the release.

Here's the video of Bald Eagle #15-1250 Release (12:06):

I finally got the Africam Black Eagle cam to come up today. The baby was laying in the nest and the camera angle let us see the waterfall in the bottom right corner. The waterfall provides background sound at this nest.

Kendi finally stood up...

 

...but curled up into a ball for the night.

Both of the parents are spending the night in the nest tree at the Harrison Bay Eagle nest.

I think it's Mom at the top left and Dad at the bottom right.

We have pin feathers coming in on the White-bellied Sea Eagle chicks! You can see the dark spots all over SE16's back and at her "elbow".

It looks like the parent got in the way of a poop shoot at some point. I'm sure it happens, I've just never seen it happen. I imagine this is what it looks like afterward...

I still can't get over the size difference! They look funny when they sit up like this.

SE15 does have a large crop, so he is getting fed.

He relaxes a little bit when his sister is looking away.

But then he would stretch tall whenever his sister looked his way.

But SE16 isn't fooled. She knows she is the dominant sibling and puts him down.

And SE15 is smart enough to stay down.

Such a huge size difference between these two chicks!

SE16 is doing a big stretch and showing us her pin feathers coming in along the edges of her wings.

Two little cutie-pies!

Stretching those wings.

They still snuggle together for warmth.