Southwest Florida Eagles Day 13&14 E8 Removed From Nest For Treatment, Berry College Eagles Hatch Watch!, Africam Black Eagles Update, Great Backyard Bird Count

At the Southwest Florida Eagle nest, E8 was removed from the nest and taken to CROW, the same place that treated Bald Eagle Ozzie. They did find that he was tangled in fishing line. I do understand that sometimes fishing line breaks. If an Eagle then catches that fish and takes it to the nest, it brings the fishing line with it. Unfortunately, as long as people fish, that's a danger. But I do want to urge people to discard of fishing line properly. A lot of fishing spots have receptacles just for fishing line. If so, please use them. If not, please collect fishing line and place it in the trash. Here's a link to a video showing the removal of E8 from the nest. Here's a link to a news story with an interview of Heather Barron, CROW Hospital Director. She did the actual removal of E8 from the nest. She also removed the fishing line and a couple of fish that might have been the source of the fishing line. Hopefully, E8 will have a full recovery and be returned soon to the nest. Here's a link to CROW's initial assessment of E8 and some pictures. Here's my last s'cap of the two babies before E8 was removed:

The Berry College Eagles are on hatch watch! I think we should see a pip by tomorrow night. I got some video today of some Back-up Singers (1:37). Here's some s'caps from today. There was a dusting of snow this morning: 

No pips so far:

There is an update for the Africam Black Eagles. There are 3 pictures included. There is a side-by-side comparison of the nest before the big storm and after the big storm. Wow!

The Great Backyard Bird Count is the weekend, Friday through Monday. You can observe for as few as 15 minutes, or longer if you like.

Southwest Florida Eagles Day 13&14 E8's Leg Is Tangled, Upper Mississippi River Eagles Broody Parents

At the Southwest Florida Eagle nest, E8's leg is tangled in some of the soft grasses. There may be fishing line in there. The chick is trying to move around and can only spin in a circle. This could cause the tangle to tighten and compromise circulation to that foot. Hopefully, the situation will resolve. Florida's wildlife services have been notified. Here, E8 is going in one direction, but its left foot is stuck:

It's hard to see what's got it stuck there.

This is the baby's rump and it looks like the foot is twisted around.

It looks like it's pointing in the right directions here, but at an awkward angle.

At the Upper Mississippi River Eagle nest, Mom put her back to the wind last night. Check out the Tail Wave (3:59) video. I also got some really great s'caps from there today. During the night, Mom woke up and was calling, defending the nest from something off camera.

There was some snow for a while, but no accumulation.

In the morning, one of the other Eagles was determined to incubate, even though the sitting parent didn't move.

Finally, a view of three eggs!

I don't know if these are the same two Eagles feeling broody.

Another good look at 3 eggs.

Broody Eagles!

Look at this! So happy I got this!

I caught another departure. Not as good as the one above, but still good.

It was in the afternoon that I got the best look at the eggs.

I think I like these three s'caps the best.

And this one with the parent looking up is my favorite!

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.

Berry College Eagles Incubating, Harrison Bay Eagles Incubating, Northeast Florida Eagles Day 45&47, Southwest Florida Eagles Day 11&12 Wingercizing, Upper Mississippi River Eagles Incubating and Mating Video

I did a tour of the nests that I follow. Here's what's happening:

Berry College Eagles continue to incubate their two eggs. Today is day 28 and 31 since the eggs were laid. Expect hatch watch to start when the first laid egg is at day 33, but with delayed incubation I wouldn't really expect to see a hatch until day 34 or 35...

The Harrison Bay Eagles have only been incubating their two eggs a little over a week. So, they still have a while to go... 

The Northeast Florida Eaglets are growing in their feathers.

They are wingercizing now.

I caught the family together at the Southwest Florida nest. Dad brought in some soft grass and placed it between him and Mom.

It rained later in the day, and Mom-brella kept the babies dry.

It is so hard to see any eggs at the Upper Mississippi River nest. I caught a nest exchange, but still couldn't see anything. I think they have 2 eggs. If they will lay a third, it will be tomorrow.

This is the best shot of any possible eggs after recording this nest for about 5 hours today. It looks like one egg is visible. There was a point today when no eagles were on the nest, and no eggs could be seen... It must be a deep nest bowl. Maybe they will position the camera better next year...

I did find a video that the Stewards posted of mating at this nest. I wondered if there was competition between the two males to father the babies and found out that there is. Check out this video.

Bald Eagle HK

Pam Monahan has a new blog post for Bald Eagle HK.

Upper Mississippi River Eagles Possibly A Second Egg!, New Pictures Of Africam Black Eagles, Loch of the Lowes Osprey Tracking Update, Washington Post Article About Lead Poisoning In Bald Eagles

We might have a second egg at the Upper Mississippi River Eagle nest! Will there be a third egg? If so, it will be laid on Sunday, 2/7.

Here's a link to some new Africam Black Eagle pictures.

There's a tracking update for the Loch of the Lowes Osprey.

Check out this recent Washington Post article about lead poisoning in Bald Eagles.

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.