Buddy's training, NX's location, Wildlife Center of Virginia patient updates, Critter Cam, White Rock and Fort St Vrain Eagle cams, pit bull, panda mom and cub

Updates from the Wildlife Center of Virginia:

• Buddy has a new training update posted on 3/28. It sounds like he is doing great! There is a new picture.
• NX has checked in. She is just a home-body... Not traveling very far or exploring very much.
• There is an update on the Bald Eagle that was found on the Eastern Shore. It is *Bald Eagle #13-0174.
• There is an update on the Bald Eagle that "fell from the sky" in Chesapeake. This Bald Eagle has been at the Wildlife Center of Virginia since January 1, 2012. Bald Eagle #12-0001 is non-releasable awaiting placement at the Massachusetts Birds of Prey Rehabilitation Center.

*The Wildlife Center's Critter Cam currently features Bald Eagle #13-0174 and Bald Eagle #11-0230, another non-releasable Bald Eagle.

The White Rock Eagles have two eggs now. This is such a pretty nest:

The Fort St Vrain nest has a hatch. They've got a nice IR light on this nest. The Eagles can't see the light, but it allows the camera (and us) to see them:

Here's an Easter photoshoot! A pit bull is posing with some bunnies and chicks. So cute!

A Panda mom wrestles with her cub in this video.

Camellia's location, Duke Farms and Sooner Lake nests, Sandhill Crane gets prosthetic leg

Camellia has checked in. He's still hanging out in Virginia Beach.

I wanted to check on the Duke Farms nest since the male Bald Eagle fought that Hawk in the nest. I was concerned about any eggs or chicks and how they fared. Boy was I surprised when two heads popped up at feeding time!

Sad news out of Sooner Lake. It's confirmed that the fourth hatch did not survive. And now one of the first three, the smallest, has died. I'm not sure what happened. The oldest chick is very aggressive -- and siblicide is not unheard of. That usually occurs where there is not enough food, which is not the case at this nest. But for some reason, the oldest chick is still really aggressive with its younger siblings. They are down to two now. The nest is really small, and I wasn't sure how three or four growing eaglets were going to have enough room for wingercizing. I hate to lose a chick, but I feel that the two that are left will have a better chance of making it to fledge now. I just hope the smaller of the two remaining chicks is able to grow and thrive amidst the attacks by the bigger chick.

Here's an amazing story of a Sandhill Crane getting a prosthetic leg.

NX checks in, Text From Dog, euthanasia drug poisoning, capturing an injured Bald Eagle, White Rock Eagle cam, life 7 miles below sea level, bear cub petting zoo

NX checked in today. She's still just hanging out in the same area...

Last night, I found a blog, "Text From Dog" which is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. If you are a dog person, check this out. Warning: It does contain adult language and concepts.

Seven Bald Eagles were poisoned by a veterinary euthanasia drug when two horses were left out in the open after being put down. That is so irresponsible.

Here's a story with some video of conservation officers capturing an injured Bald Eagle.

The White Rock Eagles are now incubating their first egg. This is such a pretty view at this nest from the "Close-up" cam:

And another pretty view from the "Wide-angle" cam:

They also have a PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) camera for a different look:

I like to hear about exploration in the ocean's depths. Life is found 7 miles below sea level!

Michigan's "Bear Cub Petting Zoo" Bill was approved yesterday. It allows people to interact with bears that are up to 90 pounds and 36 weeks old.

Camellia and NX locations, Harrison Bay cam, Alcoa cam, Fort St Vrain cam, SW FL cam, Two Harbors cam, dog howling, Lake Ontario eagles, pics

New location for Camellia! He's staying local for the time being. NX checked in on the 24th. She is still in the same general area as her release.

I got some pictures today of various eagle cam nests:

Harrison Bay, feeding time. These two hatched on 3/19 and 3/21. Look at all those fish -- these two are great providers:

Alcoa, feeding time. These two hatched on 3/16 and 3/18. Both parents were there for feeding. I watched for about 10 minutes. The male was trying to feed but the female insisted on taking the morsel from the male and feeding the babies herself. They passed a tiny piece of food back and forth several time. It took about 5 minutes for the male to finally start passing her the pieces to feed to the babies... Look at the crop on that baby! Very well fed.

The Fort St Vrain eagles are still incubating 3 eggs:

The SW FL eaglets were home today. One was lounging and the other was eating. These two hatched 1/1 and 1/3 and they both fledged yesterday!

The Two Harbors nest had a hatch yesterday. K82 is the female. (K81 is the male...) Feeding time:

And I couldn't resist grabbing this screen capture of fluffy eagle butt:

Eaglets can't thermoregulate until they are a couple of weeks old. So they continue to be incubated. I love it when the babies poke their heads out. So curious already!

I found this video today of a dog howling at a siren. Too funny. When I was a kid, we had a Basset Hound in the neighborhood that would howl at the noon whistle every day. So this is a video of a dog howling at a siren. Then, in the comments, there are two video responses of people's dogs howling at this video. Too funny! I played them all for my dogs and got nothing... Oh well. Still a good video if you enjoy dogs howling!

Bald Eagles on Lake Ontario have successfully hatched two chicks -- the first in decades!

Check out this incredible picture of a Bald Eagle chasing a Great Blue Heron! Run, Forest! Run!

And check out these Bald Eagle pics! Very nice! 

SW FL Eaglets fledge, Rhoda and Duane post new pics, rant about Norfolk City Council, Feathered Photography, Duke Farms cam, Sooner Lake cam

The SW FL Eaglets had a big day. They both fledged this morning! They are doing fine -- they both returned to the nest later in the day for some food. One is sleeping in the nest right now. Congratulations to the SW FL Eagles!

Rhoda Gerig posted some new Bald Eagle pictures on her site. I don't see an explanation, so I'm not sure if this is one of the Eagles from the nest that she watches...


Duane has posted some new pictures on his site. Some backyard birds, Osprey and Bald Eagle pics. The Norfolk Eagles are still trying to build a nest. I appreciate Duane bringing us the pictures!

And since we are on the subject of the Norfolk Eagles, I'm going to proceed with a rant right now: I think that the city of Norfolk is subjecting these Eagles to cruel and inhumane treatment. Shame on them. They have continually allowed these Eagles to build a new nest, only to tear it down. I hope that they do not cause this pair to break up. Their bond has not been strengthened by raising a brood of eaglets. I am worried that this second year of failure will cause them to seek new mates. The people responsible for this are the Norfolk City Council and the Norfolk City Manager. If you live in Norfolk, please vote these people out:

• Norfolk City Manager Marcus D Jones
• Mayor Paul D Fraim
• Andrew A Protogyrou
• Theresa W Whibley
• Anthony L Burfoot
• Paul R Riddick
• Barclay Winn
• Angelia Williams

The person most responsible for this idiotic mis-treatment of the Norfolk Eagles is the Norfolk City Manager, Marcus D Jones. Please give him the boot. He decided single-handedly that the Eagles should be removed from the garden. The City Council backed him, but it was Jones' decision. The only voice of reason is Councilman Tomas R Smigiel, Jr. He asked repeatedly to take time to study the situation and come up with a plan that makes sense. Please support him! And give the rest the boot!

On Ron Dudley's blog, Feathered Photography, he has a post today about fighting Short-eared Owls. He's got some interesting pictures of two males fighting over a female. I love the second to last picture of the series!

A nest cam at Duke Farms has captured video of a Hawk attacking a Bald Eagle sitting on a nest, incubating eggs/babies (no way to tell which). The Bald Eagle jumped up and took down that hawk so fast. But the Hawk didn't die right away. In fact, I'm worried that the Eagle may have been injured. He stands on the Hawk for a long time, reaching down pulling with his beak. Hawks also have hooked beaks and sharp talons. I fear that the Hawk may have had a good hold on the Eagle. Eventually, the Hawk was served as dinner. But I think he had ahold of the Eagle for a while... At least for as long as the Eagle was reaching down with it's beak and pulling. I think he was trying to get the Hawk to let go. The first time I watched this video, I was wondering why it was going on and on. Then I realized that they were probably at a stalemate for a while. Then at some point, I think the Hawk finally died and he started plucking it. That's when he starts having feathers stuck to his beak. Hopefully, the Eagle is ok. I can't imagine what the Hawk was thinking, coming after a Bald Eagle... Anyway, there are 3 parts posted, with a 12 minute break between part 1 and part 2 where the eagle just lays and pants. In fact, you can skip the first 3 minutes of part 2… Then Part 3 is when Mom comes home and finds the mess that Dad made! All this happened with eggs/babies in the nest. So, there’s been some worry. The camera angle doesn’t allow you to see into the nest bowl. But this happened right when hatching was expected. And one of the adults resumed incubating after things settled down. Then it looked like feeding was happening later in the day. So, maybe it worked out ok…

The fourth Sooner Lake eaglet has hatched. It is a very long process, when the eaglet struggles to get out of the shell. It seems that the eaglet got out of the shell, but hasn't moved since hatching. I'm going to wait until we see what tomorrow brings before I agree that the fourth hatch didn't make it. Sometimes, they just need to rest for a while after hatching...

Eagles4Kids cam, Sooner Lake cam, Harris Hawk, Red-tail Hawk, bear cubs, tiger cub, leopard, brown bear

Yesterday, I mentioned the disabled Bald Eagle at the Eagles4Kids live cam. I got some screen captures of the eagles today. She was able to hobble across the nest. This is the female, you can tell her right foot is missing the toes:

In this pic, the male is heading out and the female is resuming incubating duties after returning to the nest. Good shot of the egg here and her foot. I don't know why this camera is tilted...

I think this eagle is an inspiration to anyone who is living with a disability!

And I finally got a look at the Sooner Lake eaglets. I'm not sure if I see three or four heads in this shot. The last I heard, there was a pip in the 4th egg. So, they may have four babies in the nest by now.

Here's a site with a few pics of a Harris Hawk. What a beautiful bird that is! We don't get these around here...

Check out these pictures of birds of prey on flickr. Over 98,000 pictures here...

Have you ever seen a bird that ate too much that it couldn't fly? Check out this story with video. I think they maybe should have left this Red-tailed Hawk alone, with people keeping away from it, to see if it would eventually fly away... Just my thoughts on the matter...

I don't know how three bear cubs end up in a cardboard box on the side of the road in South Carolina. But it sure makes for cute pictures.

There's an orphaned polar bear cub in Alaska. He made his first public appearance. Here's the story. And here's some video. There are two videos on this page and look at the size of those paws in the pic at the bottom of the page! This is a video of a different polar bear cub learning to take his first steps.

The San Francisco Zoo's baby Sumatran Tiger is now on exhibit for limited periods of time.

A couple of quick videos:

This leopard knows how to deal with paparazzi!

This bear is much more friendly!

Turtle Bay nest, new Eagle behavior, Camellia's location, Azalea out-of-touch, SW FL nest, Connecticut River Bald Eagles, another thought on the pesticide poisoned Bald Eagle, disabled Bald Eagle on cam, Bald Eagle scuffle, nests in North Dakota, Feathered Photography post

Lots of material today. Yesterday's post was short because I just wasn't feeling it after the bad day at Turtle Bay. They are trying to piece together what happened at that nest. Here is an article.  I disagree with the article. I think the intruder is male and most likely got into a fight with the resident male. The intruder's feet look damaged on the web cam. I think that the resident male is either dead, injured or just chased away by the intruder. I grabbed this screen capture of female #4's feet last year. No doubt she was scrapping with the other females that were seen at the Norfolk nest last year.

With the increase in the eagle population, we will see more fights over territory. Here is a timely article that discusses how we are learning new things as eagles are adapting to areas that have reached saturation.

We have a new location map for Camellia. He is still local, hanging out on the south-side. Reese has also made an entry for Azalea, that he has received his last transmission from her. I had thought that the battery on her transmitter would gradually die. I didn't expect it to work one day and then to kaput! I was hoping that it would last for another year so we could see where she builds her nest. Oh well. Maybe we'll still luck out with ground reports...

I took this screen capture the other night of the SW FL Eaglets. They both have their heads tucked in, asleep. I'd wonder what they were if it weren't for the feet...

They are branching now, so there's only one in the nest this evening:

Here's an article on Bald Eagles on the Connecticut River. I'm posting the link here because I love the first picture in this article! This 4 year old Bald Eagle has the most awesome eye stripe I've ever seen! So pretty!

I mentioned recently that there was a Bald Eagle that died from pesticide poisoning. It also had lead in its system. I should have mentioned that it's possible that the Eagle consumed fish that was poisoned when a toxic substance washed into a body of water. It's concerning since we eat fish too...

The Bald Eagle nest cam Eagles4Kids is also giving us something new to learn about. The resident female showed up for the 2012/2013 nesting season with serious injuries to both of her feet. As the season progressed, she lost her right foot and is now making do with a stump. This resident pair has stayed together despite her disability. You can read about her disability here. And she is defying the odds -- she laid an egg on March 9th!

Note to self: Do not release a rehabilitated Bald Eagle near another Bald Eagle's nest... Good video of two Bald Eagles interacting with each other -- at one point one Bald Eagle flips over so they can face each other, talon-to-talon. No surprise that their feet can get pretty ugly!

North Dakota's Game and Fish Department is asking for the public to report the locations of Bald Eagle nests.

I love Ron Dudley's blog, Feathered Photography. Here's a link to his posts for 3/22 and 3/23. An American Kestrel and a Short-eared Owl. Wonderful pictures and explanations!

More sad news out of Turtle Bay

More sad news out of Turtle Bay. The last egg hatched and the intruder killed the eaglet. There are numerous stories of heart-ache while watching nature play out on the various cams that are available. I have witnessed some of the most amazingly beautiful things  and some of the most heart-breaking things on wildlife cams. It's a package deal, and you never know what you are going to get. But I still find the experience to be worthwhile. My heart goes out to the followers of the Turtle Bay Eagle Cam. I know they are devastated over this turn of events.

NX location, Turtle Bay Eagle nest, Sooner Lake Eagle nest, The Critter Window

I meant to wish everyone a happy Spring yesterday. I don't like cold weather, so I'm always happy when Spring arrives.

NX checked in. Just as I'd anticipated, she hasn't gone very far. Check out the map here. And speaking of eagle locations. I said on the Norfolk Eagle Forum yesterday that Camellia hadn't left Virginia. Then today I was poking around looking at the tracking maps and found that Camellia has one dot in Maryland and 5 dots in North Carolina. Then I went to CCB's Eagle Trak blog and looked at the entries for those dates and there's no mention of Camellia being in Maryland or North Carolina. So, I'm not sure what that means. I'm going to ask Reese the next time I see him...

They still aren't sure what happened at the Turtle Bay nest. I know it was heart-breaking for the people that follow that nest. We've had our share of turbulence at the Norfolk nest, so I know what it's like. My heart goes out to the people that follow the Turtle Bay nest. As the eagle population rebounds, we will see more fights over territories, nests and mates... There will be an increase in "intruders" at nests. Resident eagles will be injured or killed defending their nests -- or will simply run away to escape injury -- leaving the remaining resident unable to cope alone with eggs or young in the nest. The increasing eagle population is a success story, but it brings problems with it because there is only so much real estate to go around. It also brings about change, with "Urban Eagles" setting up nests in closer contact with humans and not necessarily near water. As far as Turtle Bay is concernet, they still have one egg and it looks like it has a pip today. The last screen captures I see on their forum shows two eagles in the nest with the egg. And I think it's the resident female and the intruder. I'll post another update tomorrow... Today, I've had to go by what's posted on the forum -- there are so many people looking at the cam that I'm getting "Connection failed: Over license connection limit."

The Sooner Lake Eagle Cam (Oklahoma) had four eggs this nesting season. Three have hatched and the fourth should hatch any day now. I'm going to be checking on that cam tomorrow and hope to have some screen captures to share.

 Some pics from The Critter Window:


These ducks can put away some bird food!

  

I hadn't expected to see birds as big as Cardinals wait on a squirrel...

 

Even this duck was giving the squirrel a wide berth! It wouldn't go in the feeder with the squirrel!



Eventually, the feeder runs empty.



Then, at 2:04PM, it rains bird food! Pretty neat set-up... 


I have found a blog that seems to be a pretty comprehensive guide to the Eagle Cams that are available. Check out this site!



Camellia's location, Buddy training update, sad news at Turtle Bay nest, pesticide poisoned Bald Eagle

There is a new location for Camellia posted on the CCB's Eagle Trak. There is no location for Azalea. I checked Seaturtle and her location isn't shown. I've seen this happen before -- I guess their data doesn't all download from the satellite at the same time. Just guessing. We'll just have to wait to see if she checks in. I'm figuring we should have a fix on her by tomorrow. NX hasn't checked in since 3/14. It's normal for her to miss checking in as she wanders in and out of areas that have cell coverage.

Raina has posted a training update for Buddy! His training seems to be coming along nicely. If you have any questions about Buddy's training, here's your chance: Raina and Dr Dave are going to be on WCV's moderated discussion at noon tomorrow (3/21). You can ask questions then, or you can ask questions in advance and then read back later. The link to the moderated discussion is included in the training update.

Disturbing news out of the Turtle Bay (Redding, California) nest. One of the Eaglets had hatched, but the next morning it was killed by an adult. Intruder Bald Eagles will kill offspring in a nest to reduce competition for resources or to make room for their own offspring if they are trying to take over the territory/nest and remaining mate. There is some speculation that it was one of the parents that killed the Eaglet. But there has been an intruder in the area for a couple of weeks, which I think played a role. I am speculating that something happened to one of the residents, maybe in a conflict with the intruder. Or perhaps the resident went away when the intruder appeared, as happened at the Norfolk nest in '08. This story points out that one of the residents stopped coming to the nest to help with incubation and stopped bringing food to the nest after the intruder arrived -- about two weeks prior. I think the remaining resident probably gave up on trying to handle all of the nesting duties alone. It doesn't help that the camera isn't pointed correctly at the nest. We may never know what happened at this nest... I've seen a lot of disclaimers on nest cams recently, that the cams show what happens, sometimes it's life and sometimes it's death... Something to keep in mind as we observe these nests. The cam can be found here -- the picture is really clear, but the angle is pretty bad:

 And here's a story of a Bald Eagle in Oklahoma that died of pesticide poisoning. That's a new one on me. They said the pesticide is commonly found in rat poison. I had a termite company tell me once that a poison would kill the animal that ate it, then kill the animal that ate the dead (poisoned) animal, which would then poison and kill whatever animal ate it. So if you poison a mouse, and it gets eaten by a snake, the snake will die. And if the snake then gets eaten by a raccoon, the raccoon will die. I think I'd rather not use a product when you can't control the domino effect like that...

NCTC and Alcoa nest pics, The Critter Window pics, Texas man sentenced, Osprey sighting

I had pictures for yesterday's post, and they didn't get into the post. So here they are:

It was snowing yesterday at the NCTC nest:

And I caught feeding time at the Alcoa nest:



These next two are from The Critter Window. I've seen a great variety of birds and a few squirrels on here. I like to put this one on my second monitor on full screen and it's like I've got a window in my office! In these two pictures are a Squirrel, Cardinal, Mourning Dove, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, and a Chickadee. I've also seen a bunch of Downy Woodpeckers, White-Bellied Nuthatches, Mallards, and Wood Ducks. There is always something going on here.

Many of you may remember the guy in Texas that wanted to grab a baby Bald Eagle because he wanted to train it in falconry. Then he lied about it when he got caught. He was sentenced and it looks like they threw the book at him. Good! Here's the story.

I spotted three Osprey flying together today in downtown Hampton. I still haven't seen any activity on the two towers that I watch where they have previously built nests. Hopefully, I'll see them bringing new sticks in soon.

Photography forum, rabid racoon in Hampton, Osprey are back, Panda Bear and baby bears, injured & orphaned wildlife

I found another photography forum. I was looking through the "avian" posts when I came across this picture of a kingfisher up-chucking a pellet. The photographer had great timing getting this picture. This is one of those "critique" forums, so I don't think I'll participate. But it looks like a good forum to poke through. Come back and comment if you find something to share!

A rabid raccoon was found in Hampton, VA. Make sure your pets get the rabies vaccine. Here's the announcement from the city:

RABIES CASE CONFIRMED

The Hampton Health Department has confirmed a positive case of rabies. A family dog came in contact with a wild raccoon earlier this month - on March 9, 2013 - in the Buckroe area of the city near Fire Station 4 on Richard Avenue. The raccoon was submitted to the State Laboratory in Richmond for testing, where it was found to be positive.

A friend told me tonight that he's spotted Osprey at a couple of nests. I've been keeping an eye on the two nests that I watch as part of The Center for Conservation Biology's Osprey Watch program, and so far, no Osprey.

I ran across this story about Panda Bears... It was about how you get captive bears in the mood, for... well... you know... Here's the link.

Here's an article about a bear cub that was wandering around by itself. It's an interesting read, but there's a lesson to be learned here. Check out this article by The Wildlife Center of Virginia on the topic of what to do if you see what you think is injured or orphaned wildlife.

Local birds, Eagle locations, Eagle cams, Sea Lion pups in trouble

The temps are getting warmer and a pair of my House Finches are back! I  also spied two Brown Thrashers hopping across my back deck. They are huge! I don't know what I've done with my little point and shoot, but I need to find it!

Reese has posted new updates for our eagles:
Azalea's location
Camellia's location

Here's a pic from the SW FL Eagle Cam this evening. Stretch those wings! And look at those talons!

I caught feeding time at the Alcoa nest this evening. Here's some screen captures:

Say hi to the world!

Then Dad showed up.

He was trying to help with feeding.

I did some research yesterday on the Minnesota Bound Eagle Cam. They have two eggs, just laid on March 9th and March 12th. I doubt that they will lay another since it's been 5 days since the last egg was laid. I'm really excited about watching this nest since I'm coming in right at egg laying. And the cam picture is really nice.
 
I got a lead on another Bald Eagle nest cam: the NCTC cam in Sheperdstown, WV. They had a hatch yesterday and a hatch today. Very nice, hatching just a day apart! Here's a link to the NCTC cam. Mom finally moved and I tried to get a pic just now. But it's starting to get dark there and the cam picture is very pixelated. The screen capture I took looks horrible. I did see two heads bobbing around. 

Sick and malnourished Sea Lion pups are washing ashore in record numbers in California. Here's a link to the story. I saw a spot on TV about it. Fishermen are reporting that bait fish have disappeared, which Seal Lions rely upon. I hope they can figure out what is going on in the waters off of California.

Buddy's training, update on the lead poisoned Bald Eagle, Alcoa and Minnesota Bound Eagle cams, links to pictures

There is a new entry, dated March 13th, for Buddy's training. The note includes the reason you won't see Buddy on the Critter Cam for a little while.

Speaking of The Wildlife Center of Virginia, there is a March 15th update on the juvenile Bald Eagle from the Eastern Shore that is recovering from lead poisoning.

Big news. One of the eaglets at the Alcoa nest hatched this afternoon!



Alcoa nest 1st hatch 3/16


I've found another Bald Eagle cam to follow. The Minnesota Bound eagle cam is currently incubating. I saw two eggs, but don't know if there are more...


Minnesota Bound nest 3/16


Rhoda Gerig (RFG) added more pictures to her site of the Bald Eagle nest that she watches. Here's a link to those pics on her site. It's a sequence of one of the adults bringing some soft nesting material into the nest. The mate is laying down in the nest.

Sam Maggio (DegasGoneDigital) has added a couple of pictures of a Great Egret to his site. It is in breeding plumage and is beautiful!

Ron Dudley (Feathered Photography) has posted some pictures at a pond where he goes to photograph wildlife and where others go to fish. He says there is a lot of discarded fishing line and hooks that are causing problems for the birds there -- and his pictures tell the story. If you know someone who enjoys fishing, please share the story of these birds and encourage people to fish responsibly! Take a look at his other posts as well. His site is quickly becoming one of my favorites! He doesn't just post pictures. He relates the behavior of the birds, points out photography tips, points out the nuances of his different subjects... This is just a great site. And he has a new post just about every day. This is a great site to follow!

And in the news, here's a story about a really neat program in Arizona. People spend four months camped out (really, camped out) observing Bald Eagle nests. Read about it here. I would get involved with a program like this!

Buddy T-shirts!, leucistic black bird sighting, SW FL eagles, lions, tigers and bears (oh my!)

The Wildlife Center of Virginia is selling Buddy T-shirts to commemorate his 5th Birthday! Order your T-shirt here. They are only making the number of shirts that are paid for by March 31st, so don't delay!

I saw a leucistic black bird today on a cam. It had white on a wing. I was wondering what kind of black birds they have in that part of the country (Indiana) with white on the wing. Then it turned and faced the other direction and there was no white on the wing. Then it flew away without turning back around so I could get a screen capture. I missed it today! But, I'm going to be keeping an eye out for it to return! (Note to self -- take a screen capture, then wonder about the bird!)

The SW FL eaglets are branching.  

And they had a cattle egret for dinner tonight. Seems like it was 95% feathers...

Here's a short video about the friendship between a dog and a lion.

This is a great story about one person's tiger conservation efforts. It shows that one person can make a difference!

Boo the Grizzly Bear makes an appearance. And this pic of Maxi the Brown Bear is too cute!

Hampton Chemical Collection, HK, Dr Watts, eagle locations, leucistic Bald Eagle, cam pics

Hampton has its first Chemical Collection of 2013 this weekend. We've seen how much our Bald Eagles like to visit landfills. Let's keep all of this yucky stuff out of the landfills! You have to be a resident of Hampton to attend this collection. Here's the ad:

HOUSEHOLD CHEMICAL COLLECTION

Saturday, March 16, 8 a.m.-noon

Hampton’s first household chemical and electronics collection for 2013 will be at the Public Works Operations Complex, 419 N. Armistead Ave. Bring unwanted chemicals or electronics for proper disposal and recycling. Chemicals include paints, solvents, gas and insecticides. Electronics includes computers, cell phones, stereo equipment and anything that plugs into a wall and uses rechargeable batteries. Additional collections in Hampton will be on May 18, July 20, Sept. 21 and Nov. 16. Information: 757-259-9850 or Hampton Customer Call Center at 3-1-1 or 727-8311.

Duane has some new pics posted on his site -- including some new pics of HK in his nest. HK looks so grown up!

Dr Watts has been out on a survey of Bald Eagle nests. Read about his report on the Richmond eagles. Dr Watts has also written about the recent survey on the CCB website -- pictures included.

We have new locations for our eagles:
Azalea's location
Camellia's location

NX has also checked in a few times this past week.

Here's a link to a picture of a leucistic Bald Eagle. This is such a beautiful bird! I love leucistic Bald Eagles and this one is probably the prettiest I've seen. I wish there was more than one pic posted...

Some cam pics from today (see my post of 3/13 for links to these cams):



I love the fuzzy legs on this one!



This is a nice family pic.



A good shot of the Alcoa eggs



Ft St Vrain nest has 3 eggs!



Nest cam roundup, Wildlife strikes at ORF and PHF, lead poisoning

Been checking out cams today:

Alcoa cam gave me a good look at two eggs:

Ft St Vrain gave me a look at part of an egg. There's just a little bit of white in front of the left wing:

I caught dinnertime at the SW FL eagle cam:

Here's both Great Horned Owl babies snuggled up to momma:

I did some research today at the FAA Wildlife Strike Database. I am going to Vegas in six weeks and refuse to use the Norfolk airport, both in protest over the treatment of the NBG eagles and because of safety concerns at that airport. Today I compiled the data for the number of wildlife strikes at each airport since Mom Norfolk was killed on 4/26/11. Here's the graphs (looks to me like PHF is much safer than ORF):



Sad news. On Virginia's Eastern Shore, several Bald Eagles were poisoned. Four Bald Eagles are dead and another is receiving treatment at The Wildlife Center of Virginia. The culprit is lead poisoning. They are investigating if they were poisoned on purpose or accidentally. A lot of raptors are accidentally poisoned by hunters. If a hunter shoots but can't find the animal, it can die and the lead shot is then consumed by scavengers. Or, if a hunter field dresses an animal and leaves the gut pile where scavengers can get to it, they can ingest lead that way. Lead in the digestive tract leaches a lot of lead into an animal's body, often causing debilitation and death. If you know a hunter, please send a link to this article by The Wildlife Center of Virginia. Voluntary effort by hunters can really make a difference!

Photo website, Buddy, NBG, animal attacks, Owl nest cam, Black Bear mom and 4 cubs

I found another photography website to follow. Ron Dudley has just posted some Osprey pictures on his blog: Feathered Photography. I want to check out his site some more! I've just spent a half hour looking at a variety of his posts. He is very active, posting pictures often. And he includes explanations about the behavior he observes. Very interesting. Oops. Just spent another half hour on this site. Be sure to check this one out!

There is another post from the Wildlife Center of Virginia about Buddy's training. Raina posted another update on March 9th. Buddy is so smart! Check it out here.

Reese has posted updated locations for our eagles.
Azalea's update, including a picture taken by Cary!
Camellia's update.

The Norfolk Eagles and the situation at the Norfolk Botanical Garden are back in the news. Eagle On Alliance has hired a lawyer and has charged the City of Norfolk with violating the permit to remove Bald Eagle nests at NBG. Check out Rose's post on the Norfolk Eagles Forum. There are three links in her post.

Here are some stories of animals attacking people in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. There is an account of an owl that kept attacking a jogger that I found interesting. They really are silent when they fly...

I found a nest cam of a Great Horned Owl. The eggs were laid on 1/20 and 1/23. They hatched on 2/22 and 2/24. There are two angles shown in one shot:

Here's a video of a Black Bear and her four cubs in New York as they get a check-up by some researchers.

Eagle locations, video and cam links, Kingfisher sighting

Reese has returned and has posted some updates:

Camellia's update.

Azalea's update.

KE's update.

NX has also checked in recently, on 3/10. Here's a link to NX's update. Is it just me or does anyone else think it's strange that NX has stayed within a few miles of her release sight? I had asked where this brood would consider their natal territory, since Bald Eagles are supposed to return to their natal territory. I wondered if it was NBG, WCV or where they were released. I was told that their natal territory had been established as NBG before they were taken from the nest. So far, NX hasn't shown any inclination to explore beyond where she was released. She must be foraging without any problems. But Azalea has shown us that even catfish farms don't keep an eagle's interest forever. So, what's with NX?

I came across this story of a volunteer pilot transporting an injured Bald Eagle to a treatment center. It has embedded video at the top of the story. What's neat is that after the story finishes, you can click on another video. So, from here I went to a story about a Bald Eagle that was hit by a truck and stuck in the grill. From there, I watched a video about a puppy that got stuck in a cactus and the crowd of people that showed up to adopt him. Here's the start to watch these three videos.

Part of my property is wetlands, 3rd house down from the water. I had thought a few times that I'd heard a Kingfisher out back. This morning I saw a big bird on a post in the wetlands. I was inside looking out my back door window maybe 25 feet away. It was big. Then it turned and then took off and I realized it was a Kingfisher. I stepped outside and was able to hear it as it flew from branch to branch. I had no idea they were so big! I didn't get a picture... I just need to glue a camera onto my hand!

Some eagle cams to check out.
The SW Florida eaglets are full grown. They will fledge soon.
Fort St Vrain eagles are incubating.
Alcoa eagles -- Liberty and Justice -- in Davenport, Iowa are incubating

SW Florida nest 3/11 11:14PM