Berry College Eaglet Day 37, Bald Eagle Camellia's Location, Bald Eagle HK, Return Of The Lady Of The Loch

Berry College Eaglet is 37 days old today. We finally get to see that big stretch from the side, wings are already on the way back down in this s'cap:

Learning how to be an eagle -- watching Mom pluck feathers.

 Being fed by Mom:

That's a big bite!

And that's a big crop!

 

Bald Eagle Camellia has checked in. See if he's in your neighborhood!

 

We have two new reports on Bald Eagle HK. In the first post, dated 3/27, Jim got some great pictures of HK and the banded female. I especially like the first two and the last one. In the second post, dated 3/28, Jim got some action shots of HK and provided some amusing commentary.

 

Much excitement in the Osprey world today. The female of a nesting pair in Scotland is thought to be the oldest breeding raptor in the world. She is 29 years old, has laid 70 eggs and reared 50 chicks. She returned to her nest today after wintering in Africa. (And had to chase off a female trying to take her place.) "Lady" and her mate "Laddie" have already been seen mating today. (Laddie became her mate in 2012 and is her 4th breeding partner in 23 years.) You can keep up with this pair by following The Loch Of The Lowes Blog or by watching them on camera.



Berry College Eaglet Day 36, Second Hatch At Hays Nest, White Rock and Two Harbors Bald Eagle Nest, Southwest Florida Bald Eagle Nest Still On Fledge Watch

The Berry College Eaglet is 36 days old today. I saw it standing several times today:

Getting the feel of spreading its wings while standing up. This is not the best s'cap in the world. But you can see the feathers coming out at the tip of the wing closest to the camera:

Even standing to poop:

You can see the feathers coming out of the shafts at the tail now:

This is a well-fed eaglet. Look at the size of that crop! (The Eaglet has its head turned away from the camera. The crop is the round part sticking out to the left.)

The eaglet spent the rest of the day relaxing and trying to stay cool:

But the work for the parents never ends. Here's another stick being brought into the nest for crib rails. I don't think these parents are very good at placing the sticks. I bet there are a lot of sticks on the ground under the nest:

The second chick has hatched at the Hays nest. When I first brought up this cam today, the parents were working together to feed the babies.

Here's a shot of both babies (one is lower in the nest and facing left in front of the one facing the camera):

When I looked in later, Dad was on the nest and Mom had just arrived. She looked at Dad, wanting to take over.

But he didn't move. So she laid down next to him, pulling some of the grass in close. (Mom is sitting quite a bit higher because she is not in the nest bowl and she's bigger than Dad. But she is laying down here.)

 

Eventually, Dad left and Mom resumed incubating the remaining egg and keeping the babies warm. She must be tired -- in this picture she is taking a nap.

 

These two parents are very dedicated. Last night, they had a winter storm and Dad came to the nest and huddled next to Mom, helping to keep the babies warm. Check out Eagleholic's post and picture. I really like this pair. They have built a great nest with great guard rails. They are very dedicated to each other, huddling together to keep warm. And it looks like they feed the babies together, which should help cut down on any bullying. We'll have to wait to see how well that works after the third chick hatches... Some nests have problems with bullying while other nests don't. I remember Mom Norfolk laying down on the chicks (brooding) if they started to act up. So there were never any bad problems at that nest.

 

It looks like a beautiful evening at the White Rock nest:

 

Yes, I was switching cams when she turned in the nest. Darn it!

 

 

Mom is still awake at the Two Harbors nest. I'm going to have to look on a map and see why it's full dark at Two Harbors and dusk at White Rock. I thought they were both around the same longitude... Anyway, here's Two Harbors this evening:

 

The Southwest Florida Eaglet still hasn't fledged. It is 95 days old today. Bald Eagle Azalea was slow to fledge at 84 days. The Southwest Florida Eaglet is really slow to fledge. They go when they are ready...

 



Berry College Eaglet Day 35, Two Harbors and White Rock Bald Eagle Nests, Bald Eagles KE and Camellia Check In

Saturday is my favorite day of the week because I get to record one more week's growth of the Berry College Eaglet! And today's picture marks the milestone of standing up!

Here's today's screen captures, including a better look at the standing picture.

It's a wet day. The baby is still trying to find protection under Mom and she's still trying to provide it. I'd still like to see more crib rails at this nest:

Here's the same stretch as yesterday. They do this a lot while growing up. I don't see the adults do this stretch very often.

Here's the same look almost. This is the "back up to the edge of the nest and poop" pose. I like how both of these pics show the new feathers growing in.

Tail feathers are starting to come in:

I haven't gotten a good shot of the edge of a wing in a few days. Including today... I finally saw a wing stretch, but from the wrong angle.

I got a family pic, but the eaglet is not very visible -- just trying to stay warm and dry...

And then I caught the eaglet standing up and taking a few steps! So exciting to mark this milestone! I feel like a proud Mom! I don't know if today was the first day for the eaglet to stand, but it's the first time I've seen it.

Here's the Two Harbors chick getting some fish from Mom:

And the scene at the White Rock nest is just as pretty as ever:

Bald Eagle KE has checked in. She's been exploring...

Bald Eagle Camellia has also checked in. Did he cross paths with KE?

Berry College Eaglet Day 34, Hays Bald Eagle Nest Has Their First Hatch, Southwest Florida, Northeast Florida, Two Harbors and White Rock Bald Eagle Nests, Bald Eagles Camellia and NX Check In

The Berry College Eaglet is 34 days old today. I didn't get any good feather shots yesterday. Look at how much more the feathers have grown in!

This is the first time I've seen this eaglet spread its wings. I estimate at least 2.5 feet wingtip to wingtip:

Then there was a nice stretch. I love this stretch, but it's kind of hard to tell what's what if you aren't watching as it happens. The head is down. The wrists are the forward-most/lowest part of both wings and the elbows are touching above the chicks head. So, come pretty much straight up from the eaglet's back to its elbows, then down and out to each side to the wrists, then back (away from the cam) to the wingtips:

Sitting up tall now:

Do we have a hatchling at the Hays nest? The adult kept listening intently to whatever was happening in the nest bowl:

When the adult got up, I could see what looked like egg shell.

And it looked like a feeding posture. So it seems congratulations are in order!

And sure enough, every now and then, I could see a bobbling head. But the parent was in the way and I couldn't get a decent s'cap. And then finally, I got this:

And then the parent shifted a little and I could see the baby resting after being fed.

 

The other parent arrived at the nest with another stick to fortify the crib rails.

 

Not the greatest family picture because of grass-fluffing. It is super hard to get a Bald Eagle family to pose nicely! So, this will have to do... 

And back to incubating. Look at how high that crib rail is!

I love how this nest looks at night:

I brought up the Southwest Florida nest and wondered if the eaglet had fledged. (Look at all of that debris in the nest!):

Their web page said they were still on fledge watch. When I checked in later, the eaglet was in the nest. The wings are spread out to keep the eaglet cool on this warm evening.

I like the foot sticking out here:

I found one of the Northeast Florida Fledglings at home today:

The Two Harbors nest is interesting. The Dad takes the day shift and the Mom takes the night shift. I'm used to seeing the Mom take all the shifts with Dad coming in only long enough to give Mom a break. These two share the responsibilities much more equitably.

Feeding time:

The chick takes turns watching Dad prepare the next bite...

and taking in the world outside the nest.

I like how the sun catches off the morsel that Dad is presenting to the chick:

 

 And just like clock-work, Mom comes in for the overnight shift.

I got to see both parents on the White Rock nest today. So far, they seem a lot more attentive to their eggs than last year...

Dad's home!

 
This nest always looks so green and pretty. Other nests always look dead and dusty, maybe with one green sprig from a pine tree.

Bald Eagle Camellia has checked in. He is revisiting an area where he recently spent some time, so the foraging must be good there.

Bald Eagle NX has also checked in. I wish that they would provide a better description of her travels and include an indication of distance on their maps...