Berry College Bald Eagle Chick Day 10, Humboldt Bay Bald Eagle Funny Videos, Watering Orchids, My New Betta Fish

It's day 10 for the Berry College Bald Eagle chick. I'll be glad when the baby no longer requires constant brooding. I saw Mom Berry step on the baby's head twice today while she was trying to get into brooding position. Mom is stretching her injured leg in this screen capture. She usually does this after laying down for a while. She seems to be using her left leg more and I even saw her make a fist during this stretch today. 

Feeding time and the chick is chilling with the egg.

Here's a short video of a funny interaction between the Humboldt Bay Bald Eagles yesterday. It seems they disagreed on where to place a stick. Don't have your speakers too loud as there is a lot of wind noise. And in this second video of the same couple, Dad makes an attempt at mating (and fails) and then gets it right later on. I do want to point out some interesting behaviors in this video. In the first attempt, Dad hops up next to Mom and puts his head down. She wants to mate so she puts her head down and Dad hops on. Very often, when I see this sequence, I know what's going to happen next... Anyway, if you don't laugh at these two videos, then we just have a very different sense of humor. I think I have found the other nest to watch this season! Fingers crossed they have 2 or 3 hatchlings...

I usually put my orchids outside during the summer. Watering them is always a pain after I bring them inside for the winter -- except this year I'm trying something new. (Do not water Moth Orchids this way. The leaves will rot off if water gets into the junction where the leaf meets the trunk of the plant.) Here are my 15 (non-moth) orchids in my spare tub. I adjust the water temperature, close the shower curtain, and then let it rain. Then I can leave them to drain before putting them back where they belong. Perfect!

Can you see the flower in the above picture? That is the flower spike that I first noticed on my Epidendrum on October 1st and posted about here. The flower is supposed to be a ball of little flowers, like a firework. So, this isn't the best example of an Epidendrum. But I'm still happy it is finally in bloom. Here's a close-up of the flowers:

My Betta died on January 25th, exactly 2 years from the day that I brought him home. I finally found a new Betta that I like. His name is Cinnamon. I put together this cool new house for him. My other Betta was just in a little Betta bowl. But this Betta seems so much happier in this nice house. That's a real plant in there, helping to oxygenate the water!