Nest Cam Round-Up: Berry College, Hays, Two Harbors, White Rock, Berry College Bluebird

Another day went by and I didn't see the Berry College Bald Eagle Fledgling. It has been 26 days since B3 fledged. Mom brought a fish to the nest for her today. Mom didn't wait before she started to eat it. And she didn't stop until it was gone... I hope to see B3 again before she leaves for good. For comparison, I looked at the records of the 2009 Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) offspring HK, HE, and Azalea: When they fledged and when they were last seen at NBG (we had a lot of photographers on the ground back in those days). HK fledged first and he was last seen at NBG 47 days later. HE fledged next and she was last seen at NBG 49 days later. Azalea (HH) fledged last and she was last seen 69 days later. I think B3 is still hanging out with her parents, but not necessarily at the nest. The folks at Berry College report that she was last seen in the nest area on Saturday... Here are my s'caps from today of Mom in the nest with the fish, this is just after landing:

I think they start with the head because the gills, mouth, and eyes all give them something to latch onto and start tearing pieces off.

This is the tail going down in one last, big bite. This is typically how they end a fish meal...

She didn't stay at the nest very long after finishing the fish. I hope her leg heals better once she is free of nest duties...

One of the eaglets is awake at the Hays nest tonight. It looks like the one on the branch has its head tucked under its wing and the one in the center of the nest looks to be asleep too.

The Two Harbors cam is back up tonight, and the eaglet is in face-plant mode:

The White Rock Eaglets are big enough now that the parents are no long hovering over them.

The four Berry College Bluebird nestlings are just a wriggling mass of gaping mouths. They are almost arranged like a pinwheel here...

You can still see the un-hatched egg in the center of the nest. They seem little here, but are so much bigger now when compared to the egg.

Dad gives the baby on the left a big bite. I think it's an entire caterpillar. The baby's head is flopped over to the side and the caterpillar is hanging out of its mouth.

Same baby, same caterpillar. Dad took it back, then did a better job of getting it far enough into a different baby's mouth that it could be swallowed. I'm still surprised that they are bringing entire bugs in their beaks instead of regurgitating pieces that they have eaten.

They are hot now, and it's just going to get hotter...

Mom and Dad both remove poop packets. And if the packet gets broken by the squirming babies while the parents are out foraging, they will even pick the pieces off of them and carry it all out of the nest. They keep the area really clean.

The baby on the bottom right has got a line of feathers coming in along its wing. See it? It's the dark backwards C under the chin of the baby laying on top... These are the first feathers I've seen come in. The oldest nestling hatched on Friday.