Beverly Nettleton's Pictures From A Bald Eagle Release, Nest Cam Round-up: White Rock and White-bellied Sea Eagle, and Bald Eagle Camellia's Location

There was an eagle release while I was out of town. My friend Beverly Nettleton was able to attend. These are her pictures, posted here with her permission. She got some really great pictures! Thanks Bev!

This is a great close-up of the feet. You can see the rough bumps on the pads of their feet that help them to grip fish.

The blood on the white feathers is from breakfast.

When I first saw this picture, my first thought was, "saliva!" But then I noticed that this picture also shows the barb on the side of the tongue. These barbs help them to swallow food.

I wasn't there, so I can't say for sure. But I believe that this picture was taken while the silver band was put on the eagle's leg. I don't see a fastener (rivet) yet and it looks like there's a tool in the picture to the right.

An eagle that is being returned to the wild is usually brought to the location in an animal crate. It is usually hot and tired -- flying to a nearby tree upon release and resting for a while.

I had a quick post Saturday because one of the White Rock eaglets had fledged. These are some s'caps I took of Jules after fledging Saturday from Christian Sasse's live broadcast. It can be very hard to find a Bald Eagle in a tree, unless you saw it land and know where to look. The fledgling is doing some hide-and-go-seek in these s'caps:

I love this one!

Christian went wider with the next two shots to show how hard it is to find the fledgling. (Look above the word "at" about midway up.)

Hard to spot, right? Adults can be easier to find with their white heads. But juveniles are super hard being all brown. This might have been an evolutionary survival mechanism, being able to blend into their surroundings better when they are first learning how to fly.

I was out of town and am not sure, but I don't think the other White Rock eaglet has fledged yet. I'm surprised that they didn't fledge close together since they have been so close since hatch. This is the view from the wide-angle cam tonight, with both siblings at home:

Here's one of Christian Sasse's pictures of the White Rock eaglets, posted here with his permission:

I checked out the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest upon my return today.

Soon after bring up the cam, Dad arrived with a fish:

Dad: exit stage right. You can see how hard he pushes off with his legs, getting full extension here:

Then Mom left.

Mom returns pretty quickly with a graceful landing:

She tucked in her wings and started making her way down the guard rail to the nest bowl. She had to throw her wings out a couple of times to keep her balance.

Then she did a quick egg roll before laying back down.

She must not have been hungry... Just hanging out in the nest with her fish... "You look that way and I'll look this way..."

Bald Eagle Camellia checked in.