White-bellied Sea Eagle Days 13 - 19 and Week 2 Collage

It was another wet day on 8/25, day 13, at the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest. 

The baby wants out! There was a lot of wiggling happening under Mom.

 

Dad landed in the nest with something that looked really gross...

The baby couldn't wait for freedom!

Mom moved the food to a better spot for feeding.

Wow, not often that we see Dad looking wet...

I have no idea what that used to be.

The baby must have been hungry to try to take bites off of that. Shortly after, Mom fed the baby.

It was raining again on 8/26, day 14. Does it ever stop raining in Sydney??? It finally stopped raining enough for us to see the baby...

...and get a bite to eat...

...and do some housekeeping -- Mom here removing some bones that have been picked clean. Bald Eagles do this too.

 Mom's got a funny look on her face with her feather's fluffed out.

Mom is so dirty from laying in wet leaves.

The baby seems to be staying pretty dry.

Mom is trying to dry off a little during a moment without rain.

I can see Dad perched in a tree off in the distance.

Looks like he's found a sunny spot.

Baby birds sure do know how to relax.

 Look at that! Dappled sunlight on Mom's wings as she leave to take a break! The sun has come out.

Less than a half hour later, and it's coming down in buckets! And all Dad can do is straddle the baby to try to keep it dry.

Look at how hard the wind is blowing!

Eventually, the rain stopped and Mom was back to incubating.

Mom is so dirty, poor thing!

And the baby got so wet... Being wet really shows off the crop.

 Here's the week 2 collage, on 8/27 their date. Either the egg is getting smaller and smaller or the chick is getting bigger and bigger:

The chick looked dry on 8/27, day 15, but Mom looked wet...

 

I didn't get to watch for long on 8/28, day 16. But what I saw was dry.

Mom flies off to take a break.

That egg is looking smaller every day.

I'm not sure if this is Mom or Dad with a nice fish.

 

On 8/29, day 17, Mom was off the nest during the wee hours.

The baby looks like it's standing here -- but it's still way to young for that.



 

There was an early morning feeding. I love this s'cap, with Mom and baby beak to beak.

In the next minute, the IR cam was turned off.

What a cutie!

Here's a short video (2:00) of Mom feeding the chick. I call this, "One for me, one for you."

 

 

Mom is still dirty. I image she will still be dirty for many days to come.

Babies get fed very frequently. It takes a lot of food to support how fast they have to grow.

 

I was watching this feeding when I saw Dad do a fly-by. Hoping to catch a landing, I started recording video. Here's a short video (1:30) of Dad bringing some sticks to the nest and taking off again. Mom also calls during this video, honking (squonking) like a goose...

 

 

The baby looked nice and dry on 8/30, day 18.



Oops. Face plant! I think the chick was trying to get into a better position to get some food.

Look at that huge crop!

Even cute from behind.

Another oops. I think the chick was getting ready to poop in this s'cap.

 

The chick looks nice and dry again on 8/31, day 19.

 

Here's a landing sequence:

And the baby never even blinked...

 

We got some nice views of the chick. It is trying to stay upright at times now, using its wings for balance. 

This is the first time I've seen this chick do one of the big stretches that I love.

I think it will be venturing out of the nest bowl soon.

It's taking more interest in its surroundings now.

But it still gets tired easily and needs a lot of naps.

Getting comfy, with a lazy wing and leg stretch.

 

 

I have been distracted from the blog while preparing to build a house. I'm picking out counters, floors, paint, etc... While still working full time... Sorry that the blog entries have been hit or miss. I'm trying...