Berry College Day 15&17 -- All Is Well

Dad Berry had been to the nest yesterday. I had missed seeing him... Here's a few s'caps from today. The babies are getting too big to be easily brooded under Mom. If the weather turns bad, she will protect them and keep them warm as best as she can. (And Dad will come in and help.) But this is all they need on a nice day.

The temps were warm enough that the babies were able to enjoy the day. 

They were minding their manners during a feeding. They both got bites.

Mom has some food on her beak. She needs to do some feaking!

After eating, the babies fall into a food coma.

 The babies grow so fast, they need a steady supply of food.

Home alone...

I'm working on a video that I will post tomorrow...

Berry College Day 14&16 -- Where Is Dad Berry?, Leucism Explained

I am watching the Berry College Bald Eagle nest with a growing sense of dread. Although I didn't watch the nest 24/7 today, I did watch it for a number of successive hours both today and yesterday and have not seen Dad Berry since the storm. I saw Mom do another poop shoot out of the nest today, which I interpret to mean that Dad hasn't been to the nest so she can take a break. And the pantry is starting to look bare. All are indicators that Dad has not been to the nest. If something has happened to Dad Berry, Mom will try to take care of the babies herself. But at this young age, they are unable to defend themselves while she is gone to forage for food. Which she will need to do soon if Dad doesn't show up. The predators that pose a threat are hawks, eagles, raccoons, ravens, squirrels, and owls. Although owls not so much since Mom will continue to protect the chicks overnight. I did hear of a nest where a single parent raised a chick to fledge, but that is the exception, not the rule... And there was some human intervention -- food was left nearby for the Mom (coordinated by the local game and fish department) so she wouldn't have to leave her chick for long periods while foraging. So far, I can't find any other mention of Dad Berry being missing... If anyone has seen him since the storm, please leave a comment. Here are a few s'caps from today.

Warmer temps and sunshine have melted most of the snow from the nest.

Pretty light on the back branch.

I bumped up the quality setting for these s'caps. The babies are not fighting during feedings, indicating that they are getting enough food. Notice all the white wash on the guard rails. As the babies get bigger, the back branch will start to get painted...

We have an escapee. One of the babies has come out of the nest bowl in order to get closer to Mom during a feeding. This is the first time I've seen one of them out of the nest bowl and is a milestone in their development. This is a time for shoring up the guardrails with more sticks!

I love leucistic Bald Eagles. Here's an explanation of the condition.

Berry College Day 13&15

Eaglets are able to thermoregulate at 2 weeks old, so the cold shouldn't be such a threat to the babies now. However, Mom will continue to brood her babies when it's cold -- for as long as she can fit them underneath her. (They are already starting to get a bit unmanageable...) They made it through the storm ok. But I didn't see Dad Berry at all today, so I either missed him or it's a bit concerning... Hopefully, I'll see him tomorrow. Here's my s'caps from today.

Mom kept tight on the babies today except for the occasional feeding. She kept this posture for a long time. It doesn't look comfortable, but I imagine it helped to keep warmth in the nest bowl. The adults don't poop from the nest very often. When the snow was flying yesterday, Mom didn't want to leave her babies to take a break, so she did a poop shoot from the nest toward the camera. Notice all the 'whitewash' on the front right branch...

I finally got a look at the babies when they played peek-a-boo. I was glad to see the movement.

Then later there was a feeding. The younger chick laid down and let the older one eat first. I was worried when Mom fed bite after bite to the older chick and the younger one got none. I thought that Mom was going to finish and settle back into brooding the chicks before the younger one could get any food. But as the older chick's hunger was satisfied, the younger chick perked up and began taking bites, getting several in a row. This s'cap was when the feeding first started and the younger chick was laying down.

Snow at Berry College Day 12&14, Bald Eagle HK and Sterling, Ocean Life Video, Unlikely Friends

I've got lots of s'caps from today from the Berry College nest. I was grabbing a s'cap of the babies and at that exact second Mom landed in the nest. I couldn't get this shot on purpose if I tried!

A short time later, Dad brought in food (a Coot) that he had already dined on. It was a bloody mess... The babies are peeking out from under Mom. So cute!

Mom fed the babies, both getting bites.

Then she did a big stretch.

I saw the first snow flakes at 2:56, not even visible in this s'cap.

But this was the scene 10 minutes later:

Here's what the radar looked like at 3:45. I put a red star where the nest is (in the center of the s'cap).

And this is the radar at 8:40PM, they are still in the thick of it:

Here's a link to a short video from today almost an hour after it started snowing. This shows how well-insulated birds are. The snow piles up on Mom Berry. If she were losing body heat, the snow would melt. Instead, it just piles up, then slides off when she moves. And she's keeping the babies warm and dry underneath her.

Here's what the nest looked like at 6:55PM this evening, right before the IR cam turned on. The snow is piling up and it's still snowing pretty hard at this time. (The cams are currently down...)

Pam Monahan visited Bald Eagles HK and Sterling on 2/22 and has a bunch of great pictures and commentary on her blog.

Here's a link to a pretty cool video featuring ocean life.

And check out this story about two unlikely friends. I believe that's a Belgian Malinois, like one of my dogs.

Berry College Day 11 & 13 Video

I put together some video highlights from a half hour today at the Berry College Bald Eagle nest. There are some stretches and baby flapping, poop shoots and bonking, and Mom flies in and eats some bony nestovers and then feeds the chicks. Check it out at this link. (9:32)
Here's a s'cap from the video during the wind-up to a bonking:

Berry College Day 9 & 11

I was busy all day and missed seeing the babies today. Here's a s'cap from just before 8:00PM. I'd like to see where the babies are with Mom laying so off center...

Here's another s'cap from 3 hours later. She appears to be back in the center of the nest:

Berry College Day 8 & 10

I'm trying to think of a better way to title these posts... Calling them by the ages of both chicks is maybe a little confusing. Any ideas?

I caught this feeding earlier today. The babies were minding their manners. Not competing for the bites at all. In fact, they didn't even seem hungry to me. Mom had to make several offers before one would take the bite... I did see both chicks take bites.

Berry College Day 7 & 9 -- Feeding a Family

That's a lot of food in the Berry College nest! I see at least two squirrels and one coot. And some unidentifiable prey items. Yum yum! With all of this food, there shouldn't be any serious problems with sibling rivalry. (Talons crossed!)

I caught a family dinner this evening. Mom and Dad are working together to feed the babies. This is good when there are multiple babies in the nest. If they are both getting food offered to them, they are both eating and aren't bopping on each other.

 

 

Berry College Day 5 & 7 - Windy Day, New Post For Bald Eagles HK and Sterling

It was a very windy day at the Berry College nest. Earlier in the day, Mom was facing toward the right. The wind was coming from behind her and a big gust almost blew her over. Here you can see the wind is starting to get under her wings:

Watch the video to see the rest... I thought experienced eagles knew not to put their back to the wind...

There are a lot of nestovers available for the babies. Here Mom has her head down, I think giving a smaller target for the wind.

 

I saw both chicks get some food today. I don't know why this camera is blurry sometimes...

 

Pam has a new blog entry for Bald Eagles HK and Sterling. She did a great job on this one!

Berry College Day 4 & 6, Video of Mom Berry Defending Nest Against Intruder

The sun was shining when I checked in at the Berry College nest today. I'm glad to see that after the damp day at the nest yesterday.

The babies are so focused on the parent during feedings. There is some sibling rivalry occurring at this nest. If food is plentiful, it should resolve itself. If not, the stronger nestling will survive. This is nature...

I just came across this video of Mom Berry defending the nest against an intruder in the wee hours of 2/12. This is the day before the first egg hatched. She's a good mom! Check out the video at the link above to see her in action!

Berry College S'Cap Of The Day, Norfolk Airport Rant, Bald Eagle Camellia

Here's the Berry College babies today, before the weather got bad. Some kind of prey item to the left:

I have said for years that it is not safe to fly in or out of the Norfolk Airport due to their unwillingness to address their problems with wildlife on their property. The number of birds at the airport is increasing and the number of bird strikes is on the rise. Check out this article and watch the video. Steven Sterling, the airport's Operations Director, is interviewed for the article. Talk about deer in the headlights. This guy is tap-dancing about the issue, and not doing a very good job of it. The article points out that the airport has not implemented corrective measure as recommended by biologists and the FAA. Instead, they have spent $40,000 to harass the Bald Eagles (whose territory is the neighboring Botanical Garden) and tear down their nests. Sterling says they are doing what is reasonable. He states that complying with the necessary action on airport property is the airport's long term goal. What isn't stated is that what they really want is to put in a new runway. (This part is not from the news story, this is my opinion on the matter: I believe that wetlands rules have prevented them from making the changes necessary to put in another runway. But now they can sell these changes under the guise of mitigating a hazard to aviation by removing habitat that is friendly to wildlife. And what a surprise! That would give them room for their new runway. In the mean time, they do nothing about the hazard presented by wildlife on their property. I think this has been their plan all along. Let the problem at the airport fester until they can sell the idea that gets them their runway. They are holding the flying public's safety hostage to get their new runway. They have been trying for a decade to get this runway, and now they see their chance.) The airport is completely negligent. And Mayor Fraim must want another runway because he is complicit in the negligence. (See my previous posts.) I have said from the start of this mess that the airport needs to take action to keep wildlife off of airport property instead of chasing the Bald Eagles out of the Botanical Garden. From the article: 

Bird counts at the airport noted only a handful of bald eagles in the area, but more than a thousand heavy and dangerous birds like the Canada goose and the Double-crested cormorant.

I continue my recommendation to not use that airport! It's just not safe. The last bit of the news article says that Bald Eagles are becoming more abundant in the area. Ummm, when a wrote a letter years ago to the airport, Mayor Fraim, and Norfolk's City Council, I told them that's what would happen when you remove a territorial pair of Bald Eagles that chase other Bald Eagles away... What a bunch of idiots.

Good news! The reports of the demise of Camellia's transmitter are greatly exaggerated! He did report in. The hope is that when the clouds clear, his transmitter will get enough of a charge to start regularly sending his location again. Talons crossed!

Second Hatch At Berry College! and Dad Norfolk Update (New Mate and Egg In The Nest)

The second egg at Berry College finished hatching over-night. This is a great time to watch this cam! I can't believe there's a peek-a-boo already!

Here are the little siblings during a feeding:

I don't know why this is so blurry... But they are both facing the cam, so I'm posting it.

Big news out of Norfolk. Mike Inman posted a couple of pictures of Dad Norfolk and his "new mate" -- which I didn't even know about. What happened to DT? Anyway, this new mate has bands. MagInAlex is reporting on Mike's post that Dad Norfolk's new mate is Bald Eagle HE, his daughter from the 2008-2009 nesting season. I knew this was bound to happen in the wild. Offspring return to their natal area to find a mate and build a nest. And if the position is open with their parent... It's bound to happen. So, they have an egg in the nest and I wish them luck!