There were three things that I saw at the Berry College nest today that I wanted to capture when I got home. However, I worked late and by the time I got home I couldn't rewind back far enough to get any of them... One was where there was a food delivery and the eaglets rushed the parent. I'm not even sure what happened since I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I think one of the eaglets grabbed the adult's foot thinking it was the food. I've seen that happen before and it always pretty funny. The second was some good wingercizing. And the third was a coot brought to the nest. They didn't stop eating until it was gone. And one of the eaglets ate the head without any problem. Here they are tucked in for the night:
I got a look at the Harrison Bay hatchlings, but it was sketchy at first. They must already be stuffed, because this looked like food coma:
The parent said, "Ummm. Hello..."
They finally woke up, and even though the parent ate most of the food, both eaglets still got several bites each.
This makes me think this is Dad. Dads always offer huge bites to the hatchlings. That's way too big!
That's more like it!
There was a feisty moment at the Berry College nest today. I thought it was funny. This video is 12 minutes because it continues with some "day in the life" stuff, wingercizing and searching for nestovers. If you are short on time, just watch the first minute for the feisty moment. Otherwise, much of the day seemed like "monkey see, monkey do"
A few other moments, "coming and going"
Wingercizing:
When I first saw this, I thought one had tried to get under the other to stay dry. "Any shelter in a storm."
I finally got a look at the second hatch at Harrison Bay. The hatchling was in face plant mode, worn out from the hatching process. Its natal down still looks wet:
Later in the day, we can see both little cuties! I got this after getting home from work.
The sibling rivalry has already started. It's in their nature... Here, HB7 on the left is going to get a beakful of HB8's face. Here's a link to a video of this feeding and the little spat (4:55).
At dinner, they both got bites. HB8 was in front and got some good bites. The still below is taken from this video (6:24). That's HB8 getting that bite. (There's a baby poop shoot in the video too.)
Earlier this evening, Mom made a strange hissing sound while flexing. I think the downstairs residents were trying to come upstairs... The still below is from the video of Mom flexing (1:06).
At the Berry College nest, I love how the light is hitting the eaglets' feathers in the morning:
This is the first time I've seen the family on the nest where each individual could be clearly seen. Well, except there's a big stretch happening here...
This one's pretty good except Mom is almost looking in the other direction... But I do see 4 faces, so I'm counting this as a good shot!
This s'cap would be better if the eaglet's face wasn't in shadow. But, that's what I got!
Pancake mode.
So, nobody had any nest suggestions about another nest to follow. I think I'm going to follow the Harrison Bay nest. I spent a fun day watching the second egg hatch. It's still not done, but the IR light is on and Mom looks to be settled in for the night. We may not get another look until the morning and the chick might be finished hatching by then. Here's some s'caps from today. This first one, you can see the pip hole is bigger today:
A couple of hours later, and the hole is bigger and it looks like cracks are starting to form around the edges of the hole.
The hole is much larger a few hours later:
This s'cap is taken during the same feeding. I love the "What'choo looking at?":
And a nice close-up from this same feeding break shows a crack going across the top of the egg.
And as of now, still no hatch for the second egg:
They are calling these chicks HB7 and HB8. They are the 7th and 8th hatches at this nest since the nest has been watched. I have shied away from calling them by these designations for a number of reasons. But I am tired of referring to first hatch, second hatch, etc... So... HB7 is already playing peek-a-boo, can you see the beak sticking out?
Here's a closer look. Too cute! The temps at the nest were in the mid-50s today, and the hatchling wanted to enjoy the day and do some exploring!
That's Dad at the back of the nest. This looks like a pretty area:
Here's some links to videos from today. These are listed in the order they were taken, so you can follow the progress of the hatch by watching in this order:
Hatchling and pip (4:28)
Feeding hatchling (4:50)
Beak shows at pip hole (1:44)
Feeding and pip (7:18)
Crack in egg (6:46)
I did my taxes today. So, not a lot of time for watching eagle cams. I do love how the Berry College cam shows the flight corridor. Here's a s'cap of a take-off:
And a landing a few minutes later:
And this is how I left them:
They are reporting nest failure at the Hays nest. Both of the eggs have broken. I followed that nest last year. I was sorry to hear this. That was a fun nest to follow with three fledges last year... Mom is on the nest tonight. Her instinct at this time of year is to incubate...
There are a lot of hatches at a lot of nests... I might start following another nest that is hatching now... Which are your favorites that have hatched this week? I'd like a nest with a nice PTZ cam with a clear picture. And an IR cam at night. Sound would be good. Leave a comment if you have a nest in mind! There are so many nests now!
How about Harrison Bay? The sound seems a little garbled. But it otherwise seems to have everything. Here's a link to a short video from earlier today of the hatchling and the pip in the second egg. (4:28) The baby is so cute in this video, squirming around and chirping. Here's a still from that video with the hatchling and the pip marked with a green arrow:
I haven't seen any coot brought to the Berry College nest recently. They have probably migrated away from the area now that it's warming up... We should be seeing a lot more fish brought to the nest. I watched tonight as Mom brought a big clump of grass to the nest:
I think the older eaglet is going to stay a lot larger than the younger eaglet. My thinking is the first hatch is a female and the second is a male...
I put together some video of Mom delivering that grass to the nest. Then a short time later, she delivers a prey item to the nest. They all take turns trying to eat too-big bites! (7:09)
Here are links to three videos of the Southwest Florida resident male (Ozzie) who is getting treatment for broken bones. Hopefully, he will be released back into the wild the end of April.
SWFL Eagle cam interview with Hospital Director (9:08)
Treatment (3:12)
Feeding (0:54)
Here's a video from last October of Bald Eagle Buddy enjoying a bath. (3:13)
I've got two s'caps from today. One of the chicks was trying to help Mom with the food and was completely underfoot. No, that's not a shadow under Mom. That's her little helper...
Pancake mode:
Here's a link to the video I uploaded last night. These eaglets took a fish tail on a tour of the nest on 3/23. They wanted it, but they didn't know what to do with it. They took turns trying to figure it out. It was fun to watch. I took an hour of video and edited it down to 19 minutes. Kinda long, I know. Watch it when you get the chance... Figuring out how to feed themselves is an important step in their development.
I also uploaded a short video of Mom bringing a huge fish to the nest from yesterday. (1:24)
There was so much stretching going on at the Berry College nest today, I had to capture some of it to share! Check out this lazy day video (3:27). Here's a cute scene I came across today while looking back for something else. I had to grab a s'cap, even though it was from yesterday evening!
A few s'caps from today, this is one of Mom's big stretches in the video:
Here's a good comparison of the tail feathers. Looks like the older chick is closest to the camera. They are getting harder to tell apart...
Mom was giving something the eagle-eye!
These chicks are like two peas in a pod!
I mentioned that I had gotten an hour of video the other day that I needed to process. I got it down to 20 minutes! It was a fun day, watching these two try to figure out what to do with a fish tail! It's still uploading... It's late. I'll post the link tomorrow or you can find it on my youtube channel.
The chicks are getting so much bigger now and they are getting more dark feathers coming in.
They are more steady on their feet now and stand more upright, like their parents, instead of hunched over as they have been standing.
When they feel the breeze, their instinct is to throw out their wings. Their wingspan is about 4 feet now. We should start to see vigorous wingercizing soon! That's always fun to watch. For now, they are just getting used to feeling the breeze going across their new feathers.
Here's a link to a really great documentary. Pennsylvania Bald Eagles: Celebrating 30 Years of Restoration (21:32)
