Berry College Eagles Day 76&78, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 32&34, White Rock Eagles Day 10&11, Dyfi Osprey 3 Eggs!

Berry College cam 1 isn't working very well for me... A shame since three were in the nest for quite a while today. I also processed some video from yesterday. I snack was brought to the nest and the eaglet tried to eat it in one bite. Can it get it down in one bite? Check out the Snack video (1:03).

The Harrison Bay eaglets are spending a lot of time preening, helping their feathers come in:

It was late when I made my rounds. The White Rock chicks have already been tucked in for the night.

I finally got a look at what Mom Dyfi Osprey is sitting on: 3 eggs! We'll have to wait and see if there will be a 4th egg... I finally got a look at the eggs during their overnight.

This is the scene there now. 1:00AM here and morning there...

Berry College Eagles Day 75&77 Fledge Watch Continues, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 31&33, White Rock Eagles Day 9&10, Loch of the Lowes Osprey, Dyfi Osprey, Story About an Eagle Owl

I'm having internet issues again tonight... So, just a quick round-up...

No fledge yet at the Berry College Eagle nest. I held my breath a couple of times today watching them. They are getting really comfortable jumping up and down onto the branches and even jumping from branch to branch. Sometimes, accidental fledges happen that way. But it's better if they leap! It's quiet at the nest tonight.

And it's quiet at the Harrison Bay nest tonight too. Look at those pin feathers coming in!

I caught a feeding at the White Rock Eagles nest.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey are having a quiet night too. It's almost morning here.

Same at the Dyfi Osprey nest. I don't know how many eggs she's sitting on. I recorded the nest all day, but when I got home and stopped the recording the program crashed... So, this is all I've got.

There's just a black rectangle tonight at the Africam Black Eagle nest. That cam is solar powered and runs out of juice during the overnight hours...

Check out this Eagle Owl that lands on people's heads. There's as 1 minute video embedding in the article. Pretty cool.

Berry College Eagles Day 74&76 Fledge Watch!, Southwest Florida Eagles Ozzie Update, Breakthrough in Egg Laying Industry

I'm going to go ahead and call Fledge Watch at the Berry College nest just because of the age of the oldest eaglet. I haven't seen any indicators that one of them is ready to jump. But I'd hate for someone to miss it. So, if you want to catch the fledge, start watching! Here's some s'caps from today. Side-by-side:

Need a little room... So they each take a branch.

Climbing up the center (camera) branch. So funny...

I had to go back tonight and grab a s'cap of the moment when we were spotted...

They ended up so high on either branch at one point that they were both out of the frame. Soon enough, this will be the reality...

And here's a series of one of the eaglets jumping down from the branch. Jumping up and down when branching is progress! In this first one, you can just see toes on the right.

Come down the branch a bit to get back over the nest.

Lighten the load. (Eagles will typically poop before taking off.)

Leap!

And stick the landing.

Ozzie, from the Southwest Florida nest, continues to recuperate. They posted an update on his condition today. He is doing really well. He is going into a small flight enclosure where he can take short flights and build his strength. They estimate that he will be there at least another month. There are new pictures along with the update. There was some concern about his eaglet that was still in the nest when he was injured. But the eaglet is doing great. Check out this video of the fledgling doing his (her) thing!

In the egg production industry, millions of hatchling male chicks are killed. The females don't need the males to lay eggs. So, in the egg laying industry, there's no reason to keep the males. There has been a recent breakthrough in being able to determine the sex of an embryo at only 3 days. Those eggs can then be used in other ways -- destroying the embryo before it can feel pain.

I've got an early morning, so no other nests tonight...

Berry College Eagles Day 73&75, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 29&31, White Rock Eagles Day 7&8, Dyfi Osprey, Loch of the Lowes Osprey, White-bellied Sea Eagle

I didn't get a chance to watch the Berry College nest today to see if they are starting to look interested in taking the leap. Technically, they are old enough to fledge now. But I don't want to call fledge watch without seeing the behaviors that indicate they are ready to go. When I brought up the nest tonight, I found them snuggled together:

I looked back over the day. They were both foraging for nestovers:

Look at this face! Looks like an eaglet that is all done growing!

It's funny how they both prefer the same perch when they are branching.

So I went back to see how they went about getting up there. One stepped up.

The other one hopped up and stuck the landing. It's important for them to practice landing on branches. The learning curve for landing is really steep after they take that first leap! This hop was impressive, it started from way back!

They are still stepping down, instead of hopping down.

The other one came down the branch, stepped down, and without moving very far joined its sibling for a nap.

Look at the huge crops on the Harrison Bay chicks! Notice that they are eating another turtle.

This s'cap shows how much the feathers are coming in along the wing edges. The chick closest to the parent looks like it's got a fringe all along the edge of its wing. And look at the wing tips!

I caught some golden light tonight at the White Rock nest, and there's a little escapee! So cute!

I was wondering if it's still just 2 eggs at the Dyfi nest. Yup, 2. And they look huge and white under the infrared light.

Here's the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes nest tonight. This Osprey Mom looks to have a softer face than the Dyfi Osprey Mom above. The Dyfi Mom has a more slicked back head. I picked a similar pose for comparison purposes.

 

Here's a current s'cap of one of the White-bellied Sea Eagles:

 

Links to cams: Berry College Eagles Day 72&74, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 28&30, White Rock Day 6&7, Loch of the Lowes Osprey, Dyfi Osprey, Africam Black Eagle, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Berry College Bluebirds

My internet is still really slow because the ground is still saturated from all of the rain yesterday. So, I have one s'cap from each nest that I'm following this year and I'm giving all the links to those cams. It's been a while since I've done that...

Berry College Eagles (2 eaglets - fledge watch starts this week!)

Harrison Bay Eagles (2 chicks)

White Rock Eagles (2 hatchlings)

 

Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey (3 eggs)

Dyfi Osprey (2 eggs so far)

Africam Black Eagle (2 eggs)

White-bellied Sea Eagle (will lay eggs around early July)

 

Berry College Bluebirds -- I don't think they are streaming this nest until after the Berry College Eagles fledge. Not sure why not... Something to keep an eye on.

Berry College Eagles Day 71&73, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 27&29, Dyfi Osprey 2nd Egg!, Africam Black Eagle

This is the post for Saturday 4/25/15.
Here's another oops moment. One eaglet just pounced on the other while wingercizing. It was not appreciated!

There were some sticks in the nest for them to play with.

One of the eaglets climbed up the branch that has the cam on it. Never seen that before...

More fun with sticks!

When I tried to get s'caps later in the day it was already raining here and my internet speed was degraded. So, this is all I got for the Harrison Bay nest.

I got video yesterday of the Dyfi Osprey laying their second egg. Here's some stills from the day. Here, Dad (on the right) is standing on a fish.

The top of one egg is visible.

This is Dad. He doesn't have any leg bands.

This is Mom. She's got a blue band on her right leg and a silver band on the left.

I was surprised to see a mating on the nest. Notice how Dad's talons are curled in so he won't hurt Mom.

This is Mom. Pretty!

Any time the adults are in the nest bowl, they curl their talons in .

This is the start of the egg laying sequence. Dad had stepped down into the nest bowl, but Mom knew she was getting ready to lay an egg. So, she shoved Dad out of the way.

She did lay down twice. Once for a minute and once for less than two minutes.

About 15 minutes after shoving Dad out of the way, she moved and revealed the second egg. They have such pretty eggs!

Zoomer gave us a great view! The top of the first egg is visible in front.

Dad came to the nest, but before Mom could show him the egg, their attention was taken by an intruder flying over the nest. Look at the difference in their eye colors. Adult Osprey typically have yellow eyes. Youngsters in the nest have reddish eyes. Dad's eyes (on the right) are dark. I wonder if he's a young adult?

They are still watching the intruder. Mom has a much more defined collar.

Zoomer showed us what was in the sky. Maybe another Osprey?

On a later visit, they finally get to admire their new egg.

Finally, an egg roll that lets us get a good view of both eggs.

Mom takes a well-earned nap.

I got a couple of s'caps of the Africam Black Eagle: