Berry College Eagles Day 57&59, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 13&15 Close Call, Africam Black Eagle First Egg!

I only saw one food delivery today at the Berry College nest. The eaglets were excited when they saw the parent coming with the food.

Today there was a rush to claim the food!

The parent almost goes over as the closest eaglet grabs the food and backs away.

The eaglet had no idea what to do with the prey item and the other eaglet ended up trying to pull bites off without standing on it. They still have some learning to do...

Eventually, the parent took the food and fed the eaglets. And something I've observed at nests before. One eaglet is eating and the other turns its back. I'm not sure why they do this...

 Some other s'caps from today. I like the adult in this s'cap.

The temps were a little cooler today. It looks like they are enjoying the sun.

This looks like the eaglet is thinking about branching. Last year's eaglet branched on day 67...

There was a close call at the Harrison Bay nest today. Check out this short video. (0:53) And some s'caps from today. It was family time at the nest today.

I liked this scene.

They should be able to thermoregulate from now on, but the parent will still brood them if there's a cold snap or rain. Otherwise, they should be a lot more visible because they won't be brooded as much.

Dad fed both babies today while Mom took a break. So cute, both babies were trying to get the same bite.

Big news at the Africam Black Eagle nest! The first egg was laid today! This is Mom with her head down, concentrating on laying the egg:

The egg was behind the nest bowl. Mom just rolled it right into the bowl as we got our first look.

Somebody will always be home now. Black Eagles don't delay incubation. That is a tactic used by Bald Eagles to minimize the gap between hatching. The last to hatch isn't so much smaller than the first hatch if they hatch closer together. The youngest can then handle some bonking and be competitive for food. Black Eagles on the other hand typically hatch 3-4 days apart since they don't delay incubation. The first hatch has a considerable size advantage and usually kills the smaller sibling. The parents can then focus all of their attention on one chick, increasing the odds that they will have one fledge each year. Here's the scene tonight, Mom's asleep on her egg: