Sunday, February 28, 2016

Berry College Eagles: A Well Stocked Pantry!, Bald Eagle HK, Sterling, And Visitors, Harrison Bay Eagles Getting Ready For Hatch Watch

I grabbed some nest footage a few days ago and never got it posted. And now it's old news... But I'm still going to post this one shot that shows how well the Berry College pantry is stocked. I see 6 whole and partial fish and a coot!

Pam Monahan has been spending some time out at Honey Bell Golf Course, documenting the life of Bald Eagle HK.
On 2/25, HK had 4 visitors to his territory, from juvenile to adult.
On 2/26, HK and Sterling were both in the area.
On 2/27, HK and a sub-adult were at the nest.
Nests are attractive to other Eagles since they can be a source of food: eggs and babies that are left unattended as well as pantry items (such as in the Berry College nest above) can all provide food.

Get ready for hatch watch at Harrison Bay! We will be in the hatch window this week! I'm going to start watching tomorrow, but it may be another day before we see signs of hatching.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Bald Eagle HK, Dyfi Osprey, Africam Black Eagles

There are 3 new posts about Bald Eagle HK on Pam Monahan's blog. It was dinner time on 2/19. Then she got not only HK, but also a couple of younger Eagles on 2/20, including a beautiful white belly. I'd judge the first sub adult as a 4th year, with a lot of white on the head, a dark eye stripe, and mostly yellow beak. The white belly later in her post is probably a second year Eagle. Maybe a third year Eagle. Then HK was working on the nest on 2/23.

The Dyfi Osprey Project have a post about the upcoming season.

There are some new pictures of the Africam Black Eagles.

I have been out of town and unable to observe my nests. I should be able to have some updates tomorrow...

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Berry College Eagles Near Disaster!

I didn't realize that there was a near disaster a couple of days ago at the Berry College Eagle nest until I came across the B7 Escapee (6:35) video that someone else had posted. It was a scary moment, but with a good outcome! It's also a great example of how well these parents dealt with such an unusual situation.



Friday, February 19, 2016

Berry College Eagles Day 4&5 Some Sibling Rivalry, Harrison Bay Eagles Incubation Continues, Northeast Florida Eagles Day 57&59 Getting Big, Southwest Florida Eagles Day 23&24 Bood-ends, Bald Eagle HK

I made the rounds of a few cams today. The Berry College pantry is well stocked!

Mom fed for a while, then finally offered some pieces to the chicks. But she was so far away, they couldn't reach. She eventually stepped closer with some bites for the chicks.

One of the chicks was trying so hard to climb out of the nest bowl to get some food. The other chick kept grabbing its butt! (A little sibling rivalry, but no harm done.) Check out I'm Trying To Climb Out & You're Not Helping! (2:32)

Technically, Harrison Bay Eagles will be in hatch watch in a week and a half. But I'm thinking we won't see a hatch for almost two weeks...

The Northeast Florida Eaglets are so big already! They are almost two months old. They must be getting plenty of food, neither seemed interested in feeding and the parent was left to eat in peace.

The Southwest Florida Eaglets were like book-ends in the nest.

There's a new post today for Bald Eagle HK. I am so hoping for an egg this year!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Southwest Florida Eagles Day 22&23 A Good Day, Africam Black Eagles New Pictures

I watched the Southwest Florida Eagle nest for a few hours today. I saw some sibling rivalry, but nothing too bad. It looks like E8 is learning to lay low until E7 has been fed. I saw E8 get plenty of food today. I didn't see anything too concerning while I was watching and E8 seems to be in fine shape. Here's my s'caps from the day. Mombrellas are good at shading the babies from the hot sun:

That looks comfortable.

Mom hopped onto one of the nest branches so she could survey her territory:

That is a HUGE crop on E8! Being fed here by Dad while Mom feeds E7.

Zoomer gave us nice close-ups of Mom feeding E7:




Here's an animated gif of one of the bites:

Afterward, Mom dropped down onto a branch and did some feaking. She better be careful with her tongue hanging out the side!

That's all the cool stuff I got from 3 hours at the nest today. Here's a video of A Good Day At The Nest (28:48). I got the screen captures above from this video.

There's new pictures of the Africam Black Eagles. Check here and check here. Both are great sets of pictures.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Southwest Florida Eagles Day 21&22 Sibling Rivalry And Plenty Of Food, Bald Eagle HK And Mystery Woman, DC Eagles New Web Cam, Loch Of The Lowes Tracking Update

There is some sibling rivalry at the Southwest Florida Eagle nest. E7 is beating up E8. I also heard some concern about E8 not getting any food. But there were 5 fish delivered to the nest today. As long as food is plentiful, E7 will get its fill and leave E8 alone to eat. There was a good feeding for E8 this evening. E7's crop is huge and E8 was left alone to eat.

There's another post today about Bald Eagle HK, and he's carrying on with a new woman... I want to see an egg in his nest, and if Sterling won't give him one, maybe this new lady will...

I checked in at the DC  Eagle nest yesterday. I'm so happy to see that they have this nest on a cam now! They have two eggs, laid on 2/10 and early 2/14. Will they lay a third egg? The time to watch to find out is overnight tonight into tomorrow... It looks like the cam is of good quality and gives a good view of the nest.

There is a new tracking update for the Loch of the Lowes Osprey.


Monday, February 15, 2016

Berry College Eagles Second Hatch B7!, Bald Eagles HK and Sterling, Africam Black Eagles Cam Upgrade And New Pictures

What a big 24 hours for the Berry College Eagles. B6 hatched at 10:17PM last night and B7 hatched less than 15 hours later at 2:55PM this afternoon. This is the first look at B6 this morning after the infrared light was turned off:

Mom's left leg is still bothering her. Here, Dad gets his first look at B6 while Mom stretches after incubating overnight.

The other egg has a pip.



B6 has already mastered the peek-a-boo!

At 1:55PM this afternoon, the overhead cam shows that B7 is mostly out of the shell.

At 2:12PM, B7 is still head-first in the shell.

B7 is finally free of the shell at 2:55PM! Mom is trying to get ahold of the empty shell to remove it from the nest bowl.


Here's a couple of family screen captures. B7 is still weak from hatching.


There's a new blog post for Bald Eagles HK and Sterling and their visitors today. Pam Monahan is doing a great job documenting HK and his adventures.

The Africam Black Eagles had new camera equipment installed as part of an upgrade. It looks like the cam is just set to do a tour of the area since it's not currently nesting season. Here's a video of A Tour With New Cam (5:22). There are also some new pictures. Check this link and this link.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Berry College Eagles First Hatch B6! And Hatch Watch Continues For B7, Bald Eagles HK And Sterling Update

It was a long day of trying to see the pip. Here's when I saw a pip. I'm not sure if this is one egg or if they both have pips. Here's all the interesting s'caps I could find. In this first one, the pip is in the egg closest to Mom, right along the line of her neck:



Finally, the morning nest exchange...






I'm beginning to think that staying in the incubating/brooding position for long periods of time causes Mom's injured leg to act up. She has started to get less stable and often uses her wing(s) as a crutch.


They were telling somebody off!


Looks like the hole is getting larger.



There was a funny moment at the nest today. Mom's maternal instincts are kicking in. Mom Tries To Feed Dad (2:22).


Berry College pronounced hatch at 7:34PM based upon hearing the chick chirp. But you can hear a chick chirp when it's still in the shell. But there's no doubt at 10:17 when we get a view of the empty egg shell.

Here is a video of the moment above when the empty shell was revealed and a short time later Mom removes some of the shell from the nest bowl. I think at one point you can see a chicks body against the white of the other egg. But so far, that's the best look I've had at the hatchling. Here's the video: First Hatch B6! (2:02)

Pam Monahan had a great day at Honey Bee Golf Course with Bald Eagles HK, Sterling, and...

Friday, February 12, 2016

Berry College Eagles Pip! & Intruder, Southwest Florida Eagles Day 17&18 E8 Returns To Nest, Bald Eagles HK And Sterling, Africam Black Eagles

I got a really nice view of the pip in the egg at the Berry College Eagle nest this evening. There is a possible crack too! Here's some s'caps:

The view gets better as Mom rolls it.


Is that a crack or grass!?

It moved like it was grass... But that's still a nice pip!

I'm going to record overnight, even though it's hard to see any details under the IR light...

Here's a video of the egg roll that showed A Better View Of The Pip (2:47).

There was other excitement at the Berry College nest today. An intruder did a fly-by of the nest and I got the video as Mom Defends Nest Against Intruder! (4:39)

At the Southwest Florida Eagle nest, E8 was returned to the nest! When I brought up the cam, both chicks were clearly visible in the nest. But I just sat watching instead of getting a s'cap. Then I thought about it after Mom began hovering over them. But you can still see one at 11 o'clock and one at 7 o'clock.

The wildlife rehabilitators at CROW posted some pictures of E8 having breakfast. Click on the pictures to see the full picture. The rehabbers are wearing a veil so the chick doesn't get habituated to humans. Here are their pictures of E8 being returned to the nest. And they posted GoPro video of the renesting. Unfortunately, it was chest mounted instead of head mounted, so we get to see a lot of the controls for the lift. But they did show E7 giving E8 and welcoming bonk!

Pam Monahan has a new post of Bald Eagles HK and Sterling. I love the last picture!

There are some new pictures of the Africam Black Eagles. It seems they stay in their territory year round. They need to do some major nestorations after that storm, so it's good that they are still there.