Bald Eagle NX's Location, Bald Eagle HK - Mating or Bonding, NE Florida and SW Florida Nests Have Two Nestlings Each, Duane Noblick's Pictures of a Snowy Owl, Reese Lukei's Trip To Botswana, Bald Eagles Dying in Utah, Ron Dudley's Feathered Photography Blog

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Wishing blessings to all in the New Year!

Bald Eagle NX checked in on Christmas day. She is 14 miles away from her 12/14 check-in.

Pam Monahan had a visit with Bald Eagle HK and got pictures of mating or bonding... Check out her blog entry...

The Northeast Florida and Southwest Florida Bald Eagle nests both have two hatchlings now. And so it begins again!

Duane Noblick got some really great pictures of a Snowy Owl. So pretty!

Reese has a blog entry about a recent trip to Botswana.

Something is killing Bald Eagles in Utah. Scientists think it is a disease as opposed to a toxin.

I haven't looked at Ron Dudley's Feathered Photography blog recently. Here are some interesting posts:

• Female Kestrel - Twisting, Turning Take-off
• Rough-legged Hawk in a Frosty Wonderland
• Rust on Rust - Female American Kestrel
• The Phantom Pheasant
• The Menacing Talons of a Prairie Falcon
• A Barn Owl Hunting (and a Bald Eagle)
• Red-tailed Hawk Sucker-punched by a Kestrel

Dangers of Kite String and How Birds Flap Their Wings on Feathered Photography, Berry College Eagle Cam

Ron Dudley has posted about the dangers of kite string to wildlife. Don't view this post on his Feathered Photography blog if you are sensitive.

Ron's also got a really great post about how birds flap their wings. And he's got a picture of a Bald Eagle in flight in the post.

Looks like something feathered was for dinner at the Berry College Eagle Cam Nest.

Eggs! NE Florida and SW Florida Bald Eagle Nests, Pam Monahan's New Pictures of Bald Eagle HK, Locations for Bald Eagles Camellia, KE, and NX, CCB's Osprey Tracking, Ferruginous Hawk Nests on Feathered Photography Blog

We have nests active! The NE Florida nest has two eggs already, laid exactly three days apart. I looked in just now and found Mom on the nest:

The SW Florida nest has an egg. I looked in just now in time to see an egg roll:

Pam Monahan has posted 37 new pictures of Bald Eagle HK taken on 11/14 and 11/16. You can see he still has a little bit of a dirty eye stripe. I wonder if he's old enough to reproduce this nesting season...

Bald Eagle Camellia is dumpster diving at his 11/15 check-in.
Bald Eagle KE isn't being very adventurous, with a check-in on 11/16.
Bald Eagle NX has been spending her time on the Upper Machadoc Creek. She's had some missing data points. I hope her transmitter isn't running down...

The Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) has tracked three Osprey this past year. It's amazing to see how far they migrate. Here's a link to the page where their migrations was tracked. Thanks to Ann for pointed out this page on the Norfolk Eagles Forum.

Ron Dudley has a post on his Feathered Photography blog about the different nests of the Ferruginous Hawk. Very neat to see the different examples. The bottom two nests look like pieces of art to me...

Picture of a Male Northern Harrier on Feathered Photography, Zombie Car, Imbending Cocoa Shortage, Amazon Trees, Biggest Star Ever Found is Ripping Apart, Contageous Yawning in Chimps, Recon Roaches

Ron Dudley has a great shot of a male Northern Harrier in flight on his Feathered Photography blog. What a beauty!

If mankind were to disappear off of the face of the earth, nature would take the planet back pretty quickly. Check out this zombie car.

There is an impending cocoa shortage. Not cool...

Scientists have cataloged the trees in the Amazon.

The biggest star ever found in the universe is ripping apart. 

Yawning is contagious. Chimps also are affected by human's yawns.

So let's say that you are in a building that has collapsed. Do you really want a bunch of roaches coming in to do recon? The monitors would hear, "Get away from me!" and a squishing sound...

New Picture of Bald Eagle Dad Norfolk, Location Updates For Bald Eagles Camellia and KE, Find Momo, Northern Harrier Pictures on Feathered Photography, Meowza!

I had a friend in town for the past couple of days. We were going to go see the ponies at Chincoteague/Assateague. But we were rained out! We still had a nice visit...

It has been raining so much here, Mike got a picture of a soggy Bald Eagle Dad Norfolk.

We have a couple of location updates. Bald Eagle Camellia is still in Gloucester. And Bald Eagle KE took a little trip into Maryland, then back to Virginia.

Check out the Find Momo from October 10th. It took me a while to find him!

Ron Dudleys Feathered Photography blog has got a male Northern Harrier hunting. He gets some really great shots of a variety of birds.

I'm going to close today's post with something pretty gross and pretty funny at the same time. I really didn't think it was possible to laugh until I was crying while being totally grossed out. Meowza!

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Buddy Day at The Wildlife Center of Virginia, Pam Monahan's Pictures of Bald Eagle HK (And His Girlfriend), Bald Eagle NX and Camellia's Locations, Bald Eagles on Feathered Photography Blog

This past weekend was Buddy Day at The Wildlife Center of Virginia (WCV). Ann posted on the Norfolk Eagles Forum about her visit with Bald Eagle Buddy. Here's a link to her post. She has some pictures and a short video of Buddy. WCV also has updated their Buddy Training page to include some pictures from the day as well as the photo montage that they presented as part of the day.

Pam Monahan has a bunch of new pictures of Bald Eagle HK. (I think 14 are from today.) And it has recently come to my attention that she has posted pictures of HK's girlfriend. She is sitting on the same structure as many of HK's pictures. From what I understand, this female has a silver band on her right leg. She does not have the color band with the large letters that the eagles from the Norfolk nest got in 2009, 2010, and 2011. An interesting thing is that the eagles from the 2007 nest only got silver bands on their right legs... The oldest from the 2007 nest is a female. Makes me wonder...

What in the world is Bald Eagle NX up to? I'm not sure if she's coming or going these days. I do think that she's found a place that she likes: Rosier Creek.

Bald Eagle Camellia has checked in. He's spending some time in Gloucester County.

Check out Ron Dudley's recent Feathered Photography blog post about Bald Eagles. He's got a picture of a Bald Eagle eating while in flight. Pretty wild!

Bald Eagle Camellia's Location, Dog Heirs, Cattleya Orchid in Bloom, Berry College Eagle Cam, American Kestrel on Feathered Photography Blog

There is a new location posted for Bald Eagle Camellia. I wonder if he's wandering a bit more now that it's cooler? He does seem to be exploring more these days.

In my wanderings, I found this site called Dog Heirs. Here's a place to start, with a rescue of a Wolf. From there, click on links for whatever looks interesting to you. I've already spent about a half hour poking around and still want to look at more stories that are offered. Here's a dog rescue with a funny ending. I love stuff like that!

I grow orchids. I don't necessarily have luck getting them to re-bloom. But I love a challenge! I have orchids that I bought online years ago that I've never seen bloom. Have I ever mentioned that I'm stubborn? I attended some classes over at the Norfolk Botanical Garden and at McDonald Garden Center with Steve Urick, who takes care of the orchids at ODU. These classes were probably two and three years ago. Probably 4 classes in total. I must have finally gotten something right. I had already noticed that two of my cattleya orchids are in sheath (getting ready to bloom). Then, out of nowhere, I caught sight of purple and discovered that a completely different cattleya orchid that I hadn't even noticed was in sheath was suddenly in bloom. Just one bloom. But it's still my first cattleya to rebloom! So I'm really excited about that and I can still look forward to the two that are getting ready to bloom!

I mentioned the Berry College Eagle Cam in a previous post. I looked in on the cam last night and this is what I found!

And tonight, they've got a date/time stamp on the cam. And someone is home! This is looking like the cam to watch these days!

I think the American Kestrel is one of the prettiest birds. Ron Dudley has done a post on his Feathered Photography blog with some interesting pictures that show their hunting behavior. These pictures are neat, especially the dive-bombing picture. But I especially love the last picture in his post. It's a stunning picture of a perched American Kestrel. Just beautiful!

New Pictures of Bald Eagle HK From Pam Monahan, Bald Eagle NX's Location, Gif of Bald Eagle Snagging a Fish, Red-tailed Hawk on Feathered Photography

Pam Monahan has posted four new pictures of Bald Eagle HK! And he looks super handsome -- just a little bit 'dirty bird'.

There is a 9/7 and a 9/9 update for Bald Eagle NX's Location. She is back in some familiar territory...

I found this gif of a Bald Eagle snagging a fish. Look at the eagle concentrate on the fish prior to the catch. Pretty cool...

Ron Dudley has a beautiful picture of a Red-tailed Hawk on his Feathered Photography blog. He describes it as a juvenile that is hunting.

Rhoda Gerig's Photography of the Wabash Bald Eagle Nest, Bald Eagle Camellia's Location, NPR Morning Edition's Story on Bald Eagles With Dr Bryan Watts of CCB, Young Ferruginous Hawk Siblings on Feathered Photography

Rhoda Gerig has spent a year photographing the Wabash Eagle's nest. She has put together a book which can be viewed at this link. She is working on a second book for another nest that she followed this year. The first one is awesome -- can't wait for the second book!

Bald Eagle Camellia's location has been updated. He's back in familiar territory!

William & Mary has posted an article about the NPR Morning Edition story on Bald Eagles. From there, I was able to go to the link of the actual story online. It's 4 1/2 minutes and well worth the listen! Dr Bryan Watts, Director of the Center for Conservation Biology, is featured.

Here's some beautiful pictures of Young Ferruginous Hawk Siblings on Ron Dudley's Feathered Photography blog.

I tried to find tonight's Earthflight episode so I could provide a link. But it's not posted yet... Maybe tomorrow.

PBS Earthflight Miniseries Airs Tomorrow Night, Bald Eagle KE's Location, CCB and Bald Eagles on NPR Tomorrow Morning, Bald Eagle Buddy is Tethered, Another Post On Hummingbirds on Feathered Photography

The Earthflight miniseries starts tomorrow night on PBS at 8:00PM. This first episode is about Snow Geese, Pelicans, and Bald Eagles. If you can't watch it when it airs on PBS, you can stream it afterward at pbs.org/nature. I'm really looking forward to watching this series!

It's been a while since we've gotten an update on Bald Eagle KE's location. Prince George's County is not very far from where I was raised. Here's a link to the post.

NPR will air a story on their Morning Edition tomorrow about CCB and the Bald Eagle recovery on the James River. It's at 89.5 FM and the Morning Edition show is on from 5:00AM - 9:00AM. I will try to catch it in the morning.

Bald Eagle Buddy is now tethered in his enclosure. There is a brief comment about it and a video at this link. I couldn't get the embedded video to play, so here is a direct link to the video on youtube.

Ron Dudley has another post on Hummingbirds on his Feathered Photography blog. Great pictures! He also included this link about the Hummingbird's tongue. Very nice little clip. 

Locations of Bald Eagles NX and Camellia, Big Fine For Cutting Down Tree With Bald Eagle Nest, Hummingbird Biology on Feathered Photography

Bald Eagle NX is still hanging out around Quantico. See her latest postition data.

Bald Eagle Camellia has returned from his latest little adventure. His latest position data is here.

So, this idiot calls a tree company to cut down a tree on his property. The tree has a Bald Eagle nest in it, so the company told him 'no' because of the nest. So, he calls another company, which cut down the tree. The guy got a big fat fine. Too bad it wasn't more! What a moron. Here's the story.

Ron Dudley has a post about Interesting Hummingbird Biology on his Feathered Photography blog.

Bald Eagle Buddy Training Update, Hummingbirds on Feathered Photography, Dr. Bryan Watts to Give Keynote Address, Hawk Silhouettes

Well, I don't know what to say about Buddy. There is a training update posted for him. Something that Ed Clark said way back in the day, when they decided to keep him as an educational animal, has stuck with me. He said that some Bald Eagles develop problems when they reach maturity. And Buddy has been acting out lately. I hope that this is just a phase that he is going through... Here's a link to the update.

My other avian love besides raptors are Hummingbirds. I am so happy, the other day, a Hummingbird found my feeder and seems to be sticking around! Anyway, Ron Dudley has a new post on Hummingbirds on his Feathered Photography blog. The pictures of the Hummingbirds are great and the flowers are beautiful. I don't think those flowers grow around here. There are some butterfly pictures too. But I really love the Hummingbird pictures!

Dr. Bryan Watts, Director of The Center for Conservation Biology, will be giving the keynote address to the annual meeting of the Eastern Massachusetts Hawk Watch Association (EMHW) on Friday September 6th. It is open to the public. He will be talking about the Chesapeake Bay Bald Eagles. See CCB's Eagle Nest Blog for details. This event is in Medford, Mass -- which is where my Dad's side of the family is from. Wish I could go...

I spent some time poking around the EMHW site and found a page about identifying hawks by their silhouette -- which is very often all that you can see. Pretty good info there. Check it out.

New Picture of Bald Eagle Dad Norfolk, AEF Eaglets Fledge And Are Tracked, Swainson's Hawk Morphs on Feathered Photography Blog, Bald Eagle Population on The James River

Duane has posted a new picture of Dad Norfolk on the Norfolk Eagles Forum. He is looking good!

I posted several times earlier in the year about the AEF eaglets. They were removed from their nest when they were 6 weeks and 2 days old. This was to prevent them from imprinting on humans. They were taken to a hack tower away from people where they continued to grow and strengthen their flight muscles. They could only view natural surroundings without being able to see the people that monitored them and brought them food and water. They then fledged at 13 weeks on August 2nd. They both have transmitters and can be tracked at AEF's web site. I don't see how to get the map to come up from that site. If you figure it out, let me know how to do it...

Ron Dudley has presented the various morphs of the Swainson's Hawk on his Feathered Photography blog.

The College of William and Mary has posted a story about the Bald Eagle population on the James River.

Juvenile Burrowing Owls on Feathered Photography, Where's Camellia?, Lion Neighbors, Impact of Reintroduction of Wolves at Yellowstone, Plague Carrying Squirrels, Animal Technology

I was out of town this past weekend -- family reunion. I hope you all had a good weekend!

Ron Dudley has posted a picture of juvenile Burrowing Owls on his Feathered Photography blog. These are some cute owls!

I guess Reese is off somewhere. No update on Camellia for a while. I looked at the tracking site for his most recent location and he isn't showing up on the map. I expect a new update soon, so I'll post that once it's been put into the map.

Here's a story that reinforces the idea that good fences make good neighbors. That's especially true when your neighbors are lions!

This story explains how the reintroduction of wolves at Yellowstone National Park has a positive impact on the grizzly bears that live there. Ecosystems are so complex, which is why conservation of endangered species is so important.

In LA, some squirrels have tested positive for the plague. I'm surprised because I thought the plague was a thing of the past and I didn't know that squirrels could carry it... It can be spread by fleas that bite the squirrels and then bite humans. And these squirrels did have fleas. Scary stuff...

There is some pretty cool 'animal technology' available these days. Will dogs be able to communicate with us one day? I think that would be awesome!

Bunnies Playing, Animal Police Blotter, Prairie Falcons on Feathered Photography, Documentary "Return Flight"

Here's a short video of two bunnies playing. So cute...

I found these recent entries in the Unalaska Police Blotter... I wonder if this is the usual kind of things that the local police have to deal with. See the three entries for 'animal'...

Rod Dudley has an interesting post on his Feathered Photography blog about Prairie Falcons eating grasshoppers. He posted lots of great pictures.

There is a documentary Return Flight available on YouTube about the restoration of Bald Eagles to the Channel Islands. It's kinda long, almost 14 minutes. But it's really good! I've seen it and posted about it before on the forum. But it's so good I wanted to post about it again on here.

Bald Eagle Camellia's Location, James River Bald Eagle Pairs, Eagle Watching, Raptors On Feathered Photography Blog

Camellia checked in late last night. He's near the intersection of Princess Anne Rd and Kempsville Rd.

I zoomed in and it looks like he's in a neighborhood on Belingham Rd:

My friend Diane pointed out this story about Bald Eagle pairs in the James River region. CCB conducted aerial surveys in March and May and have announced their findings. I poked around and found a blog post by Dr Watts that I had missed. He discusses their findings and presents a graph and picture.

Here's a story about relocating an eagle nest so it would be away from power lines. I'd like to see a follow-up story once the resident eagles return to their nest for the next nesting season... See how the eagles react and if they take to the new location. This could have some implications on what's happening with the Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) eagles.

I found this story about a bunch of people coming together watching a bald eagle nest. It reminds me of that magical time, watching the NBG nest...

I haven't looked at Ron Dudley's Feathered Photography blog recently. Check out these four posts: Red-tailed Hawk -- Northern Harrier -- Prairie Falcon -- American Kestral. Amazing pictures of beautiful birds!

Bald Eagle Camellia's Location, Maddie On Things, Great Horned Owl on Feathered Photography, Smart Osprey, Seeing Eye Horse, Hallie Art

New post for Bald Eagle Camellia's location. He hasn't been very adventurous lately. Probably too hot to do much exploring!

I found a new dog website: Maddie On Things. Theron Humphrey rescued a coon hound and discovered that she has an incredible sense of balance. So, he takes pictures of her balancing on things. There's a story with a few pictures and then another site with pages of pictures.

Here's a great picture of a young Great Horned Owl on Ron Dudley's Feathered Photography blog.

I found an interesting story about an exhausted Osprey that hitched a ride during migration. I really am starting to think that these birds are super smart...

Have you ever heard of a guide horse helping the blind? The horse has really helped this woman retain her independence.

I learned today about a little blind Dachshund named Hallie. She paints pictures. You can watch a video of her painting at this link and you can see her paintings that are for sale at this link. Proceeds go to a dog rescue group. Pretty pictures and a good cause!

Eagle On Alliance Sues The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Help Find an Escaped Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle Excursion, Outside My Window Blog, Find Momo, Osprey on Feathered Photography, Location for NX

The Eagle On Alliance petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop allowing the destruction of the Bald Eagle nests at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. They had asked to be notified by 7/1 whether it intends to continue allowing these nests to be destroyed. It is reported today that EOA has brought suit against the agency to halt the removal of these nests. I wish them luck. It is idiotic to think that you will ever get the Bald Eagles out of the Garden. And it's idiotic to even try when there are measures that can be taken at the airport to reduce the threat of all wildlife to aviation in the area. The airport has plans to expand. Which will bring in more revenue to the city. And the Bald Eagles at the Garden complicate those plans. Does anyone else smell a rotten deal?

Baton Rouge zoo officials need help finding an escaped Bald Eagle. The eagle has limited flight capabilities. Call 225-775-3877 if you have any information.

The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is hosting a Bald Eagle Excursion in Hays tomorrow, 7/4.

I found a neat blog. Outside My Window is mainly a bird blog. I found very informative entries about bird anatomy and behavior.

It took me about 5 minutes to find Momo today!

Check out this Osprey on Ron Dudley's Feathered Photography Blog.

There is a new location for NX for 7/2. Of course, she hasn't gone far...

Bald Eagles Camellia and KE Locations,

Bald Eagle Camellia is still hanging out in Virginia Beach.

Bald Eagle KE is still a dumpster diver.

Ron Dudley has a nice post about Great Horned Owls on his Feathered Photography Blog.

Alcoa Osprey Nest, Red-tailed Hawk on Feathered Photography, Great Find Momo

I've been watching the Alcoa Osprey nest a lot lately. I'm starting to think that Osprey are pretty smart.

On Wednesday, Mom was feeding the two that haven't fledged yet. The fledgling wasn't in the nest at the time. I'm not sure if they ate it all or if she took some leftovers out of the nest with her since I missed seeing her depart the nest. Minutes later, she arrived back at the nest with some food. The two that haven't fledged seemed interested in it, even though they had just eaten -- They gathered around Mom and were crying to be fed. She ignored them. She was looking out and calling. The fledgling came in. Then she started feeding him. What a good mom!

I commented to someone the other day a difference I had observed between these Osprey chicks and Bald Eagles that are ready to fledge. At this Osprey nest, one has fledged and the other two are going to go any day now. But these Osprey chicks were not self-feeding. I had seen them get impatient and peck at the fish that Mom was standing on while she fed them. But that was it. Long before the time Bald Eagles are ready to fledge, they are rushing to grab the food when it's delivered to the nest and the winner mantles over it to keep the other chicks away. They start self-feeding pretty soon after they learn to stand. But I hadn't observed this behavior with the Osprey. Then, yesterday, Mom came into the nest with a fish. The two that have not yet fledged were in the nest. She deliberately tore the fish in half as she fed them. Then she stopped feeding them and left the pieces laying in the nest. One grabbed the tail end of the fish and dragged it toward the camera and started pecking at it. It made a few attempts at the tail before figuring out that it was easier to tear pieces off the same area Mom had been feeding from. The other sibling figured it out too. Here they both are, bent to the task:

Eventually, the fledgling returned to the nest and was also given the opportunity to self-feed. Even after fledging, the learning continues...

Some recent s'caps:
One of the two that haven't fledged contemplates the branch (Mom is on the right):

Both of these chicks (left and center) are standing on the part of the 'branches' that are inside the nest. But this does not count as branching:



This s'cap shows the fledgling flying above the trees and Mom is flying away from the nest, right below the logo. The chick standing in the nest still hasn't quite achieved 'branching' but is getting a feel for it:

Here's Mom flying in with a fish:

It was raining yesterday at the nest. It didn't stop the wingercizing. Sing it with me, "I'm winging in the rain, I'm winging in the rain..."

It was windy while it was raining. This youngster hop/flew pretty high, got blown sideways, and came down on the branch. Finally one of the remaining chicks has branched:

And two funny s'caps. A wasp must be building a nest on the camera. Because we've been seeing a lot of this:

Here's another. Does anyone remember the dead spider on the NBG camera? At least this wasp moves out of the way... But for now, "Hey guys! I'm ready for my close-up!"

Ron Dudley posted some great pictures of Red-tailed Hawks on his Feathered Photography blog.

Today's 'Find Momo' is pretty good. It's amazing how you can just overlook this dog!