Berry College Bald Eagle Chick Day 28, Checking In On The Hays Bald Eagle Nest During The Daytime, White Rock Bald Eagle Nest

No blog post last night -- I wasn't feeling well. So, here's the post I would have put together last night...

Day 28 for the Berry College Bald Eagle Chick. It looks like the feet are about full size now. These big feet are going to help the chick stand and then learn how to stand on food and tear pieces off in order to self feed. Compare the size of the chick's feet to the size of the adult's feet:

The next thing to become full size is the beak, which will also help the chick to self feed. It's still not as big as the adult's beak, but it's getting there:

You can also see pin feathers coming out in various places, looking like polka dots on the chick. As a pin feather comes in, it pushes the thermal down out, which then wears off. Look at the polka dot look on the neck in the picture below, the wing in the picture above, and the back in the first two pictures. These dots will be some of the places where we will first see feathers coming in. You can really see the pin feathers coming out on the wing tip in the two pictures below.

 

Bald Eagles will pant to help them cool off. We will start to see more and more of this as the days get warmer. The adults will pant after bring heavy prey into the nest.

The chick is really starting to take advantage of not having to share the nest with any siblings, stretching out in its sleep. First this way...

...then that way.

Eaglets also stretch a lot when they are growing. I think they are trying to adjust to their ever-changing bodies:

I got a nice family picture in the evening:

And then Dad took off while the chick preened.

3/22 was 4 weeks old for the Berry College Eaglet. Here's the collage:

I finally remembered to look in on the Hays nest during the daytime. This is the nest that looks like it's got an artsy filter on it at night. Well, this is what it looks like during the daytime, with Mom on the eggs:

Checking out the skies:

Looking at me, looking at her...

Enjoying a nice stretch:

Doing an egg roll to keep the eggs evenly warm and prevent the embryos from sticking to the shell.

Doing the shimmy, shimmy to settle back down on the eggs, getting maximum contact between her brood patch and the eggs.

All settled in:

And back to the artsy filter look. (I love how this looks, by the way...)

I also checked in with the White Rock nest, hoping to see a third egg. The first egg was laid on 3/16, the second right on time on 3/19. If there will be a third egg, it will be on 3/22. It looked kind of damp and foggy:

The strong breeze was giving Mom a bad hair day:

Dad is nowhere in sight:

Mom calls out. Is she looking for Dad?

Finally, a look at the eggs. Only two. Maybe a third egg will be laid later in the day...

Berry College Bald Eagle Nest on Hatch Watch!

I'm going to call it: Hatch watch is on at the Berry College Bald Eagle nest. Shortly before hatching, the babies start to move around in the egg. The air sac inside the egg is punctured and the baby gets its first breath of air. At this point, they begin chirping. I believe the baby in the first egg has begun to move around in the egg and is possibly chirping. Mom has been very restless starting last night, coming off the eggs more often and looking at them. She must have been awake a lot last night, catching up on some sleep this morning:

In this picture, she is up and checking out the eggs. Not really doing an egg roll, but paying attention to them. I'm thinking movement and/or sound coming from the eggs.

Babies have an egg tooth on top of their bill. As they turn inside the egg, it cuts the shell and once the cut goes all the way around the baby can emerge from the shell. This is a long process. The first sign that hatching has begun is a pip hole. I actually typed the above in preparation for posting this later today. But I just saw a nest exchange: Dad has come in to incubate while Mom takes a break. I'm not sure if this is a pip hole or if it's debris on the egg. I'll be looking for it again and see if it moves with the egg during a roll or if it's gone... This is Dad on the left and Mom is backing out of the nest bowl. The possible pip is in the center of the top egg.

Just the eggs... Is that a pip?!

Dad is getting ready to settle down on the eggs:

There has been some concern about Mom Berry's leg/foot this year. She has seemed ok to me. Regardless, I had a chance to take this picture of her when she hopped up onto the branch to take off out of the nest. She seems ok to me.