Africam Black Eagle Day 104 Fledge Watch Continues, Big Sur Condor Day 117, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 35, Discarding Trash, Birds Using Fur, International Space Station

No fledge today at the Africam Black Eagle nest. I had other s'caps from today, but can't find them. If I can find them, I'll post them tomorrow. The chick is perching up on the rocks in the s'caps I can't find... I guess that's the equivalent to branching.

I have no idea what to expect for a progressing with the Big Sur Condor chick. There is a month long window when it might fledge. I guess we'll just watch and wait!

 
Dad came by for a feeding. Red67 on the wing is "Kingpin." He is the boss of this flock.

I think this chick is getting fed every day.

Here's a video of the Feeding With Dad (3:53):

The White-bellied Sea Eagle chicks were awake early.

They were looking around.

They eventually came beak-to-beak. There were a few nips, but nothing serious.

The IR cam turned off and the nest was suddenly in color.

The parents are always close by.

Look at how big SE16 is! These babies change every day.

It looks like we will see their backs for feedings...

Here's the whole family.

SE16 is a lot more steady when standing. It will be awhile before they stand upright. For now, they will appear bent over.

SE16 did a poop shoot without falling over.

Oh my! What big wings you have already! I'd say those wings are at least a foot long.

They are both feathering out nicely. It looks like SE16's feathers are starting to open up after coming through the shaft. SE15 still looks like pin feathers. I am still amazed by the differences in these two chicks.

Here's a story that reminds us all to be responsible when discarding our trash.

Birds like to use fur to line their nests. This bird wants it to be fresh!

Here's a way cool time-lapse of the International Space Station transiting across the sun.

Littering is Wrong!

I participated in the "Walk Hampton Clean" event today. My neighbor, her son, and I walked my street and picked up trash. I'm guessing we picked up about 20 pounds of trash in an hour and a half. I was amazed at how much we picked up. The street didn't strike me as being particularly dirty. But it all added up. 

We picked up 122 cigarette butts. According to research about cigarette butt litter:

• the toxins that leach out of discarded cigarette filters and the remnant tobacco are harmful or lethal to some wildlife
• filters take 18 months to 10 years to decompose
• discarded cigarette butts start fires along roadways (I see burned areas at least once a year)

(These facts were taken from a quit smoking page. I used to smoke and if you are interested in trying to quit by using the same method that I used, here it is: Stop putting cigarettes in your mouth and lighting them up. It sounds like I'm joking, but seriously, just don't do it. White-knuckle past the urge to smoke. And five minutes later, white-knuckle past it again. And five minutes later, white-knuckle past it again. The next day, six minutes. The next day, seven minutes. Etc. Before you know it, you are over it. You just have to be stronger than the urge!)

62.54 miles of Hampton roadways were cleaned up today through this volunteer effort. I'm not sure if they are going to post any other totals...

The Hampton Clean City Commission hosted a cookout today for the Walk Hampton Clean volunteers. There was a lady working on a neat project, "Write your wrongs." She was asking people what things are just plain wrong, and writing it on a white-board. And at the bottom of the white board it said, "LitteringIsWrongToo.org" Then she'd take your picture with your saying. These are posted on their Facebook page. Here's a picture of me 'writing my wrong." And you can look here to see other pictures from the cook-out today.

I poked around their Facebook page and came across this video. There is an island in the ocean that is at least 1200 miles away from any other coastline. You'd think it would be pristine. Watch this video to see the far reach of litter.