The pin feathers are plainly visible now on at least one of the chicks. They give the wing a dark edge.
That dark edge is really visible here as the chick stretches.
It also gives a salt and pepper look in the shoulder area.
Their feet are the first thing to become full size -- you can compare the size of the baby's feet to the Mom's feet. Big feet help them to stand. Standing is a requirement for being able to self-feed:
You can see the dark feathers coming in on the chick's back.
Look at how intently the babies are watching as Mom leaves the nest. This is how they learn how to become eagles.
I got a look at the White Rock egg today. But not from this angle. Mom stood up and did an egg roll, so I knew it was in there... But you couldn't tell from this angle.
Dad came in with a little morsel for Mom. She swallowed it whole. I have no idea what it was...
It was super windy at the nest today. Here's a video of Mom and Dad riding the nest and Dad's take-off from the nest.
Mom is very vocal, calling here before coming up off of the egg.
I don't know if that's dirt/debris on the egg or if it's been damaged.
It was either gone or on the bottom after the egg roll.
Great news at the Norfolk nest! Dad Norfolk and HE are moving in the nest as if they are feeding a chick. And the math adds up, from the time it seemed they were incubating to now is enough time for a chick to have hatched. Here's a link to a post with pictures on the Norfolk Eagles Forum.
And Pam Monahan has a new post with pictures about HE's brother HK and his nest in Virginia Beach. Pam is reporting that there's a new girl in town... What drama at these nests!
Waiting and waiting for a hatch at the Berry College Bald Eagle nest. Tomorrow is day 35 for the second egg that was laid. I am surprised we haven't seen a hatch yet at this nest. There can be a delay in the hatching of the first egg if Mom delayed incubating the egg, to close the gap in hatch time. There is less sibling rivalry if the hatches occur closer together instead of one getting a 3 day head start (eggs are generally laid 3 days apart). I hold my breath and strain to see the eggs every time she stands up. And so do over 7,000 other people -- the number of people watching the cam at any one time these days. It's after 11:00PM and there's still almost 4,600 people watching a Bald Eagle sleep! Anyway, I could've sworn I saw a pip hole the other day. But I haven't seen anything like it again since then, so it must not have been. She's still gimpy on her left leg - something else to worry about. Here's our sleeping beauty:
There's more disheartening news for the Norfolk Bald Eagles. Eagle On Alliance reports that a 9th nest has been removed from the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Norfolk's Mayor Fraim is proving to be the most pig-headed, stubborn fool for continuing an effort that is obviously not working. There is now more eagle activity around NBG now that the Norfolk pair doesn't have a nest to defend. And there was a Bald Eagle struck and killed at the airport last month -- proving that his plan is not working. The Bald Eagle that was killed was not one of the Norfolk pair. By concentrating their wildlife mitigation efforts against one Bald Eagle pair at the neighboring property, they are leaving the flying public at the mercy of all the other wildlife that is free to come and go at the airport. Feel free to let Mayor Frain know what you think by sending him an email at mayor@norfolk.gov. And now Mayor Fraim, I'm talking to you: You made a bad call. If your ego is too big, you don't even have to admit you made a mistake. Just institute a mitigation plan on airport property and leave the eagles alone. Here's why you should:
- It is cruel to keep removing the nests built by the Norfolk pair.
- Irreparable harm is being done to the trees at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.
- Revenue is down at the Norfolk Botanical Garden because people are allowing their membership to lapse and people have stopped going there over this issue.
- You are making yourself look worse the longer this continues.
- Most importantly, you are endangering the flying public by not taking appropriate steps on airport property to mitigate the threat of wildlife at the airport.
The Decorah Bald Eagles just faced a threat. This is what a Dad Bald Eagle is supposed to do when Mom calls for help. (The Berry College Dad could learn a thing or two from the Decorah Dad...) Check out this video of the Decorah Bald Eagle Nest. (So nice that they have sound!) I don't know if he's trying to protect her at 3:05 or if he's just trying to make himself look bigger to whatever is posing a threat. I like to think that he was trying to protect her... It's nice to see them side-by-side facing a threat together.
It was a year ago today that I wrote my first blog post. Thanks to all who have found my blog and have supported this endeavor! This post will be number 232. There have been over 11,300 page views. Woot!
The Pilot Online has an article about the recent removal of the Bald Eagle nest at the Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG). This was the eighth nest removal. There is a poll with the article (on the left below the related links) asking if Norfolk should continue with the nest removal. Last night, it was at 90% for no. Today, it's up to 93% for no. (That's with 6% for yes and 1% not sure.) I don't think that the Norfolk officials are going to listen though. It seems that there are fragile egos at play. There is no reason other than pride for the Mayor and the City Council to continue with this stupidity. Hey, Norfolk officials, I'm talking to you: Set aside your pride, listen to the experts, and control the problem by intensifying efforts at the airport.
The article talks about how much membership and revenue are down at NBG. I let my membership lapse but never provided a reason why. I'm sure it's more than 8% of people that left NBG because of the treatment of the Bald Eagles.
I will not spend any money in Norfolk as long as this mistreatment of Dad Norfolk and DT continues. I refuse to pay any sales taxes to Norfolk. I use the airport in Newport News instead of Norfolk. (And that's for safety reasons as well, since I don't consider the Norfolk airport to be safe since they don't mitigate the risk of all wildlife at the airport. Just this Band-Aid to make it appear like they are doing something.) If you haven't watched my video showing all of the birds that are on Lake Whitehurst (the body of water that separates the airport from NBG), please check it out. I originally shot this video just because it's nature. But it really shows the extent of the problem.
Please support the Bald Eagles and push for safety at the airport for all concerned. I recommend that you not spend any money in Norfolk and if you are a city resident, vote out the guilty parties. (Keep in mind that Tommy Smigiel is on the City Council and is in favor of leaving the eagles alone and fixing the problem at the airport. So, don't vote him out!)
First, I'm going to have to address the latest news regarding the Norfolk Botanical Garden Eagles. The Feds have endorsed the action that has been taken so far at the Garden to keep the Eagles from nesting there. These people are painfully stupid! How long is it going to take for them to realize that Bald Eagles are territorial and that they are not going to leave the Garden? They are wasting a lot of time, energy, and money trying to get the Bald Eagles out of the Norfolk Botanical Garden instead of making sure all wildlife is clear of the airport! How are they going to feel when a Great Blue Heron, Gull, or Goose takes down a plane while some idiot is shooting paint-balls at the Eagles in the Garden? Talk about a lawsuit waiting to happen! One of the worst parts about this is that our concern for safety at the airport is being written off because we are being viewed as a bunch of eagle huggers.
There is a new location for Camellia. He is still exploring Chesapeake.
Ron Dudley's post today on his Feathered Photography blog is of a Prairie Falcon. This is a beautiful bird and Ron got some amazing pictures of it. In the last picture he posted, there is incredible detail in the underside of the wing. Simply beautiful!
Screen captures!
If you remember, Sooner Lake started with four eggs that hatched. It is very difficult to successfully raise a brood of four. The last two to hatch did not survive. The first two, that hatched on the same day 3/19, look great:
The Harrison Bay eaglets hatched on 3/19 and 3/21. So, they look similar to the Sooner Lake pair. I had to wait forever to get this screen capture. They were being fed, screen right, and I could only see the tail ends as the adult was off camera. Finally, they finished eating and made their way back to the nest bowl. Look at the crops on these chicks! They are very well fed!!
I've got a couple of pictures of the NCTC eaglets. They hatched on 3/16 and 3/17, so they are just a little older than the previous nests. These two also have bulging crops. The one in face-plant position has a crop that is visible at 1:00 position in relation to its head:
I'm including a second picture of the NCTC nest. If you've ever seen an eaglet in the nest poop, you will recognize this pose. They almost do a headstand in order to send their poop over the side of the nest. Trees containing Bald Eagle nests end up "white-washed" as the nesting season progresses. In the below picture, the eaglet that is standing has its head down at the 7:00 position and its butt is in the air at the 1:00 position. You can always tell when they are getting ready to poop because they move around and back up toward the edge of the nest. This is instinctive behavior.
The Two Harbors nest has one chick this year, hatched on 3/25, who is a little younger than the nests shown above. This chick was snuggled up to the parent for most of the time that I was watching this nest, but I was finally able to get this capture. I'm glad to see so many full crops!
The Blackwater Eagles are far older than the rest of the nests presented here. This pair hatched 2/26 and 2/27. What a difference, huh?!
I also spent some time with the Alcoa Osprey nest. At one point, the male came in with a huge fish (missing the delicious head of course!) and couldn't shake it from his talons. The female had to grab it with her mouth and pull it off of his foot. She then flew away with it. You can also see the egg in this picture. There is a picture-in-picture close-up of the nest bowl. The upper part of an egg is visible. I'm excited about this nest! I watched the VIMS Osprey Cam last year and the nest failed. Two eggs were laid, but for some reason they stopped incubating... So, I'm really excited and am hoping to see some offspring in this nest.
A recent news story about super-sized crabs caught my attention. I thought, "Yum, super-sized crabs!" But then the story reveals that they aren't very meaty. And they are so hungry that they are wiping out oyster beds. Not great news for seafood lovers.
I've never heard of sand kittens. Four were born in captivity in Israel. They have been extinct in that country since the 1990's.
Speaking of cats... Ed Clark, the president and co-founder of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, has often commented about the great number of injured wildlife they see at the center due to cats that are allowed to run free outdoors. Recent research indicates that house cats are more prolific killers than previously thought. I don't think people intend to have their free-roaming cats killing song birds and bunnies. Maybe it's something you should think about if you let your cats run free...
Yay, my favicon is showing up now on my posts. I created and added to my template a favicon two nights ago and it has finally shown up! (A favicon is the little picture that shows up next to the address of my site when you save it as a favorite. It also shows up on the tab next to the name of my site.)
Duane Noblick took a bunch of new pictures of the Norfolk Bald Eagles over the weekend. There are pictures of both the male and female, carrying sticks, mating (probably more bonding than actual mating), and singing. You can see all of his pictures at the link provided above, or you can see a few of them along with his explanations at this link.
NX checked in on back-to-back days. Not sure what that's about. She did a lot of exploring in a day.
I found an older article about Polar Bears and Grizzly Bears mating in the wild. This has happened with bears in captivity. But scientists weren't sure if these hybrid Grolar Bears were being created in the wild. A few years ago, they found that they were. I looked for information about other hybrids and found an article, with pictures, about Ligers, Zebroids, Grolar Bears, Wholphins, Savannah Cats, Camas, Beefalo, Sheep-goats, Narwhal-beluga Hybrid, Mules and Hinnies, and Blood Parrots.
Here's an article about 7 things you can make instead of buying.
The Great Horned Owls are now on "fledge watch" -- hanging out on the railings. The below picture is from two cameras shooting from opposite ends:
Tonight I got a look at the White Rock Eagle Cam eggs:
Then, quick enough, it was back to incubating:
