Snow at Berry College Day 12&14, Bald Eagle HK and Sterling, Ocean Life Video, Unlikely Friends

I've got lots of s'caps from today from the Berry College nest. I was grabbing a s'cap of the babies and at that exact second Mom landed in the nest. I couldn't get this shot on purpose if I tried!

A short time later, Dad brought in food (a Coot) that he had already dined on. It was a bloody mess... The babies are peeking out from under Mom. So cute!

Mom fed the babies, both getting bites.

Then she did a big stretch.

I saw the first snow flakes at 2:56, not even visible in this s'cap.

But this was the scene 10 minutes later:

Here's what the radar looked like at 3:45. I put a red star where the nest is (in the center of the s'cap).

And this is the radar at 8:40PM, they are still in the thick of it:

Here's a link to a short video from today almost an hour after it started snowing. This shows how well-insulated birds are. The snow piles up on Mom Berry. If she were losing body heat, the snow would melt. Instead, it just piles up, then slides off when she moves. And she's keeping the babies warm and dry underneath her.

Here's what the nest looked like at 6:55PM this evening, right before the IR cam turned on. The snow is piling up and it's still snowing pretty hard at this time. (The cams are currently down...)

Pam Monahan visited Bald Eagles HK and Sterling on 2/22 and has a bunch of great pictures and commentary on her blog.

Here's a link to a pretty cool video featuring ocean life.

And check out this story about two unlikely friends. I believe that's a Belgian Malinois, like one of my dogs.

Nest Cam Round-up: Hays, White Rock, Maine, Berry College Bluebird, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Berry College (Empty Nest), Bald Eagle NX Checked In, Owl Sighting, WCV Bald Eagle Release Scheduled

Only one eaglet was at home today when I checked the Hays nest. I saw in the chat later that I missed all three in the nest around 8:00PM when food was brought in... 

These babies really stand out after dark with the IR cam turned on. 

I'm on right now watching a live broadcast with Christian Sasse at the White Rock nest. I realized that I've not given out the address for these broadcasts. It's at this link. I never know when they are going to happen. When I brought up the page earlier, there was an announcement at the top that he was going to be on. Then I just had to remember to come back! Here's some of the s'caps I took during his live discussion. (I wish I could tell him there's a spot of something on his lens...):

This looks like a nice area.

Beautiful scenery:

 

This is the nest in the left-hand tree.

I took these s'caps with the wide-angle cam earlier in the day.

I've continued to watch the live cam with Christian Sasse while doing the rest of the blog and I've gotten some fantastic s'caps! But it's late and I slept poorly last night, so I will post them tomorrow! Here's one, for now:

The Maine eaglet is doing well. I read in chat that there were 5 food deliveries today.

The Berry College Bluebirds got their bling today. After all that excitement, they passed out in a pile of fluff and didn't even react as someone opened the box a few times to adjust the camera angle.

They didn't even blink during these next two s'caps.

I think something was written on this paper. But it was there and gone so fast, who knows... Babies didn't budge.

But then food was on hand and they all perked up:

But one of them was still feeling like a grumpy little sour-puss!

I only managed to see a leg band once today. It's on the right leg of the right-most bird. you can just see it past the bird's body.

Here's a good look at the feathers coming in.

One of the larger babies is using the smaller ones as a feather mattress...

Major score today!!! I finally caught the male White-bellied Sea Eagle at home! What a beauty! I could see that someone was in the nest, but then as soon as I hit the play button it went to an ad first. It was an agonizing 20 seconds. I was scared he would be gone before I could get a s'cap. But he was very cooperative!

I guess some things never change, no matter what nest you are looking at. Here's Dad arranging a stick:

They built this second nest this year. The people associated with the cam are sure they are not going to use this nest but are going to use the nest pictured above. We can expect eggs after about a week or so!

This is going to be a summer of contrasts, with the White-bellied Sea Eagle and the Africam Black Eagle!

Here's a s'cap of the Berry College nest. It's been so long now since anyone has been home that grass is starting to grow in the nest...

Bald Eagle NX checked in. She really likes the area south of Quantico. I wonder if she has picked out her nesting area... She's only 3 years old, so she's still got some time to figure it out.

Neat thing today when I was returning from walking my dogs. It was almost 9:00PM. An owl flew right over us! I saw this big bird flying at us. It was low -- maybe 10 feet over my head. And it was silent. Awesome! No picture of course, but my dog will corroborate my story!

The Wildlife Center of Virginia has a Bald Eagle release scheduled for Thursday. Here's the information from the email (note that there is RSVP information if you plan to attend):

On Thursday, June 26, the Wildlife Center of Virginia will be releasing an adult Bald Eagle – an eagle that has been a patient at the Center since May 1 – and I hope that you can join us for the release! 

This eagle – #14-0450 – was found on the side of the road in King George County; it appears likely that the eagle had been scavenging on road-kill when it was hit by a vehicle.  The eagle has recovered nicely from its injuries and has been flying well in the Center’s outdoor flight pens.  Our vet and rehabilitation staffs have given the “green light” to return this bird to the wild!   Additional information about the eagle is available at:  http://wildlifecenter.org/critter-corner/current-patients/bald-eagle-14-0450

The eagle will be released by Ed Clark at 11:00 a.m. at the Land’s End Wildlife Management Area, just a few miles from where the eagle was rescued.  Owned by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Land’s End is a 430-acre site, situated on the Nanzattico Bay of the Rappahannock River, near Port Conway.  The Area lays claim to hosting the densest Bald Eagle breeding population in the lower 48 states.  The rendezvous spot for Thursday’s release will be the parking area.  Additional information about Land’s End and directions are available at:  http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wmas/detail.asp?pid=5

The event is open to the public – I hope you will be able to join us, and please feel free to “spread the word” to other wildlife-loving family and friends.  We are keeping an RSVP list … please email ksluiter@wildlifecenter.org. 

Thanks so much for all of your support of the Wildlife Center!

Kristen Sluiter

Special Projects Coordinator
Wildlife Center of Virginia

I missed B3 today, Nest Cam Round-up: Hays, White Rock, Christian Sasse At White Rock, and Berry College Bluebird, Decorah Bald Eagle Nest Attacked By Owl, Bald Eagle Camellia Checked In

I was running errands today and didn't get to see the Berry College Bald Eagle...

One of the Hays eaglets was chilling, one was wingercizing and one was showing off its branching skills today:

 

I couldn't get the close up cam at the White Rock nest. But I did get this s'cap from the wide angle PTZ cam. These two are so cute:

Then I brought up a live session with wildlife photographer Christian Sasse, who was at the White Rock nest. This series of s'caps are all from this session. This is such a beautiful area.

This is the nest and the neighboring tree where the close-up cam is located. You can see the wires running down next to the trunk of the tree.

The eaglets weren't showing themselves, so Christian focused on whatever was available. A crow...

...a bunny...

...a different crow.

Then things started happening at the nest.

Wingercizing:

Another shot of the area around the nest.

This is Christian Sasse showing his set-up to the viewers. He goes up in this lift to get a better vantage point to the nest.

This is mom Berry College Bluebird last night. Look at how big she puffs up to cover her babies and keep them warm.

There were four babies in the nest this morning when I checked in.

I love this s'cap! I just wish I'd gotten the fourth baby with its mouth open. I'm on a mission!

It's hot in the nest box at this time of year. The babies are panting to cool off.

The parents are going to have their work cut out for them, taking care of both ends of all of these hatchlings. I see two packets of poop that the parents will remove...

There was drama at the Decorah Bald Eagle nest last night. An owl made repeated attacks on the three eaglets. Here are the links to two videos that eaglewhisperer18 posted on YouTube. Part 1 and part 2.

Bald Eagle Camellia checked in. He hasn't gone far -- the fishing must be good!