Southwest Florida Eagles Day 1&2 Second Hatch!, Harrison Bay Eagles First Egg Laid!, Bald Eagle ND Photographed!!

Here's my s'caps from today at the Southwest Florida Eagle nest:

That bite is way too big for that baby!

We've had a lot of rain today. Mom is not inclined to get up and expose her hatchling to the rain... Which leaves the viewers to wonder how the hatch is going.

It's hard to tell if that's a crack or debris.

We finally got a little clearing and can see a nice pip.

Dad took a good look at the nest bowl when he got a chance.

So cute. The cam swivels around, sometimes presenting the occupants upside down.

A nice crack has formed in the egg. The fish that is being fed to the baby must be delicious! The parent is drooling all over the baby while trying to get the fish into the baby's mouth. That's a line of drool across the top of the baby's head and there's more drool on its body.

This is the last frame that was in focus when zoomer took us in a little too close. That's the baby's beak showing at the pip hole.

Here's a link to E7's Lunch & E8 Moves Inside Egg (2:57) video.

And E8 did hatch at the Southwest Florida nest tonight. Check out this video E8 Hatches (3:43).

And there's much eggcitement at the Harrison Bay Bald Eagle nest! Their first egg arrived this evening! Last year, they didn't lay the first egg until 2/18. So, this was a surprise! Here's a video First Egg Laid (8:58). If they lay a second egg, it will be on Saturday.

Exciting news! Reese Lukei photographed Bald Eagle ND! He is almost 6 years old and is very handsome! ND hatched from the Norfolk Botanical Garden nest in early February of 2010, from the last brood that Mom Norfolk saw fledge. (She did see three chicks hatch in 2011, but was killed before they fledged.) I believe Reese found him in Virginia Beach -- maybe ND has come home to establish a territory and take a mate! ND's siblings are NC (Camellia - tracked with a transmitter) and NE (infamous for being rescued from the canal). More info is available regarding these eagles, so Google away! Include "Center for Conservation Biology" or "Norfolk Botanical Garden" in your search. And here's one more link, to the last time ND was spotted, a couple of years ago...

In Memory of Bald Eagle HE

Bald Eagle HE was the youngest of three that hatched in the nest at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in 2009, daughter of Bald Eagles Mom and Dad Norfolk. Her egg was laid shortly after midnight on 2/17/2009. She hatched on Wednesday 3/25/2009, after 36 days of incubation. On 4/22/2009, she received purple leg band HE. Here, the letters on her band are just visible:

The three chicks from the Norfolk Botanical Garden nest in 2009.

L-R Dr Bryan Watts with Sunday (HH -- Azalea), Reese Lukei with Saturday (HK), and Stephen Living with Wednesday (HE)

On 6/2/2009, she fell from the nest while hopping and wingercizing. A witness on the ground said she dropped like a rock and at the last minute put out her wings to glide to the ground without injury. She was captured by Reese Lukei and spent the night at his house. The next day, Nuckols Tree Care returned her to the nest. She fledged on 6/8/2009, 75 days after hatching. She was last seen at the Norfolk Botanical Garden on 7/27/2009.

But that's not the end of her story. On 4/26/2011, Mom Norfolk was struck and killed by a plane at the neighboring Norfolk airport, leaving Dad without a mate. On 2/3/2015, it was discovered that HE's father, Dad Norfolk, had taken a new mate -- and it appeared that they were incubating an egg. Photographers tried for months to get a good picture of the mate's leg band. Finally, the new mate was identified as being HE! On 3/12/2015, they were observed feeding a chick. Their one eaglet fledged on 5/29/2015. Dad Norfolk and HE had recently been doing nestorations in preparation for the new nesting season. But it was not to be. Bald Eagle HE was found dead on 1/6/2016.

HE, we will miss you. Fly free with your Mom. May your son have a long and prosperous life! And may Dad Norfolk find a new mate...

Africam Black Eagle Day 39, Dyfi Osprey Day 35,37&38 Band & Poop Shoot Hat Trick, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 99&101, Loch of the Lowes Osprey Day 43,45&46, White-bellied Sea Eagle, White Rock Eagles Day 77&78 Play Time & Fledge Watch Continues, Lower Tidewater Virginia Bald Eagle Productivity, Ashleigh Scully's Conservation Photography

Exciting morning for me at the Africam Black Eagle nest. Not that anything exciting happened... But, you'll see... First thing when I brought up the cam was Mom and the baby. The baby is starting to look a bit pudgy, doing a lazy wing stretch here.

Then Mom left. Look at the pretty artwork here. I think the baby missed a spot though...

Then with a flash of wings, a parent arrives.

Then another flash of wings as the other parent arrives!

Yay! A family s'cap. The parents watch as the baby does a big stretch.

They were zoomed in a bit on the Dyfi Osprey nest this morning. I was able to get a s'cap of each Osplet's leg band. Here is the oldest Merin (F) with leg band W1. (Turn your head to the left to read the band...)

The band of the second oldest is just visible past its sibling. Leg band W2 is on Celyn (F).

The leg band of the youngest is just visible through the nesting material. This is Brenig (M) with band W3.

The three of them did a Poop Shoot Hat Trick this morning! (1:26)

 

When I save a s'cap, it's because I can say something about it. But sometimes, there's a disconnect between when I take the s'cap and when I blog about it. I have no idea what I was thinking here. I guess "Wheeeee!" will have to do!

Something did a fly-by pretty close to the nest.

This is almost like the s'cap above except I can see everyone's face. Which (to me) is reason enough to show the almost same s'cap...

The Harrison Bay Eaglets are still using the nest as a home base.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey cam was also zoomed in this morning. I can read the leg band of FR3 and see its transmitter antenna. The sibling behind it must be FR4 because it also has a transmitter antenna coming from it's back. That means that FR2 must be the one in front laying down.

Then they zoomed back out. I love the lazy wing stretches! You can tell that the parent is the one in the middle of the nest, since its feathers don't have the white tips. The babies look to be full grown, compared to the adult. They will be ready to fledge soon!

Some bird was being super noisy above the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest, causing Dad to look up.

The White Rock Eaglets are really starting to explore the branches now.

They spent some time on the same branch. Something must have been flying overhead.

I got some video this morning from when they were perched together. They had a little Play Time (5:25):

 

This is what I'm talking about when I say they are exploring the branches. Look at how far out they are!

 

Here they are perched on the same branch, as viewed from the overhead cam. I hope those branches are sturdy!

Reese Lukei compiled some data about the productivity of the local Bald Eagle nests (Lower Tidewater, Virginia area). See his post.

I found this article about a 13-year-old Conservation Photographer. Also check out Ashleigh Scully's photography on her Facebook page! I think it's key to get people interested in conservation at a young age. This world will be a better place because of her photography. Imagine if we 'grew' more kids like her!

Nest Cam Round-up: White-bellied Sea Eagle Day 3, Africam Black Eagle, Dyfi Osprey, and White Rock, Bald Eagle Buddy Update, Wildlife Center of Virginia Upcoming Release of Three Eagles, Bald Eagle NX Checked In, and Jim Yanello and Reese Lukei's Pictures of Bald Eagle HK

The White-bellied Sea Eagle chick is looking bigger and stronger today. It is also day 40 for the second laid egg, assuming that's the one that hasn't hatched yet. So, we are in the window for that one to hatch. A pip hasn't been spotted yet, so we wait and watch for nature to take its course... Since they are 14 hours ahead of us, I started watching today before sun-up there. Sunrise was at 6:33AM, and Mom was awake shortly before then. I love how she fluffs her head feathers in the early morning. This is day 3 for the chick.

We get our first good look at the chick today.

The baby needs a bib -- its neck is nice and white here. But not for long...

Mom is feeding the baby.

The IR cam turns off and we see the nest in color. The red nestovers is pigeon and there's also a fish.

A short time later, Dad arrived at the nest with a fish. Don't see it? Well, it's not the biggest fish...

Mom gets up, but Dad takes off again.

Mom goes back to incubating:

There's the little fish that Dad brought to the nest a few minutes ago, over on the right.

Dad redeemed himself by bringing a larger fish to the nest. What a great forager, two deliveries in 7 minutes!

Mom gets up and feeds the baby some more pigeon.

Doesn't that look delish!?

Each bite looks more appetizing than the one before!

Look how dirty that neck is now! That's a lot of missed bites. We need a bib!

I've got some short videos. In this first one, Mom is squonking -- calling for Dad (2:00).

In this one, Dad lands on the nest, Mom gets up so we can see the baby, and then Dad leaves and we can see him flying away (3:00).

Are you ready for a cuteness overload? Here's a video of a feeding session. You can see why the chick's neck is so dirty from dropped bites... (2:30):

You can hear Sulphur Crested Cockatoos making a racket in this video (1:30).

The Africam Black Eagle was hiding out again this morning.

I'm not sure where this perch is located at the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust's Dyfi Osprey Project nest, but it seems to be a favorite spot.

This is another of Christian Sasse's pictures of the White Rock eagles, posted here with his permission. I'm not sure which of the parents this is... But it is a beautiful picture!

There is an update for Bald Eagle Buddy. It's nice to (finally) see an update for Buddy. No new pictures though... Boo, hiss...

On Wednesday, August 20th, the Wildlife Center of Virginia is releasing Three Bald Eagles. See their announcement for details. I don't think I can afford to take the vacation time to attend... So, hopefully, someone will take pictures and/or video...

Bald Eagle NX checked in. She has found an area that she likes, because she has stayed in the same area for a while now!

Jim Yanello and Reese Lukei both got pictures of Bald Eagle HK! He has his adult plumage now and looks just as handsome as his father, Dad Norfolk.