Mom was trying so hard to incubate the babies. But they are getting so big -- the one on the left just wouldn't fit under Mom. So she pulled some soft grasses in close to help keep the babies warm.
The one in the back is sleeping with its head flopped back and turned sideways.
This prey item was brought to the nest. It was partially eaten already. I think that its head is intact. It's got a long skinny tail. I'm not sure if its a gopher, nutria or rat... But I'm pretty sure it's some kind of rodent...
I watched all day hoping to see what they would do with that long, skinny tail. Here's a video. (13:07)
The babies were intently watching Mom when she hopped up onto the front branch to leave. That gave me an opportunity to get a couple of s'caps.
Here's a news story about the Pennsylvania Bald Eagle nest. Mom was buried up to her neck in snow to keep her eggs warm.
Check out this video of a break-dancing dog.
Eaglets are able to thermoregulate at 2 weeks old, so the cold shouldn't be such a threat to the babies now. However, Mom will continue to brood her babies when it's cold -- for as long as she can fit them underneath her. (They are already starting to get a bit unmanageable...) They made it through the storm ok. But I didn't see Dad Berry at all today, so I either missed him or it's a bit concerning... Hopefully, I'll see him tomorrow. Here's my s'caps from today.
Mom kept tight on the babies today except for the occasional feeding. She kept this posture for a long time. It doesn't look comfortable, but I imagine it helped to keep warmth in the nest bowl. The adults don't poop from the nest very often. When the snow was flying yesterday, Mom didn't want to leave her babies to take a break, so she did a poop shoot from the nest toward the camera. Notice all the 'whitewash' on the front right branch...
I finally got a look at the babies when they played peek-a-boo. I was glad to see the movement.
Then later there was a feeding. The younger chick laid down and let the older one eat first. I was worried when Mom fed bite after bite to the older chick and the younger one got none. I thought that Mom was going to finish and settle back into brooding the chicks before the younger one could get any food. But as the older chick's hunger was satisfied, the younger chick perked up and began taking bites, getting several in a row. This s'cap was when the feeding first started and the younger chick was laying down.
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.
Berry College Bald Eagle Mom comes through the bad weather like a champ! This morning I brought up the cam just in time to see a nice dry nest bowl and an egg roll:
I guess this is the Bald Eagle equivalent of stretching your legs: big wing flaps. (The camera cuts off the top of anything too tall. I don't think this is a PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera. I hope they fix the framing next season.) Anyway, big wing flaps:
By the afternoon, a lot of the snow had already melted away:
She looks a lot happier tonight than she did last night. Sleep well little momma, you've earned it!
Pam Monahan spent some time with Bald Eagle HK recently. He keeps her on her toes in this post! I really like her next post. She's got some great take-off and flight shots of HK and his lady friend. And she also found a juvie -- looks to be a 2nd year to me, referred to as a 'white belly'. Here's that post. Then she has one more new post with a couple of pictures of HK. He's so handsome!
Check out this cute puddle of Bald Eagle babies at the Northeast Florida nest! I'm not sure which end is up or where one baby ends and the other one starts...
I still can't get the Southwest Florida nest. They say the cam is down and they are working on it...
A milestone: the blog hit 11,000 page views last night! I can't believe it's been almost a year since I started this blog and that there are so many page views! I thought a few people would look at it every now and then... I appreciate you guys dropping by! Feel free to comment on any of my blog entries! I love hearing back from you guys. Your comments make the blog more interesting (and reassure me that someone is out there and it's not all bots viewing the pages!)
There has been a lot of worry about one of the Hancock Wildlife Bald Eagles. Mom Delta has been unable to put any weight on her left foot since some time on Feb 8/9. She appears ok in a video on the 8th, but is not using her left leg/foot on the 9th. Hancock Wildlife posted a video from today of her perched and you can see her foot that is hanging down. I don't see anything obviously wrong with her foot. It may be a broken leg. An injured but flight-capable Bald Eagle is difficult to catch. They can try to bait/net her. Otherwise, her condition will have to deteriorate to the point of not being able to fly any more before she can be captured for diagnosis and treatment. Which would make recuperation that much more difficult if she is so sick that she can no longer fly... And that's only if she ended up down where someone sees her and knows to get someone to catch her.
I checked on Mom Berry College early this morning, concerned by all the forecasts of freezing rain for Georgia. She looked to be doing ok at 8:10AM:
She is really accumulating some snow tonight. You can see which white streaks are flakes (as opposed to branches) in these two screen captures, taken a minute apart at 7:30PM:
I missed the egg-roll and repositioning darn it, shortly after the above screen captures. Here she is at 8:45PM. This is about an hour's worth of snow accumulation on her:
This is what she has to look forward to for the rest of the night, with the snow clearing out by sunrise.
I was going to call it a night watching this nest when she decided to put on a show! First, a stand and shake (look at how nice and dry that nest bowl is!):
Then she carefully backs up:
Does a quick egg roll:
Then just that quick, she settles back down. I can't tell the difference between the white of her tail and the snow...
The Northeast Florida Bald Eagles are looking wet tonight. In this screen capture, one baby is right in front of the other:
Here's a better look at the babies. Their feathers are wet, but they are warm and dry underneath:
I looked in on the Southwest Florida Bald Eagle nest too, but the camera must be down...
The Virginian Pilot is reporting that a Bald Eagle was struck and killed at the Norfolk Airport today. Other news sources are reporting the same -- all reports lack details. Air Wisconsin strikes again. What is wrong with those pilots that they can't see a huge bird on the runway and not land on top of it? Praying it wasn't Dad Norfolk or DT. Thank goodness the City of Norfolk was busy keeping them out of the Norfolk Botanical Garden. The flying public and the Bald Eagles are so much safer... I wonder now if the Norfolk City Council and Mayor Fraim will see the folly of their plan to drive the Bald Eagles out of the garden as a means to prevent Bald Eagle strikes at the airport? Bunch of idiots... (except Tommy Smigiel.) I never wanted to be able to say, "I told you so."
Today was an interesting day at the Berry College Bald Eagle Nest. Their feathers provide so much insulation that the snow doesn't melt. It just piles up until she moves. And she stays warm and dry.
Eventually, she eased up off of the eggs.
Scratched that itch:
Did an egg roll:
Showed off her eggs to the camera:
Then she turned to face the opposite direction, here she is just laying back down. She's got her beak buried in the nesting material and is shimmying back and forth, settling back down with her brood patch on the eggs.
She is settled here, but looks uncomfortable with her butt in the air on top of the snow. She never did shed a big chunk of snow from the middle of her back. But the thin layer of snow is new accumulation since she laid back down.
It wasn't long before she turned back around.
I'm not sure why, but she stood up and shook off all of the snow.
Then she settled back down. Every eagle I've ever seen settle down to incubate eggs digs their beak into the nest to act as an anchor while shimmying back and forth.
She came up with her beak covered in snow.
This all took place over the course of an hour...
Reese has posted a new location map for Bald Eagle Camellia. He hasn't gone very far. Reese also posted about a local Eagle that got into trouble -- but was able to be released back into the wild the next day. He is banded KW.
I found this facebook page of Bald Eagle photos (and videos). It's pretty good. Well, I haven't finished exploring it. But what I've seen is pretty good...
Remember the Bald Eagles that crashed to the ground at the Duluth Airport? One flew off while it was being taken for treatment. The other was treated, banded, and released. Here is an update. If you fish, please be careful to not leave any fishing line behind after you leave. Injuries and deaths to wildlife occur too frequently due to improper disposal of fishing line.
And more sad news, this time regarding the Chesapeake Bald Eagle #12-001.
This page has a pretty video of Bald Eagles in the snow. I think it's a promotional video for a company that does workshops and tours. But it's still a pretty video.
If you ever need to hold two Bald Eagles at the same time, I guess this is how it's done!
There is a six-part miniseries coming soon to PBS. "Earthflight" presents the world from the perspective of various birds, including Bald Eagles. The air dates are six consecutive Wednesdays: Sep 4, 11, 18, 25, Oct 2 and 9. It comes on at 8:00PM. After each episodes airs, it will be available for streaming online at pbs.org/nature. It sounds interesting -- I'm gong to mark my calendar!
