The White-bellied Sea Eaglets gave me some good comparison shots today.
The look of the nest changes pretty quickly in the morning. Right before the sun hits the nest...
...then a bit of golden light.
And here's the money! SE15 in front looking so much smaller than SE16. And SE15 being closer to the camera makes him look bigger in comparison than he would if they were side-by-side. So, there's still a big size difference between them.
Pam Monahan has a new post on her blog about Bald Eagles HK and Sterling. Here's a link. Maybe this upcoming nesting season will be the year that HK becomes a Dad! He's certainly old enough, having hatched in 2009. And Sterling is 2 years older.
The Africam Black Eagle parents will start to show aggression toward their fledgling, maybe when they feel the youngster is ready to strike out on its own. For Kendi, that turns out to be only 20 days after fledging. Last year's fledgling, Jono, first saw aggression at 59 days after fledging. Here's a link to some new pics, including some pics of Kendi interacting with a parent.
The Center for Conservation Biology has published two articles about Whimbrel Hope. The first is Sharing The Story Of Hope, where her story is being brought to the classrooms to teach children about conservation. The second is News Of Hope, about what has been learned by tracking her migrations.
Bald Eagle NX checked in on January 5th. She has done a little bit of exploring since her last check-in.
The Center for Conservation Biology newsletter is hot off the press. Here's a few interesting items:
- Bald Eagles with transmitters continue to provide valuable information to aid conservation efforts. More than 1,000,000 GPS locations have been provided, indicating which areas are the most important to Bald Eagles. These areas include travel corridors and communal roosts.
- The current irruption of Snowy Owls is explained in this story. Dr. Bryan Watts flew a survey with Dr. Mitchell Byrd to look for the owls and reports his findings.
- Dr. Watts is quoted in this USA Today article about the impact of this week's freezing temperatures on birds.
- Two Whimbrels (Machi and Goshen) that CCB had tracked via transmitters survived an encounter with Hurricane Irene during their fall migration only to be killed by hunters when they reached their winter home on Guadeloupe. This tragic event has been a catalyst for change via increased awareness of shorebird hunting and new regulations governing the hunting of shorebirds.
- Dr Watts is quoted in this Richmond Times-Dispatch article about the come-back of the Great Blue Heron.
More tomorrow...
