Berry College Eagles Still On Hatch Watch, Southwest Florida Eagles Day 16&17 E8 Update And Video

Berry College is still on hatch watch. I don't even see a pip... Today was day 36. Hatch usually occurs between day 33 and 38. The first egg usually takes more days to hatch as a result due to delayed incubation. Hopefully, we will see a pip tomorrow! They do have the ability to zoom in, but they don't. So, this is as good as it got today...

Golden light at sunset.

Here's a gif of a late day egg roll. The eggs look to be in perfect shape, no sign of a pip.

Eaglet E8 from the Southwest Florida Eagle nest continues to receive care at CROW. Here's an update and video of physical exam.

Northeast Florida Nest First Egg!, Loch of the Lowes Osprey Tracking Update, Africam Black Eagles

The Northeast Florida Eagles laid their first egg today, on the same date that they laid their first egg last year. How amazing is that!? Mom was sleeping tonight while standing over the egg.

She is still protecting the egg, but is delaying full time incubation to slow the development of the embryo. Then, after all the eggs have been laid, she will incubate full time. This will help the chicks to hatch closer together, so the first hatch won't have such a big size advantage over the later hatches. Here's a video A Look At The First Egg during an egg roll (1:03):

There was an Osprey Tracking Update almost a week ago that I missed posting. I'm looking forward to their next update since FR4 has gone exploring in this update, but by now has returned to familiar territory!

Check this out! Three years of Black Eaglets. These are three siblings from the same nest 2013, 2014, and 2015. And check out these pictures of bath time with the Africam Black Eagles. The parents are bathing and Kendi is just watching. What is it with kids not wanted to take a bath?

White-bellied Sea Eagle Egg!, Africam Black Eagle, Dyfi Osprey, Harrison Bay Eagles, Loch of the Lowes Osprey, White Rock Eagles

I have Verizon DSL which goes out when it rains. And it rained last night, so I couldn't do a blog post. So, I'm doubling down tonight!

We have the first egg at the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest! (Remember to take 14 hours off the cam date/time to get East Coast time. I usually refer to my time, not cam time.) This is from yesterday, what turned out to be the last of the preps before the egg comes.

I think these birds are beautiful. I like how this s'cap shows off the tail.

This is Mom laying the egg. Her back is arched a little here, you can see the feathers on her back are sticking up with the effort.

She was making little chirps as she worked to lay the egg.

She is really making an effort here. Shortly after this scap, she did an egg roll. She didn't let us see the egg though until a little while later.

We can just see the egg among her petticoats.

Today, we had plenty of opportunities to see the egg as Mom and Dad do a lot of egg rolls.

White-bellied Sea Eagles do delayed incubation in an attempt to have the eggs hatch closer together. It is common to see an egg not being incubated 24/7 until the clutch is complete.

 We got a close-up view of Dad's beautiful feathers!

The lighting at the Africam Black Eagle nest was not very good yesterday.

But it was much better today. I thought about something. I've compared this chick to the Osprey chicks. But that's not a fair comparison. Osprey fledge 49-56 days after hatching and Black Eagles fledge 90-97 days after hatching. So, this little one is not going to develop as fast...

It was a puddle of Osprey at the Dyfi nest yesterday.

They had rain today. Mom tried to keep her babies dry, but they are just too big! Dad has some interesting coloring. His eyes never lightened. You can see how dark his eyes are compared to Mom's. He's also got a lot of dark feathers in his collar. True, his collar is not as dark as Mom's (see above s'cap) but it's still quite a bit for a male.

One of the Harrison Bay Eaglets was playing with a stick in the nest this morning. Here, it's got the stick in its mouth, is standing on one foot, and grabbing the stick with its other foot.

Who is perched in the tree across the way? Two somebodies... 

It got super windy at one point. Here's Dad and one of the babies riding out the wind.

Pretty baby!

There was a food delivery and both babies went into full mantle. Pretty impressive!

I never noticed before that Dad has chicken legs!

I can't believe I caught all four in the nest together today! So awesome so long after fledge!

The feathers on the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey chicks are coming in great. They are starting to look like juvenile Osprey!

The two that were eating in the above s'cap shifted toward the camera and the third chick got to eat. It usually all works out in the Osprey nests.

The Osplets are starting to wingercize.

 
I'm always happy when I can get a s'cap with faces. Here, Mom is looking down. Drats!

This one has three baby faces and some of Mom's face is visible...

We got some nice close-ups of the babies today.

And Mom too!

The whole family.

I think only one of the White Rock Eaglets is getting up on the branch. I had an early morning yesterday, so I caught the nest before sunrise. I didn't realize how active these chicks are this early in the morning...

Both of them are flapping here.

That's a pretty s'cap!

Then today I was back to my normal time checking out this nest.

  They are both checking out the parent.

It looks like the other chick is thinking about going out on the branch. Maybe tomorrow!

Berry College Eagles Day 33&35 - Growing Up, White Rock Eagles, Eagle Nest At U.S. National Arboretum, Baby Elephant Bath

It was a nice day at the Berry College nest. The babies are growing fast, getting more steady on their feet and feathering out. Here's a video of how they spend their days... (7:39) If you don't have much time, watch the end to see how they watch their Mom when she flies away. Some s'caps from today. First is dual wing stretches:

I like seeing how the feathers are coming in. So far I see shoulders, wing edges and tail.

A few s'caps from the White Rock nest today. If you have time to watch this nest tomorrow and maybe into the overnight, you may see a third egg being laid. No idea if they will lay a third egg, but that's when it should be. Here's Mom doing an egg roll and repositioning:

She did leave the nest for a little break:

She was only gone for eight minutes. But it's still a nail-biter for me when the eggs are left unguarded. It only takes a moment for a predator to wreak havoc...

I also hold my breath upon the adult's return. What if it's an intruder? She moved right in...

...and resumed incubating her eggs. All is well...

The video that I posted last night got hung up in processing. This video shows a milestone in their development, so I'd hate for people to miss it, So, I uploaded it again today and it worked. Here's a link (4:08) and a reminder what it's about:

The babies at the Berry College nest were attempting to self feed when I brought up the cam this morning. They were both sitting and trying hard to get some pieces, with some success. This is a milestone in their development. Here's a link to a few minutes of video. It starts with one of the babies (the one laying down in front) moving food from its crop to its stomach. Then it stands up and barely makes it past the parent while backing up to poop. And both chicks try to self-feed. Mom had already fed them, so she was happy to watch over them as they tried to feed themselves.

My sister sent me an email: Bald Eagles are nesting at the U.S. National Arboretum for the first time since 1947. It appears that they have eaglets in the nest. They are looking to put in a cam next year! You can read about it here.

My co-worker showed me this funny video of a baby elephant getting a bath. (2:12)

Berry College Eagles Day 31&33, Second Egg for White Rock Eagles

It was a hot day at the Berry College Eagle nest. They aren't used to warm temperatures yet. The babies spent the day panting, which is how Bald Eagles cool off.

The babies have already figured out that it's cooler in the shade.

Here's a look at the darker feathers come in on the upper back, wing edges, and tail feathers.

Here's a better look at tail feathers!

I brought up the White Rock cam just now to see if a second egg was laid today. (Today is 3 days from when the first egg was laid and is the right time for a second egg.) I found Mom White Rock on the nest and moving with the effort it takes to lay an egg. What great timing! I got video rolling as fast as I could... After a few minutes, she stopped moving, backed up, and did an egg roll. She stayed like this for a bit, allowing the egg to dry off. I just wish she'd scoot out of the way for a second so I can see into the nest bowl better... Here's the video of her laying the egg (2:35). These are the best s'caps I could get, barely able to see the edge of a second egg near her right foot.

Oh well, I was hoping for a better s'cap of two eggs. But she has done good work today and seems settled in for the night. I'll get a good s'cap tomorrow... It's late for me and I need to do the same.