Berry College Eagles Pip! & Intruder, Southwest Florida Eagles Day 17&18 E8 Returns To Nest, Bald Eagles HK And Sterling, Africam Black Eagles

I got a really nice view of the pip in the egg at the Berry College Eagle nest this evening. There is a possible crack too! Here's some s'caps:

The view gets better as Mom rolls it.

Is that a crack or grass!?

It moved like it was grass... But that's still a nice pip!

I'm going to record overnight, even though it's hard to see any details under the IR light...

Here's a video of the egg roll that showed A Better View Of The Pip (2:47).

There was other excitement at the Berry College nest today. An intruder did a fly-by of the nest and I got the video as Mom Defends Nest Against Intruder! (4:39)

At the Southwest Florida Eagle nest, E8 was returned to the nest! When I brought up the cam, both chicks were clearly visible in the nest. But I just sat watching instead of getting a s'cap. Then I thought about it after Mom began hovering over them. But you can still see one at 11 o'clock and one at 7 o'clock.

The wildlife rehabilitators at CROW posted some pictures of E8 having breakfast. Click on the pictures to see the full picture. The rehabbers are wearing a veil so the chick doesn't get habituated to humans. Here are their pictures of E8 being returned to the nest. And they posted GoPro video of the renesting. Unfortunately, it was chest mounted instead of head mounted, so we get to see a lot of the controls for the lift. But they did show E7 giving E8 and welcoming bonk!

Pam Monahan has a new post of Bald Eagles HK and Sterling. I love the last picture!

There are some new pictures of the Africam Black Eagles. It seems they stay in their territory year round. They need to do some major nestorations after that storm, so it's good that they are still there.

Berry College Eagles Day 53&55 Sub-Adult Bald Eagle Intruder, Harrison Bay Eagles Day 9&11, White Rock Still Incubating

I didn't get any video of the sub-adult Bald Eagle that tried to get into the Berry College nest today. But other people did! On Berry College's facebook page is a great view from Cam 2 (with sound) of the altercation. That's Dad defending the nest. And there is video from Cam 1 and from the Approach Cam. Good job Dad! If you only have time to watch one, watch the facebook page. And if you have a little more time, watch Cam 1 video, but forward to the part where the intruder tries to come in the back door. That part is better on the Cam 1 view. The Approach Cam doesn't offer much. But I played it at the same time as the view of Cam 1 for a side-by-side view of the action. Here's some s'caps from today. I was trying to get something to compare the sizes of the eaglets to the parent and to each other. I don't think I was successful in getting anything that shows a good comparison:

I think they are still smaller than the parent. And I think one might be a male and one might be a female. But I'm going to wait a bit more on that one...

The Harrison Bay chicks are going to be getting more mobile. This little one was exploring today.

Something must have been flying overhead.

Zoomer found one of the parents perched nearby.

I love the sibling pillow!

The White Rock nest has about 9 days and then it's Hatch Watch!

Berry College Eaglet Day 59, Nest Cam Round-up: Hays, Northeast Florida, Two Harbors (Dad Defends The Nest Against An Intruder), White Rock (Hatch Watch Continues), and Loch Of The Lowes, Bald Eagle NX Checked In

Today is day 59 for the Berry College Bald Eagle. The eaglet spent some time out of camera range, showing off its feet and tail:

     

The eaglet practiced self feeding on some scraps that were left in the nest.

I don't know what's over the side of the nest, but it deserved some very close attention.

 

 I'm seeing more and more flapping. Such fun to watch!

 

Eaglets also need a lot of rest:

  Armpit:

There was a puddle of grey fluff, first eating then snuggling, at the Hays nest when I checked in today.

 

One of the adults at the Northeast Florida nest was mugging for the camera.

There was some excitement at the Two Harbors nest today. The scene started peacefully enough with Dad watching over the baby.

Suddenly, Dad starting looking around then calling out. He took off to the right chasing after another eagle that then came in from the right and did a touch and go on the nest -- right nest to the baby. Dad came right back into the nest, hot on the tail of the intruder.

Here is the video of the intruder at the nest.

White Rock is on hatch watch. It was an interesting hair day:

There are indications that something is happening. Several times the adult backed off of the eggs a little and looked down, maybe hearing a chick cheeping inside of the egg.

I finally got a peek at the eggs, but not enough to see if there are any pips.

Mom looks like she's getting a good night's sleep at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey nest.

Bald Eagle NX checked in. She has left Rosier Creek, but is still in familiar territory.

Berry College Bald Eagle Chick Day 19, Berry College's Video of Yesterday's Intruder, Northeast Florida Fledge

Not much time to view the cam today. I just took a screen capture for today -- day 19 for the Berry College Bald Eagle chick. Looks like a quiet night at the nest.

Berry College has put out a good video of the intruder that was perched above the nest yesterday.

I found out after I posted yesterday that the other Northeast Florida chick had fledged. Congratulations to them! Here's a video of the fledge. The one that had already flow is at 7:00 position, behind a branch. The on that fledges in this video is at the noon position, perched on a way-too-small branch. I think there is a bit of a learning curve when it come to selecting appropriate branches to perch on...

Berry College Bald Eagle Chick Day 17 and 18, Sub-adult Intruder at the Berry College Bald Eagle Nest, Berry College Videos of Sub-adult, Mom Nipped at Eaglet, and Mom Gets Blown Around Again, Bald Eagle Camellia Checked In.

Yesterday, March 11th, was day 17 for the Berry College Bald Eagle chick. It was a perfect day for the chick to venture out of the nest bowl and explore the nest:

The chick wanted to get right into the action when it came to food:

Look at those feet! Their feet are the first thing to grow to full size. Still has a way to go though... And still very interested in the food!

The baby will progress to where it is "walking" while in the position in the picture just above. Then it will finally stand on its feet. At this point, it will be able to learn to stand on its food and tear pieces off. Until then, it will still need to be fed.

Today, March 12th, was day 18 for the Berry chick. And it was a day of drama! It started off nice enough with the baby staying warm under Mom:

Then there was a lesson on removing feathers from a coot before eating it:

Mom had just settled in to brood so I was surprised to see her standing up and bent over the baby. The screen captures and explanations of Mom Berry protecting the eaglet were taken between 11:12 and 11:34AM.

I'm wondering, "What in the world is she doing?" The she took a step toward the baby and spread her wings a little more. You could tell she was distracted when she was moving toward the eaglet. She wasn't watching where she was stepping and is actually stepping on the baby here. But she didn't realize it:

She spread her wings more, providing more protection to the baby. But she adjusted her stance too, now stepping on the baby's neck. That's her bad leg. No telling how much weight she is putting on it:

She stayed like this for what felt like an eternity. In my head was the chant, "Get off the baby. Get of the baby." Over and over again. And finally she moved and the baby's head came up:

She kept throwing her wings out to protect the baby:

 She was calling and calling for her mate to come to the nest to help her.

This whole time I had been worried about the baby since she had been stepping on it. But here I see it raise its head again. (I'm still worried about the baby -- not sure if her talons left any punctures. I'll feel better once some time has gone by...)

Mom Berry kept this protective stance and continued to call out for her mate. I figured he must be out foraging to not hear her calls. Every time she readjusted her protective stance, I took a s'cap:

 

 By degrees, she relaxed her stance a bit, but continued calling to her mate.

She stayed in a protective posture until 12:26. I didn't know what had happened. I thought an intruder was flying around the nest. But it turns out that a sub-adult was perched in the tree above the nest. There is food in the nest and it may have been hungry. It makes perfect sense that Mom Berry was being so protective! Bald Eagles will attack (and eat) other Bald Eagle's chicks...

Dad Berry finally came home. His return scared off the intruder. At one point, he brought a fish with him, but I'm not sure of the timeline... (Today, I've seen Coot, Squirrel, and Fish on the menu at this nest.)

It takes a lot of feedings to grow into a Bald Eagle!

Mom's foot sticks out to the side... I figure her leg is broken. I'm so glad that the sub-adult didn't come down into the nest. Fighting Bald Eagles usually use their talons -- Mom Berry would have been at a distinct disadvantage... And it would have exacerbated her injury, just when it seems she is moving better.

OK. That's the end of my s'caps from yesterday and today. Sorry if it was too many... But this went on for over an hour! Here is a link to a video of some of what happened today, 18:23 minutes of it. This video shows the intruder in the nest tree. And it shows Mom Berry stepping on the chick. (I wonder if she has lost some feeling in that foot due to the injury...) Note that the sound you hear in this video is from a different camera that was playing while this video was being taken.

I wanted to point out another Berry College nest video. Mom Berry nipped at the baby. I don't know why. I speculate that maybe her injury caused a pain and she thought the baby did something. She definitely seems to be correcting the chick...

Another Mom Berry video. When will she learn to not put her back to the wind? (This video also has a poop shot from Mom and then one from the eaglet.)

Bald Eagle Camellia has checked in. Talk about touring around the area! I'm tired just looking at his travels...