Berry College Eagles Un-Stick The Landing, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 87 SE15's Bad Day, Dyfi Osprey Project Nest Clean-up, Africam Black Eagles New Pictures

Nestorations continue at the Berry College nest.

Stick delivery:

Mom and Dad spend a lot of time in the nest together. Bald Eagles bond while working on the nest together.

I like it when they come and go by the back door.

Dad is so tiny compared to Mom.

They take a break during the afternoon. Then they were both in the nest at dusk.

One of the parents had a bad landing in the nest while bringing a stick. I think it was Dad. Not only did he not stick the landing, but he also lost the stick. Check out Un-Stick The Landing (0:26):

There is some on-going drama at the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest. SE15 was hopping to the nest from the perch branch and missed the nest. He fell below the nest and spent the night there. During the day today, he has moved around some of the branches, but he hasn't fledged yet and still hasn't made it back into the nest. At one point, SE16 was trying to get away from a Currawong and flew right into SE15. But SE15 kept ahold of his perch and SE16 was able to untangle herself and fly off. Once SE15 is hungry enough, he will either work his way back into the nest by hopping among the branches or he will fledge and get back that way. Here's some video of SE15's Bad Day (11:37):

The folks at the Dyfi Osprey Project have cleaned up the nest. Check out their post about their work.

There are new pictures of the Africam Black Eagle Kendi and her parents.

I was out of town the last few days. I am getting ready to build a house in Maryland and I had to make the trip to sign the construction loan. I have created a new blog for the housebuilding.

Harrison Bay Eagles Stick Work & Soft Grass, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 78

I've got two really great videos for today! The Harrison Bay Eagles were working hard on the nest today. A heavy fog didn't bother them one bit. I know this video is long, but it's the good stuff! These are the Stick Work & Soft Grass highlights that occurred over a three hour period, boiled down into 18:23 minutes:

Mom and Dad (Elliot & Eloise) spent a lot of time and energy working on the nest today. Imagine, each stick is collected one at a time (broken off of a tree), brought into the nest, cleaned up (little side branches get broken off), then moved around until its in the perfect spot. These sticks normally range from about 2 to 5 feet in length! (As a reference, an Eagle is about 3 feet from the top of the head to the tip of the tail.)

They'd rest before taking off to collect another branch.

Sometimes Mom would wait for Dad to bring her another stick. Then she'd hop down into the nest to place it in the right spot.

Sometimes they would discuss the situation. Mom usually wins at this nest...

They are both spending the night in the nest tree tonight.

I brought up the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest, got excited when I saw the view on cam two, and hurried as fast as I could to start recording before they chicks moved or the camera angle was changed. Aren't they beautiful!? We finally get a good look at their faces and I'm amazed by the differences! SE16 on the left has a softer face and sleepy eyes. SE15 on the right has sharper features and more angular eye sockets. Watch the Eaglets Looking Out video (12:19) and comment about what differences do you see.

White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 45

Good morning babies!

There was some stick work, and nobody was safe! But the babies didn't wear the stick for long before the parent placed it in the right spot.

 

Babies in a nest tend to have a coloration that camouflages them from predators.

Africam Black Eagle Day 107 Fledge Watch Continues, Big Sur Condor Day 120, Harrison Bay Eagles Stick Squabbles, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 38

The Africam Black Eagle chick got a meal in the nest today. Look at that huge crop! (Thanks for the zoom!)

Still no fledge today. I really had thought it would be today. I guess that just increases the odds that it will happen tomorrow!

 The Big Sur Condor chick spent a while looking out at the world.

Mom and Dad Harrison Bay Eagles were in the tall pine today.

And (YAY!) they came to the nest. I love this shot of them! Feel free to save a copy!

They had a little testy moment...

They had a little time out before returning to the nest.

But they still had some Stick Squabbles (1:31) while fluffing the nest.

Eventually, they took to the branches and settled in for the night.

White-bellied Sea Eagle chick SE16 was flapping away today!

 

Dad brought a stick to the nest and then repeatedly pokes the babies while trying to place it.

Africam Black Eagle Day 103 Fledge Watch Continues, Harrison Bay Eagles, Whtie-bellied Sea Eagles Day 34 Crib Rails, Upcoming Bald Eagle Release

The Africam Black Eagle chick hasn't fledged yet. For some reason, the cam is staying up overnight. You can see how long the chicks' shadow is in the early morning.

Zoomer was on the ball today!

We got some great close-ups today.

I recorded about 12 hours of this nest. But I came home from work to find it had frozen. Of course!

Much of what I did get was the baby laying around.

Maybe it will fledge tomorrow...

The coloring of the juvenile Black Eagles is beautiful!

The Harrison Bay Eagles were in the nest tree this morning, having spent the night perched on the branches. This was my only sighting of them today.

The White-bellied Sea Eagle chicks are growing like weeds.

They both perk up when a parent lands in the nest.

Then they relax.

Here's a short video of the parents doing Stick Work (2:57), building up the crib rails for their babies as they start to venture out of the nest bowl.

There is an Eagle Release on Thursday. This is a large adult eagle.
If you are planning to go, RSVP to them as requested. They are also advertising 2016 Garden of Eagles Calendars and WCV T-Shirts. Here's the email:

Release: Dr. Dave McRuer, Wildlife Center Director of Veterinary Services, will release Bald Eagle #15-1667 at 11:30 a.m.  on Thursday, September 10, at York River State Park in James City County.  This mature Bald Eagle was found by a park ranger, on the ground and unable to fly, in Newport News in late July … and is now ready to be returned to the wild!

York River State Park is more than 2,500 acres of marsh, river shoreline and forest – a perfect and versatile environment for many species of wildlife, including Bald Eagles! The park is known for its rare and delicate estuarine environment, where freshwater and saltwater meet to create a rich habitat for marine and plant life [the park has been designated as a Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve]. More information on York River State Park can be found at this link: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/york-river.shtml#general_information

We would be delighted for you to join us for this special release! The release is free and open to the public. If you will be attending, please RSVP lkegley@wildlifecenter.org with your name and number of people joining. And please meet Dr. Dave and the eagle at the Park Visitor Center [the address for the park is 9801 York River Park Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188].

Calendars: In other news, the Center is now accepting pre-orders for the 2016 Garden of Eagles calendar, the creation of a group of talented and dedicated Center supporters. This calendar showcases breathtaking photos of Bald Eagles; past issues have sold out! We’re accepting pre-orders for the calendars through September 28 at 5:00p.m. Eastern – get your order in today! http://wildlifecenter.org/news_events/news/2016-garden-eagles-calendar

T-shirts: And, in celebration of Bald Eagles, the Center has a new shirt perfect for anyone who is wild about eagles! This short-sleeved t-shirt features an eagle drawing by Dr. Adam Naylor, the Center’s former veterinary intern and current veterinary resident at the Edinburgh Zoo. To see this t-shirt and others, please visit our shop at this link: http://wildlifecenter.org/shop

Berry College Eagles Day 25&27 Arrivals and Stick-work Video, Bald Eagle HK Updates

Three s'caps from today. The first two I call "got'cher back":

 

What strikes me about this one is how much further up the back branch the white-wash goes. That's one way of gauging their growth...

 

I've got one video from today. (It took me a couple of seconds to bring up the audio...) In the video, first Mom does a fly-by one way, and then another, then lands in the nest with some soft grass. Then Dad arrives with a prey item. Then there's some stick-work and everyone gets bonked. Then Dad leaves. I like this video. It has a take-off and landings and Mom does a lot of vocalizing... Here's the link. (10:24)

 

Pam Monahan has two new posts on her blog about Bald Eagle HK. The first post is from 3/3 and the second post is from 3/4. The third picture on the first post is a stunner!