White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 68, Bald Eagle HK, Africam Black Eagle Kendi, Loch of the Lowes Osprey Tracking Update, Center for Conservation Biology Article "The Wanderers"

Look at these night owls at the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest. These chicks are up all the time...

I guess they don't need as much sleep as when they were younger.

Nice wingspan!

I think this is SE15, backed up too far and almost tumbled backward out of the nest. Some quick flapping righted the chick.

Wheeee! Getting air!

You'd think it's finally nap time. Nope, they were right back up...

I think they are looking for breakfast.

Bald Eagle Grace has wandered into my home county of St. Mary's County, Md.

Pam Monahan has a new blog post about Bald Eagle HK.

There are some new (fantastic!) pictures of the Africam Black Eagle Kendi.

Loch of the Lowes Osprey FR3 is now on the Gambia River, about 20 miles aways from sibling FR4. Here's a link to their update.

The Center for Conservation Biology has published an article The Wanderers about transmittered birds and the information they've gleaned from this technology. I love the map with the different colored dots for the different birds. It really highlights how unique each birds travels are and also where they have sites in common. That helps the biologists figure out which areas need to be conserved. CCB does great work. If you are looking for a good cause for your charity dollars, I'd suggest CCB. It helps them in their conservation efforts and it's a write-off on your taxes!

Big Sur Condor 132, Harrison Bay Eagles, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 51 Simultaneous Wingercizing, Migration Update For Loch Of The Lowes Osprey FR3 and FR4

The Big Sur Condors are provided stillborn calves to feed on. This is a safe, lead-free, source of food. Preventing lead poisoning is helping to grow the population.

It may seem gross or uncaring to feed these calves to the Condors. But it is what nature intended. I know I feel differently when Bald Eagles bring prey items that have fur vs. something with scales to the nest. I just have to remind myself that predators help to control populations and scavengers have an important job to do too. We'd be hip-deep in carcasses without them!

The Condors are part of a flock.

I don't know if the spread wings is a display of dominance or if it's drying off or cooling off.

The chick is still in the nest. I like the date/time stamp at the top now. But today I noticed that I can't see the entrance to the nest. Bummer... I've seen a lot of feedings happen there, with the parent outside and the chick inside.

I think this is only one of the Harrison Bay Eagle parents perched in the tree. Look for the white head, right in the center of the s'cap...

The White-bellied Sea Eagle's SE15 on the left is so tiny compared to SE16.

I love this!

The female on the right has a more brownish chest than the male.

Here's a video of the Simultaneous Wingercizing that they were doing today (3:44):

Here's an update of the migration of the Loch of the Lowes Osprey FR3 and FR4. I think this is fascinating! I hope their transmitters continue to function for a long time.

Africam Black Eagle Day 96 Fledge Watch, Big Sur Condor Day 109, Dyfi Osprey, Harrison Bay Eagles, White-bellied Sea Eagles Day 27 Milestone Moments

The Africam Black Eagle was panting today. It was pretty warm at the nest, getting up into the 70s today.

Mom came to the nest for a feeding.

Here she is leaving the nest, she's crouched down right before launching out of the nest.

The chick is watching, having thoughts about doing it too.

There was some wingercizing to strengthen its flight muscles. The IR cam makes the chick really blurry when it moves.

It self-fed for a bit before laying down for the night. Black Eagles are supposed to fledge between 90 and 97 days, and tomorrow is day 97. So, I'm going to call fledge watch, but I really haven't seen that much wingercizing, so it might still be a few days...

From what I understand, the folks at the Big Sur Condor nest leave carrion out for the parents to eat. Then they go to the nest and regurgitate it for the chick. I think the second cam where they leave the food and I assume that's the parents perched together.

The baby was laid out with her head tucked. (The biologists refer to the chick as a female, so they must have made that determination based upon her size.)

She spent some time looking out at the world.

Look at that wing! The nest cavity is 4-5 feet across. Wow!

The baby has to stand in the doorway if it wants to stretch both wings at the same time...

She finds a shady spot when it gets hot.

I know this chick was also fitted with a transmitter. I think it's part of the wing tag. And I think that's the antenna tending toward the cam.

The was a different sight on the Dyfi Osprey cam. This is off in the distance as viewed from the same cam. I didn't even realize that there was a second platform in the area. I'm not sure who the two Osprey are...

There were lots of visitors today. Here's a woodpecker.

It's hard to see here, but there are two small birds in the nest.

Here's Dad, getting ready to reach out and grab the wind.

And there he goes. I love this s'cap!

Then some crows visited the nest.

One parent was visible at the Harrison Bay Eagle nest.

 

Here's a family s'cap of the White-bellied Sea Eagle nest.

 

Look at SE16 standing up!

 

The size difference is pretty apparent when they are back-to-back like this.

Here's a short video of Milestone moments today: SE16 standing and SE15 working his way out of the nest bowl. And there's a poop shoot. (2:04)

Africam Black Eagle Day 32, Dyfi Osprey Day 28,30&31 Synchronized Wing Stretches, Loch of the Lowes Day 36,38&39 Banding & Transmitters, White-bellied Sea Eagle Second Egg Laid! & Dad Has A Mishap, White Rock Eagles Day 70&71, Duane Noblicks Photography

The Africam Black Eagle was just a puddle of fluff this morning.

There was a funny moment at the Dyfi Osprey nest this morning. They were all laying in different areas of the nest.

And then I could see why when they did Synchronized Wing Stretches (0:48):

The Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes Osprey cam was off air for a little while today while they were ringed (banded) and two got transmitters. (I'll need some good zooming so I can see the new bling...) Before:

After:

Today was a big day for the White-bellied Sea Eagles. Right on time, Mom laid her second egg! (Keep in mind when you look at the camera date/time that they are 14 hours ahead of us.) She was resting with her eyes closed earlier in the night.

At one point, she even had her head tucked.

Then, she was wide awake!

 She labored for about 8 minutes.

Then she moved around and we can just see two eggs through the sticks of the nest.

 Here's a video of her Laying the Second Egg (5:07):

Here's a close-up of the two eggs taken later in the day:

Shortly after that, Dad has a mishap at the nest. He went to take-off from the nest, but it looks like a talon got caught on the nest. He recovered, but I'll be looking for a limp... Here's the Failure To Launch video (1:02):

The White Rock Eaglets were just hanging out on a windy day during the brief time I had to visit with them this morning.

Duane Noblick posted a couple of pictures of a fledgling on the Norfolk Eagles Forum. He takes such nice pictures! Feel free to poke around the forum while you are over there. You can also click the link at the bottom of his post and check out his photography website. I think you'll enjoy them both!

The Harrison Bay Eagle Cam was down tonight when I checked in...