Bald Eagle Camellia's Location, Bald Eagle Buddy on the Wildlife Center of Virginia's Critter Cam, Maine Tries to Reduce the Number of Bald Eagles Struck by Vehicles, This is Post Number 100!

Camellia has finally left the Pocaty River. Check out his latest travels.

Don't forget that Buddy is starring on the Wildlife Center's Critter Cam!

The state of Maine is taking steps to try to reduce the number of Bald Eagles struck by vehicles. Good job! I'd be interested in hearing the results of their actions.

I've hit another milestone with my blog: this is post number 100. Thanks to all who follow my blog!

Bald Eagle HK is Growing Up, Bald Eagle That Crashed Into The Ground At The Duluth Airport Has Recovered, Web Cam Guidance From The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Reese posted an entry today on the Eagle Nest blog about HK. There is a picture that Pam Monahan took. HK looks great! You can see the rest of Pam's pictures of HK. There are quite a few pictures of him keeping company with a Bald Eagle that looks huge compared to him...

I previously mentioned on May 14th and May 17th the Bald Eagles that crashed into the ground at the Duluth Airport. They were locked in battle and didn't separate before hitting the ground. One of the Bald Eagles had a puncture wound from a talon in the abdomen. It has recovered from its injuries and was released back into the wild.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has release an article: Guidance for Use of Cameras at Bald Eagle Nests. This is about web cams.

Funny Momo Post Today, Swainson's Hawk on Feathered Photography, Bald Eagle Eating a Duck, Bald Eagle Covered in Vegetable Oil, Civet Coffee, Living Furniture

Today's 'find Momo' made me laugh!

Ron Dudley posted some pictures of a Swainson's Hawk on his Feathered Photography blog. This is such a pretty hawk! I really enjoy his blog!

I found this video of a Bald Eagle that has caught a duck for dinner. All I can say is, "Duck feet! Yum, yum!"

Here's a bizarre story about a Bald Eagle that was found covered in... vegetable oil. At least, that's what they think it is. They are investigating.

Have you ever heard of civet coffee? It's good to the last dropping! 

And have you ever heard of living furniture?

Bald Eagles Catching Starlings, Camellia's Location, Ferruginous Hawk Chick Update on Feathered Photography

Here's an article about Bald Eagles catching starlings in mid-air. There are three pictures, make sure you click on the picture to see them all.

Reese was right! Camellia has returned to Pocaty River.

Ron Dudley has posted updated pictures of the Ferruginous Hawk chicks on his Feathered Photography blog. It's amazing how much they have grown in 12 days!

NX's Location, Dancing Bluebird on Feathered Photography, Screen Captures of the Alcoa Osprey Nest

NX checked in today. She is about a mile south of her last check in.

Ron Dudley posted some great pictures of a dancing bluebird on his Feathered Photography blog.

Here's the rest of the Osprey s'caps from yesterday:

I think that growing requires a lot of stretching. This was a really big stretch:

Very often, they will stretch one wing, then fold it back in. These two were laying side by side, and they both did one of these stretches at different times. Just for fun, I combined the two s'caps into one picture:

This youngster did a big stretch that included its leg. After tucking its wing back in, it never did tuck its leg back in. Look at the size of that talon! I wonder if taking up this much room in the nest is like hogging the covers?

I took this s'cap to show the difference in the adult and chick's eye color. The chick's eye color is more orange (on the left) than the yellow of the adult's eye (on the right):

This is a good time to see a lot of wingercizing. This chick got some serious air:

The chicks are also careful to back up to the edge of the nest when they need to poop. This might look like a stretch, but you can tell it's going to be poop when they back up to the edge of the nest first. If you're still not sure which it is, wait to see if the poop flies:

Different chick, same activity. And yes, that's a lot of poop -- not part of the logo or spillway:

All this activity is hard on a nest. A lot of the sticks end up going over the side. The parents bring in new sticks every day:

Here's a s'cap from 5/10, for comparison:

NX and Camellia Locations, Piano Playing Singing Dog, Find Momo, Ferruginous Hawk Nest on Feathered Photography, Alcoa Osprey S'caps

NX has checked in. She hasn't gone far, still hanging out south of Quantico.

Camellia checked in. He's in Virginia Beach, but Reese speculates that he's heading back to the Pocaty River.

My friend Candy sent me a link to this piano playing and singing dog. I love it! So, I thought I'd share it.

I love the 6/14 find Momo. So cute! Check it out!

Ron Dudley posted some pictures from another Ferruginous Hawk nest with chicks. These pictures are amazing!

I spent some time today watching the Alcoa Osprey nest. I took way too many s'caps (screen captures) to put in one post. I'll put some here today and put some in tomorrow's post. It was an interesting day. I'm not sure what was happening off-camera, but the adult at the nest seemed agitated -- looking around, calling, ducking, and taking short flights.

In this picture, Mom is on full alert. She is hunkered down, calling, and her wings are a bit flared. She was neither landing nor taking off. I think she was trying to appear larger and more intimidating to scare off whatever threat she perceived:

Have you ever seen a group of cats who are all watching the same thing? Their heads and eyes all track simultaneously. That's what happened today as something flew around the nest:

And it happened more than once. Here all of the chicks are calling:

And here's Mom landing back in the nest after one of her short flights:

Dad brought in a fish at one point:

Dad never stays in the nest for long. Here, I caught him flying away:

After feeding her chicks, I was able to get a s'cap of Mom feaking. Notice the chicks watching her -- learning how to be Osprey. And sure enough, shortly after this s'cap was taken, one of the chicks did some vigorous feaking.

Mom kept a close watch as her chicks settled down for a nap:

It was an interesting day to watch this nest. I'll post the rest of the s'caps from today in tomorrow's post...

What Happens After Fledging? and Two Swainson's Hawks on Feathered Photography

Reese has a post on the Eagle Nest Blog about how long fledgling Bald Eagles stay around their natal area. Included are Shelly Fowler's pictures of the eagles at the Saw Pen Point nest. (This is KE's nest.)

Ron Dudley has posted pictures of two Swainson's Hawks on his Feathered Photography blog.

Training Update for Buddy, Urban Bald Eagle Fledglings, Camellia's Location, Recent Feathered Photography Posts

Raina has posted a training update on Buddy! She talks about her travels with Buddy at the beginning of the month. There is also a link to the critter cam, featuring Buddy!

Reese has posted an entry about this year's urban Bald Eagles fledging. There are several pictures included. Reese's post reminds us that fledglings might be found on the ground or on rooftops and they should be left alone. They usually just need time to regroup after an initial flight.

Camellia's location has been updated. He's still at Nanney's Creek.

I have fallen behind looking at Ron Dudley's Feathered Photography blog. Here are some interesting recent posts: Swainson's Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk with chicks, Northern Flicker, American Kestral with snake, Ferruginous Hawk in flight, Black-billed Magpies, Coyote, and a Golden Eagle.

AEF Eaglets Going to Hack Tower, S'Caps of Recent Fledges: Fort St Vrain, Alcoa, Two Harbors, and Sooner Lake

Tomorrow at 5:00PM, the AEF eaglets will be removed from the nest and taken to the hack towers. You can watch this on the AEF eagle cam. They will continue to grow, strengthen their flight muscles, and eventually fledge from the hack towers. I've talked about these towers in an earlier post. Here is a screen capture of the AEF eaglets this evening:

I caught up with some recent fledges. After Eaglets fledge, they will return to the nest, where the adults continue to bring food until the eaglet has learned to forage for itself. The Fort St Vrain eaglet finally looked toward the camera so I could get a s'cap (screen capture) without cutting off its head:

It looks like the two Alcoa eaglets are perched in a tree near the nest (one is only barely in the frame):

The afternoon sun is always harsh on the Two Harbors cam. But you can still make out the fledgling on the left side of the screen:

I found one of the Sooner Lake eaglets at home. It's hard to believe that two eaglets fledged from this nest. It looks too small!

I had included a bunch of s'caps from the Alcoa Osprey nest. But it was making this post take forever to open. So, here is a link to those pictures that I've put into a separate post. Just give it some time to open...

Alcoa Osprey Nest

I spent some time watching the Alcoa Osprey nest the other day and got these s'caps. (I was going to post these yesterday, but the storms knocked out my power and it didn't come back on until today while I was at work...)

First, we've got the family just hanging out. Mom and the three chicks:

It was a nice day to do some wingercizing:

Then Dad came in with a fish. That nest is super-crowded when all five Osprey are at home. Notice that everyone is paying attention to the food:

Osprey chicks learn how to be Osprey by watching their parents. Look at how closely they all watch as Dad flies away. This was the only time I was able to get them all to face the camera and say "cheese":

Shading the siblings? No, just more wingercizing:

Then Dad returns with another stick for the nest:

Now to find the perfect spot for this stick, even though the nest is crowded:

The chick on the right gets bonked in the head with the stick:

Eventually, the adult finds the perfect spot for the stick. Unfortunately, it's still laying on top of the chick on the right:

The chick decides to take matters into its own hands since the adult is satisfied with the stick placement and has moved on to other things:

"I've almost got it!"

"I give up. Maybe if I just lay here..."

"Nope. I don't like that. I'll just stand up and shake it off!" Great plan. You can see the stick hanging off the right side of the nest:

It was a hot day. This is the last view I saw of this nest that day -- The chicks all tried to get some relief from the sun by crowding into the shade created by Mom:

Camellia's Location, Alcoa Osprey, Collective Animal Names, Bird and Fish Ballet, WCV Buddy Archives, and Thanks For 5000 views!

Camellia is back at Nanney's Creek.

The Alcoa Osprey are pretty big now. They are wingercizing and building their flight muscles. They are 6 weeks old now and will fledge at 8-10 weeks.

In my very first blog post, I included a link to collective nouns for birds. Now I have found an article of "99 strange collective animal names" broken down into the following categories: mammals and marsupials, birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish, invertebrates. "An intrusion of cockroaches..." You can say that again!

Here's a video of a bird ballet and a different article about fish doing basically the same thing, except in water... Scientists aren't sure how or why they do this. But it's amazing to watch.

I came across the WCV Buddy Archives the other day. Thought you might appreciate me sharing a link...

My blog hit a milestone today! I started this blog less than 4 months ago and today it hit 5000 views! The below capture is displayed on the blog page in the left-hand column. The peaks and valleys represent daily views. The two peaks on the right are when I posted my pictures of Buddy and the video of Buddy. Pretty neat! Thanks to all of you that follow my blog!

Duke Farms, Alcoa, Harrison Bay, Fort St Vrain, Two Harbors, NCTC, and Sooner Lake Have Fledged, Me and 'My' Buddy, The Travels of NX, Camellia, and KE, and a Picture of HK

I was in a pool tournament this weekend, which is why I haven't posted in a few days...

Quite a few eagle nests have fledged recently: Duke Farms, Alcoa, Harrison Bay, Fort St Vrain, Two Harbors, NCTC, and Sooner Lake. You can still find the fledglings in the nest as they learn to forage. They rely on the parents to bring food to the nest for the next few weeks while they tag along with their parents to learn how to catch, steal, or scavenge food. There are many more nests out there, but these are the ones I've followed that have fledged recently.

Jim Deal was kind enough to take a picture of me with Buddy last weekend when Buddy was at Wild Birds Unlimited. A special thanks to Jim for this picture:

On 5/29, NX was still exploring the Potomac River. Since then, she has stayed on the Potomac River, hanging out now to the south of Quantico.

Pam Monahan got a picture of HK. He is from the NBG nest from the same year as Azalea. He's looking good! He doesn't have a transmitter. Pam just knows where to look to find him! Good job Pam!

My last post for Camellia had him in Chesapeake -- he'd just left the Pocaty River. Since then, he has stayed near the Pocaty River in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, then east to Nanny's Creek in Virginia Beach, then back to the Pocaty River. Reese's June 8th post includes a picture taken by Cary Lynch. Cary and Beverly Nettleton are experts at finding our eagles and getting pictures. Way to go Cary and Bev!

Reese has also posted an update for KE. All I can say is that she loves the landfills...

Video of Bald Eagle Buddy's Appearance at Wild Birds Unlimited 6/2/13

I finally got the video of Buddy processed and uploaded to YouTube. It's a time consuming process... I tried to break it down into 10 minute pieces. The description below is repeated on each video:

Buddy is the Bald Eagle that hatched in the Norfolk Botanical Garden nest in 2008. As a baby eaglet, he had avian pox which damaged the growth plate for his beak, causing his beak to grow crooked. His beak needs to be coped periodically so it doesn't interfere with his ability to eat. For this reason, he is non-releasable and has been receiving training to become a wildlife ambassador. The Wildlife Center of Virginia is where he received treatment for the avian pox and where he has made his home since then. His trainer/handler Raina Krasner appeared with him at Wild Birds Unlimited in Virginia Beach on Jun 2, 2013.

Part 1: Introductions and Raina (Buddy's trainer/handler) talks about the mission of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. (8:41)

Part 2: Raina talks about Buddy. (8:02)

Part 3: Raina takes Buddy from his crate, puts him on his perch and feeds him a mouse. She discusses his training goals and progress. (9:55)

Part 4: Raina continues to discuss Buddy's training goals and progress. (10:05)

Part 5: Raina continues to discuss Buddy's training goals and progress. (9:23)

Part 6: Raina takes questions from the audience. (9:49)

Part 7: Raina puts Buddy back into his crate. (2:24)

Please visit the Wildlife Center of Virginia's website to learn more about the important work that they do: www.wildlifecenter.org. Raina’s permission to post the video of her presentation on YouTube appears at the end of Part 7.

Thanks to Wild Birds Unlimited for hosting this event. Please check out their online store: www.wbu.com.

The still pictures that I took of Buddy can be seen at my previous post.

Bald Eagle Buddy! at Wild Birds Unlimited in Virginia Beach

Buddy and his trainer/handler Raina Krasner were at Wild Birds Unlimited in Virginia Beach today! (Raina is the Outreach Coordinator at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Buddy is a non-releasable Bald Eagle who serves as a Wildlife Ambassador. You can read about Buddy's training in 2013 with Raina and Dr Dave McRuer.) I took some video today, which I am working on processing. It will take at least a few days. Just the conversion from HD to WMV files takes a while... Plus I had to get my computer working with the HD files again. I lost that ability when I had my operating system reloaded after getting a virus. But I'm back in business now and will get the Buddy video (and some other video) posted as soon as I can.

Here are some pictures from his visit today.

Buddy!

Buddy with his handler, Raina:

Raina uses forceps to give Buddy food. She uses the forceps to reach into the pack that she wears at her waist, grabs a piece of food, then brings it up to Buddy's mouth. The food always comes to Buddy from that downward direction. As a result, Buddy spends a lot of time looking at his feet, waiting for food to magically appear!

Buddy had something to say at one point:

All of these pictures are from after the presentation, when people were allowed to stand 'near' Buddy and have their picture taken. One person stood too close and you can see the feathers on the top of his head are sticking up a little, much like a dog that raises its hackles:

And then he gave the person the 'eagle eye' full on, letting them know to back-off! I like this picture because you can see the coloring on the back of his head:

I'm thinking about changing my favicon to the picture below. What do you think? I'm not sure if there is enough of a color difference with his head against that tan background... I could maybe manipulate the background...

This picture really shows how much Buddy's beak curves to his left.

Raina and Buddy are having a conversation here:

Raina and Buddy:

I've got to give some props to Wild Birds Unlimited for hosting this event. This shop is located on the southside and I live on the peninsula, so I'd never been there before. This is a great shop! They had a lot of great products for enjoying wild birds in your yard. I made some purchases! I'm going to have to shop with them again. They also did a great job hosting the event!