Still More Questions July 24, 2006
How long will the Cam be on? This is really a question for BRI but I hope the Cam will be on well into August. It partly depends on your continuing observations and the cost. It will be up to BRI to make a decision about the Cam next year. We've alraedy seen a significant drop in the amount of time the fledglings are present at the nest. This is great and as it should be. I suspect that observations near dawn and dusk will provide the best viewing from now on. So keep the observations coming.
Concerning Martha. Someone noted that eagle densities are very high in the Chesapeake area as is food but available territories are limited. This will increase intraspecific competition and lead to injuries and death of some birds. We observed a similar occurrence on Verona Island (near Bucksport) several years ago. The resident male had a blue wing tag (from MA) and one spring three adults showed up at the territory; by nesting time Mr. Blue had dissappeared not to be seen again.
Can adults recognize young from previous years? We doubt it as these birds have undergone multiple molts. I think the only reason the sub-adult was able to approach the nest site recently was that the nestlings had fledged and the adults were not present.
Little getting enough food. We don't need to worry about "Little" anymore; "he" is fine. There is no indication that male fledglings are tended by the male parent, females by the female adult. Doesn't make any long term sense.
Bones etc. I think Mark commented earlier that birds of prey, including eagles, regurgitate pellets composed of undigestible materials such as fur, feathers and bones. When doing food habits' studies we collect these pellets and analyze their contents.
That's all for now. Bucky Owen
Concerning Martha. Someone noted that eagle densities are very high in the Chesapeake area as is food but available territories are limited. This will increase intraspecific competition and lead to injuries and death of some birds. We observed a similar occurrence on Verona Island (near Bucksport) several years ago. The resident male had a blue wing tag (from MA) and one spring three adults showed up at the territory; by nesting time Mr. Blue had dissappeared not to be seen again.
Can adults recognize young from previous years? We doubt it as these birds have undergone multiple molts. I think the only reason the sub-adult was able to approach the nest site recently was that the nestlings had fledged and the adults were not present.
Little getting enough food. We don't need to worry about "Little" anymore; "he" is fine. There is no indication that male fledglings are tended by the male parent, females by the female adult. Doesn't make any long term sense.
Bones etc. I think Mark commented earlier that birds of prey, including eagles, regurgitate pellets composed of undigestible materials such as fur, feathers and bones. When doing food habits' studies we collect these pellets and analyze their contents.
That's all for now. Bucky Owen
posted by Bald Eaglecam at 10:32 AM
375 Comments:
Can someone explain what is meant by mantling? I think it would be nice to have the close up view again in the mornings when the birds seem to be at the nest most often. Anyone else agree?
Thanks again, Bucky. It means a lot to all us learners out here to have our questions answered! :-)
And I guess it is worth while to list them, and carry them forward, where they are easy to see, and all together in one list. That way the biologists don't have to re-read all the blog entries and make notes, when it's time to post a journal.
Maybe the questions will ease off now. Things are more or less routine, and Big and Little are both doing fine.
By the way, there are about seven new blog messages that you haven't seen before today, at the end of the last biologist's journal, as usual.
1200EST 07/24/06.........Bucky, thank you for answering all the questions for us with Mark and Charlie as well, I am sad that the time is so lessened at the nest but have missed some really cute shots already today because the cam is pulled back so far.I sincerely hope that they will let it go closer this pm as the eaglets should show up again about 2:30pm and then again at 4:30-5p. I also hope that with enough donations throughout the year that BRI will do this again. I certainly am going to campaign throughout my place of business as well as my family! We have never enjoyed anything so much and hope to continue. Thanks again. BEV
I just read about this site in my Sunday paper, I wish I would have known about it sooner. Is it possible to see previous videos, such as the chicks hatching? I would love to share this with my students come fall. I still cannot believe I've missed months of watching. This site is awesome.
Burke, VA - 7/24
Thank you Bucky. We're probably driving you and Charlie crazy, but maybe you can take comfort in knowing that there are now at least a few better educated folks around. But I suspect that we're not the ones the eagles would have to worry about.
Anyway thanks again to you and Charlie for all you do and for answering our questions. We're going to miss you and Charlie too when the cam goes down.
July 24th. Thank you very much for your answers to the additional questions! We are a demanding bunch, sorry, but there is so much to learn. It would be GREAT to have the cam on till well into August -- I for one check up on the nest several times a day every day, hoping to get at least a glimpse of Little or Big or the parents or visitors. Only my cats are not so thrilled, as I mentioned a few days ago, about the "darned [a word they must have learned from the neighbour's dog] cam". (I promise I will not mention them again ...) And last but not least, thank you again so very much to everyone involved for this wonderful opportunity to follow up close this eagle family.
I have been following this since my parents alerted me to its existence recently. To answer someone's question above, there is archived video on the site. Click on the archived viedo link and they have poignant moments there.
Bradley
Charlie, Barb, Bucky and land owners,
We have watched the eagles before they were born. We marveled at how the parent Eagles tended to the eggs and the nest in good and some horrific weather.We were thrilled to watch them as they were born and then raised . The dedication of the parents is a lesson to all man kind!
We can all learn so much from nature. I am a student minister and I included "Big & Little" in a sermon this past June. The congregation loved hearing about the eaglets!
I hope the cam will be back next year, as you have read we are all learning so much and sharing this everyone we can or who will listen to us.
Children are so excited to see whats happeing on the nest today!
If donations is what BRI needs then lets all do what we can so all of us can watch another "Big & Little" grow up!
Thanks so much, we really appreciate your dedication to these wonderful birds!!
Peace,
Bob & Cheryl Ingalls
4:46pm (EDT) 7-24-06
The other day I downloaded all the journals to pdf files. I PROMISE if the cam is up next year - NOT to ask the same questions (especially more than once - thanks to TONYA!)
Due Diligence will be my motto!
4:58PM (EDT) 7-24-06
At 6:35AM: Now that's a first for ya. Both juveniles come in and land on branches on opposite sides of the tree. One has gone into the nest however, most likely they'll both be in the nest soon.
It's BIG in the nest and Little stayed out - flew (from where he'd fallen before on the right) to a branch you couldn't see but it was right below the bunch of pine needles. Then he flew back to where he'd been and seem like he's not wanting a confrontation with BIG in the nest and flew off. Sad that he left but so nice to see him flying so skillfully!
Big had evidently found some left overs in the nest and Little just flew in. Big mantled and Little seems to have found something to nibble on as well. Then Big leaves, Little hangs around awhile. At 6:20AM It looks as if Little had to chase a parent down..(hunger?).Little flew out and a parent arrived in the nest in less than a minute. Guess Little is making a wide turn.
Little majes it back to the nest in 1 minute. Perfect landing and immediately mantled whatever the adult was nibbling on.
It's now 8:18AM (EDT)
Little had a meal all to himself and just now flew off. The video is getting very dark and you still see sunlight on the water. Beautiful view, except for a small spider web flickering about on the cam lens.
Those are the notes I write in my computer eagle journal. It's getting late and maybe they'll be back, but I have doubtls. Most likely the adults are out there teaching the juveniles how to 'grow up.'
7/24 (3:30 PDT) One eaglet in nest eating undisturbed, believe it was Big but can't tell when they are not together.
Quiet meal with no competition but she kept scanning the horizon.
Speaking of that beautiful horizon, any chance you will rent out the nest? It is 116 here (has been for the past two weeks) and we are having blackouts, Tstorms,
lightening, hail, heavy downpours,
etc. Hope this doesn't move your way.
Sidney, the BC eaglet fledged today! The last one to finally go.
To the person asking about mantelling--it is when there is food and they "hover over it" to keep others away. They spread their wings and lay down to keep the food all to themselves.
And to the person that was new to this site and wanted to see back pictures, look at all of the previous posts on this site and check http://forum.infotecbsi.com/viewtopic.php?t=6750&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=2125 also. They have hundreds of pictures and videos of these eagles.
8:10PM (EDT) 7-24-06
Blogger Judy_ gives permission to put her video of a wonderful landing. I can't decide if it's Big or Little.
http://media.putfile.com/july24pmlanding
5:00AM (EDT) 7-25-06
Hi ANONYMOUS - MANTLING (to mantle) is for the bird to cover it's prey (food) using the wings.
http://members.aol.com/egladvocat/images.html
(do a search for the word)
The bird crouches down with wings spread out (not fully) to cover or protect the food from view of another bird/predator.
That's the only way they have to shield what they feel is rightfully their's. Cover it so nobody/anything else can see it sort of: out of site out of mind.
A sibling or parent sometimes will reach under the tail feathers and pull whatever prey the other bird has, from the mantling eaglet's talongs.
Quite a site to see.
looks like both eaglets are on the nest this morning @7:24. good to see them both together.
7/25 7:50 AM ET
Finally! I am looking at both eaglets on the nest. I haven't seen them together since the 'fall'. They are on their respective branches, now, after eating something that, I assume, the parents brought.
Thank you for moving the cam closer, we can see so much more detail this way.
Also, thank you Bucky, for your info...I sure will miss you, and Charlie, and this cam when it's shut off. I really hope that BRI will set it up again next year.
Rhode Island
Be careful everyone to add your comments at the bottom of Bucky's latest, short, column called "Still more questions, July 24th"
It's easy to scroll right by it and click on the comments for his earlier answers.
To read all the comments, we'll have to keep an eye on those posted to his earlier column, too! :-)
NOT A PROBLEM -- we LOVE having questions answered soon!! :-) Just reminding people to post comments at the latest one.
1.34pm UK Time..
Both Eaglets present.
One in the nest resting, the other (Little I believe on his usual branch)
Thank you for the update Bucky, it's much appreciated :-)
A beautiful morning and two young eagles on the nest! This view is good! Thank you! August would be great.
Oops! I forgot to put date and time on my previous blog.
July 25
5:55 am in Arizona
July 25th. I feel I hit the jackpot this morning!!! Finally, persistence pays off! Both little guys in the nest, one (Big, I'm sure) lying down and the other (Little, no question) perched on the branch at the front. It seems they are patiently (or maybe not so patiently) waiting for breakfast. I have no sound, but it looks like Big is calling out to mom or dad to hurry up!
Burke, VA - 7-25- 9am
Two eaglets in the nest watching the rain. They look very companionable.
I think they may move to California or Florida to get a little sun.
Thank you to the person who gave the update on the Hancock eaglets. I think they must read this blog, because I did not see Sidney, except at his feeding yesterday (and Victoria showed up too-being very pushy). So he must have decided it was time to spread those wings.
Both Big and Little were at the nest around 9:30 EST today! One of them was sitting in the nest, and the other on a limb. They didn't stay around long though!
I asked this question on the Loon blog, but it wasn't seen I don't think, so maybe you can answer it here when you have time.
Did the baby loons ever make it on the backs of the parents? In a blog you said that was the natural way for them to be protected from predators.
Again, I thank you and your team for all the information and effort. I've donated to both cams.
Barb
July 25th
The Winslow eaglets came down to the river today, and the resident ospreys gave them a hard time. This is normal. All the birds give the eaglets a hard time including the crows, and even the swallows -- they evidently can tell that they are babies and harmless!
But this time we saw quite a show -- after a bit of the osprey chasing and scolding an eaglet, out of nowhere, flying low, came a mature eagle. He really went after the osprey -- caught up with him and turned over, upside down with talons up -- under the osprey. The osprey swerved and avoided him. They weren't very far above the water, and the river isn't very wide -- it was breath taking. We were eating lunch and ran outside to watch.
Later I was thinking -- this is where Big's aggressive personality and size gives him an advantage. The minute the eaglets go out into the world they will encounter experiences like this. (these two are still in their essential habitat)
However, the ospreys are nothing to worry about. Both of our eaglets are bigger than the ospreys, and I don't think the ospreys would seriously "take them on". They are probably just trying to scare them away from their nest, which is nearby, and hoping to keep them out of their foraging territory, I suppose.
The ospreys stay away from this part of the river when the mature eagles are around but like to chase the eaglets. Soon enough the eaglets will just ignore them. This time the eaglet that was being chased flew off with one of the ospreys right behind him. That's when the parent took over!
One pair of ospreys have a nest just behind the trees on the other side of the river. And another osprey nest is even closer to the eagles on a nearby transmission line pole. The books say that the two "fish hawks" tolerate one another and often live close together. Eagles evidently often steal fish from ospreys although I haven't seen it.
Later this afternoon I was walking along the front of the house, and as I reached the corner and walked on all at once I heard the loud swoosh of wings and the largest eaglet flew out from the hollyhocks right in front of me, parallel with my chest or head and not much more than an arm's length in front of me. I evidently startled him. Thankfully he went under the power line entering the house. It's the closest personal encounter I've ever had with one of them!! He must have been sitting on the lawn or on my swing set. The trees on that side of the house are too small for him. There's one big pine tree out there but he didn't come from that direction. He is HUGE up close.
Out flying over the river the parents look small beside them, especially the biggest one.
Enough. I know this blog isn't about the Winslow eaglets. But maybe Big and Little are having similar experiences out exploring their neighbourhood!! :-)
Hey guys!
Just want to add my thanks to the many others. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the eagle family from the laying of the eggs to the flight of the fledglings. I check on the nest daily, several times daily. I miss seeing the "little" darlings but am so glad that they seem to be doing so well.
I want to thank you all for the great opportunity to watch and the education we have received due to your caring efforts :-)Hope to "see" you all next year too!
7:45PM (EDT) 7-25-06
5:22AM and BIG in the nest first - there's a sibling circling and then an adult calls out.
Little arrives a few minutes later.
Big looked as if she were checking out the stability of the edge of the nest on the right side (back) - she's been picking up, putting down, moving things - trying to stay busy (my guess) until some food arrives so she'll already be in a 'moving around the nest' environment - then Little won't notice if BIG JUMPS up and mantles the prey first.
Breakfast is coming - and most likely a fight. Big nearly knocked over the parent and mantled the food. Little had flew out just before the parent arrived.
Big ate at leisure and must be full, then Little flies in,- mantled what was left and Big jumped up on a branch.
There was maybe only a beak-full left for Little. Little sits on a branch now too. About 6:38AM in comes Dad or Mom, and Little mantles the food immediately.- I had hoped he would hold onto it. Yep - sis ignores it and later flies off leaving Little to a nice breakfast.
Best site ever,,,,,,,,keep it up..love watching them each day returning to the nest!
7/26 Wednesday 8:30 AM ET
What has happened to our posts? Nothing from 7/25 has been put on the blog site...
At the moment there is one eaglet sitting on his branch...nearest the cam.
It was VERY windy there late yesterday afternoon and last night; there was only one eaglet there. I thought it would get blown off his branch and was hoping it wouldn't attempt to fly in that kind of weather...but you can't tell kids anything...off it went. I kept checking until it was too dark to see but neither came back.
Rhode Island
07/26/06 10:30EST Hi everyone, Our babies were at the nest early this morning and when I came in at 7:30 only Little was there and he was having a fun time for himself. He was on the branch near the cam and preening and then he jumped into the nest and either he was playing with something long and shiny or it was the light. This was at 7:45, he did his usual resting routine and then jumped back to his branch and cleaned his beak and talons and flew off. He hasn't been back since and this is exactly the same time frame as yesterday. Oh, by the way for those interested I heard on the news this am WGME out of Portland, Me. that there is a puffin cam site on Seal Island in Machias, Me.
To watch go to http://www.projectpuffin.org I think the Nation Audubon Society started Project Puffin in the 70's. I haven't started watching yet but there is suppose to be a live feed of three views. I always feel guilty when I check out another site. I love our babies and am really going to miss them and want to be able to view them for a few weeks to come. BEV
Burke, VA - 7/26
I logged in a little after 8p last night and one of the eaglets flew into the nest and then jumped up to one of the branches out of sight.
Jane, I love it when you tell us about your eaglets. How exciting to have your up close and personal encounters. I am also happy to hear that Sidney finally fledged. I thought so when I didn't see him all day yesterday until late afternoon. Usually he is at lease visible on a branch. Congratulations Sidney!
Which brings me to this: folks let's give our eaglets beautiful names next year. We'll start the process early -- maybe as soon as Charlie and Bucky band them.
I think this is my first time to write about how I have loved watching the eagles. I have watched this site since the first time it came out in the paper and the first egg was laid. I just absolutely love it and still look at it several times every day. I had written several times on the Loon cam site. Maybe somebody can answer a question for me. Each time that somebody gives a web site to go to for info or other eagle cams, they will never come up for me. Why do you suppose that can be? I am so interested in seeing and learning all that I can but have no luck in finding these sites on my own. I thought that I was quite computer savvy but am having a hard time with these sites.
We live on a lake and see eagles and ospreys often. Sometimes in winter we will see two on the ice at once, they will be eating the fish that people leave behind. How awesome is that!! Our dogs have also sometimes eaten these fish and gotten fish hooks in their mouth, I would think the birds might also. What would happen to a poor eagle with a fish hook in its mouth?
Thanks for the cam and all the info. I can't wait until next spring when both cams will be back up and aimed at our nests again.
Loon Lover on Sibley Pond
QUESTIONS
--> ONE MORE QUESTION I ASKED AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ANSWERED. Why would a parent (apparently Mom) grab food from an eaglet for herself? She brought it to the nest for them!
--> We live on a lake and see eagles and ospreys often. Sometimes in winter we will see two on the ice at once, they will be eating the fish that people leave behind. How awesome is that!! Our dogs have also sometimes eaten these fish and gotten fish hooks in their mouth, I would think the birds might also. What would happen to a poor eagle with a fish hook in its mouth?
--> Also, do you have problems with eagles/eaglets and fish line?
I have really enjoyed watching "Big" and "Little" I have learned so much....Thanks to all.
Susie Alabama
07/26/06 4:40pm
7:24PM (EDT) 7-26-06
BEVI agree that Little certainly entertains himself, if not his antics, his constant chirpings.
I too enjoy the Puffins site every day. However, the sound must be turned off. Living next door to their island, couldn't be very tranquil.
SUSAN You said that very nicely - I guess you've captured the best thoughts out of all of our heads and said them in your blog.
JUDYAlways enjoy your intimate observations. It's a joy to read your gleanings of your neighboring eagles, as well as our Briloon family.
As for our expert Biologists - we'd be helpless Frogs lacking those kisses of wisdom. Without the volumes of information you share with us, we'd just remain 'ole frogs'stuck in a bog.
I'm in AWE, and my cup runneth over!
For Calif -- thank you for asking!
WInslow is a small, rural town, on one of Maine's biggest rivers, the Kennebec. We also have a small river -- the Sebasticook -- which is an impoundment in Winslow (behind a small dam) We also have a pond, and several pretty brooks. Besides all this water, it's mostly rolling hills, woods and fields! It's in central Maine. Winslow is not a picturesque little village or anything remotely like that, although we have a very nice park on the Kennebec, and a beautiful country environment all around us.
Because I love living on a river, and love the whole river environment ... it's right for me. On a river everything changes, constantly, with the seasons, and with the life cycles of the plants and animals -- and the activities of the snowmobilers and fishermen!! The river changes, too, freezing over in the Winter and thawing, sometimes with flooding, in the Spring. There's always something going on, and it's always changing, when you live on a river.
We have three eagle nests in town. And lots of immatures around. Everyone in town is familiar with eagles, though of course not all are familiar with the nests -- we try to keep the nest areas quiet and private.
Winslow is eagle crazy. Take a look at the town's web site. Click on the eagle picture!! These were taken at the Town Office, which is on the Kennebec.
http://www.winslowmaine.org
Living with eagles is a very special experience. I can see why they are important in the Native American culture, and how they became our national symbol. I think some eagles must have always lived near people, and that's how they became so entwined in our cultures. But people, of course, lived out in the country, more simply, and more in harmony with nature, back then. Now it's a challenge to keep the balance. If we can give the eagles what they need, and keep the environment healthy, I think they can and will live with us.
We didn't know what we were missing until the eagles came back into our environment. Thank you again, Bucky -- and Charlie, and Mark -- and all your colleagues -- and those who came before you. I loved Bucky's story about the first raptor researcher at U Maine. :-) We here in WInslow are enjoying the fruits of your labors.
on june 3rd i wrote to a friend & since i read the blogs recently & someone stated that the female eagle hadnt been as
attentive as the male all along about feeding the eaglets, i thought i would share these observations:
i just saw something amazing ...
the male parent was feeding the biggest eaglet & the little one was standing closest to the webcam with it's head down &
tried to get in several times to get fed but the male eagle ignored it ...... all of a sudden there was this shrill whistle followed
by several more & then regular whistles & clucking & then the shrill whistle again & again (almost deafening as i think the
female was observing from a place near the microphone & suddenly the female parent landed on the nest & seemed quite agitated (the biggest eaglet had slunk off to the rite side with its head down after the 2nd shrill whistle) & the male
parent (he is smaller than the female) jumped up on a branch & the female parent proceeded to feed little & only little. it was
obvious to me that both the male parent & the biggest eaglet had just been scolded & knew they were doing wrong by not letting the littlest eaglet eat. all kinds of scenarios go thru my mind when i see something like that. the larger chick seems to have a little white feather at the back of it's head & i noticed it before but thought it was one that got stuck there but now i think it is growing out of it's head. both parents have that shaggy haircut BUT the female's head is a bit larger / shaggier & she is more majestic & fiercer looking. didnt see any feedings yesterday or this morning & yesterday a friend saw one at 4:20p & then i saw 2 in the space of an hour @ 6:20 & 7:15. wow. the male eagle landed on the nest with food & then the female landed & they started to have a confrontation about who was going to stay & feed the eaglets. the female won &
proceeded to feed both the chicks. whenever the female is feeding & little stays in the background because the biggest one
has snapped at it, she walks all the way around the nest & puts her head down by the little eaglets head to see if it will eat ...
so touching to watch. i find that the male tends to feed the biggest eaglet more. what an opportunity this is to watch something this wonderful first hand. i will send a donation to the NWF .... not huge just something i can afford. have a good weekend. :| (miffy at home)
I have been away and am just catching up on all blogs, and hopefully getting a glimpse of the eaglets, now and then, but they are few and far between anymore for me...
Having one little visit to maine and the coast line, on a lighthouse tour, I love the scenery and when there was sound the water, boats, I got to relive some of my most wonderful moments.
I have learned a lot tooo from this site and if I had been on the 'Millionaire' show back when, I'd have known "bird" was the answer for the animal with a crop!!!
I want to thank all the biologist, workers, camera people and all of you bloggers for all this great information, and sites that will long be remembered..sound/no sound; close up/far out; it has been great and you are to be regarded very highly for all you do.
Glenda
Fieldale, Va.
Thursday 7/27 11:40 AM ET
I didn't think I was going any place today but...I took a great tour of Winslow, ME, compliments of Jane. What a beautiful town...and imagine seeing eagles perched in your trees everyday, how lucky you are!
There's been no activity on the nest in the last hour...but I've enjoyed reading all the posts.
Rhode Island
miffy jul 28 9:40a
Q: does anyone think that little's cry is a lot weaker than it used to be? (big's is very strong)
Q: may be my imagination & because camera not as close for detail BUT i feel that little's bottom part of beak is shorter than big's & wondered if maybe he broke some off during one of his falls...which could account for him pecking at his food sometimes & not eating like big does.
Q: when will the parents start repairing the nest for the next family? this one is a bit worse for wear but both eaglets will still be coming thru aug. prox.
Q: how often does an eaglet molt in order to lose it's original scent? & how come? if new feathers are growing from the same bird.
miffy at home :|
10:14 07/28 These past few days my timing has been off and I haven't been lucky enough to see the siblings. But, I just caught the two in their nest -- one is mantling, the other is on Little's perch waiting and hoping for leftovers. Makes me smile to finally see them back home. What an amazing exerperience this has been!
Burke, VA - 7-28-06 - 10:30 am
Both babies on the nest. Both doing their own thing -- Big redecorating and little resting. Then as sibblings do they had a little bit of squabbling going on.
So good to see them together. Looks like they are waiting for Mom and Dad to make a food drop.
Friday morning and two eaglets in view. One on the nest and one perched on a limb. They both appear hot with beaks open and wings lifted away from their bodies. I know how they feel :)
Arizona, 7:55 am
July 28th. Thank you, miffy at home, for describing so beautifully the amazing scene you witnessed in the nest! I have read it four times so far and cried the Niagara Falls every time, because I have been so touched by the mother eagle's behaviour. About time someone made sure the little one got his fair share of food, attention and parental love. I hope she gave some serious s**t to the father eagle for playing favourites! Bravo and hurrah to all mom eagles everywhere!!!
Miffie, I meant to thank you, too, for describing that mother eagle's behavior, when making sure that Little got fed. I had always thought she was the inattentive one who favored Big. Being a Mom and a GrandMom, after reading your journal entry, I felt a lot better about the female of the species!!
For those people who aren't getting any views of eaglets on the nest, see if you can get to the other -- unofficial -- unrelated site. People are making a lot of good observations there, and posting a lot of pictures -- great for those of us who don't see anything when we look!! :-)
http://forum.infotecbsi.com/viewtopic.php?t=6750&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=2250&sid=0ff9de204ef12dbdf35b69377558bff6
It's 5:45 EST 7-29-06 and both babies are at the nest...both on Big's side sitting on the branches. Thank you so much to the BDI for letting us into these precious lives - never did I think I'd become so attached to birds! I am delighted in having them a part of my everyday life & I'm dreading the day when they leave the nest and possibly Maine for good. Still happy in Hallowell
6 PM ET Saturday 7/29
Both birds were vocalizing on the water-side branch...Little was doing most of the calling. I saw a parent bird flying over the water and a few minutes later Big flew down towards the ground. Little remains on the water-side branch, still calling for food. I am hoping his smaller size is because he's a male and not because he's not getting enough food. The size difference was very apparent when they were sitting on the same branch.
Rhode Island
QUESTIONS
--> ONE MORE QUESTION I ASKED AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ANSWERED. Why would a parent (apparently Mom) grab food from an eaglet for herself? She brought it to the nest for them!
--> We live on a lake and see eagles and ospreys often. Sometimes in winter we will see two on the ice at once, they will be eating the fish that people leave behind. How awesome is that!! Our dogs have also sometimes eaten these fish and gotten fish hooks in their mouth, I would think the birds might also. What would happen to a poor eagle with a fish hook in its mouth?
--> Also, do you have problems with eagles/eaglets and fish line?
--> How do the eagles, or any bird for that matter, begin the nest building? They are in a tree with a single branch or twig (maybe 2 branches or twigs if the mate is present). I cannot imagine when the nest is being newly built how the balancing of a twig or 2 in a tree is accomplished.
I've checked various sites. They mention materials, who builds the nest, where it is built, but never how the beginning construction is accomplished.
PLEASE ADDRESS THIS IN YOUR NEXT RESEARCHER BLOG!
Q: does anyone think that Little's cry is a lot weaker than it used to be? (Big's is very strong)
Q: may be my imagination & because camera not as close for detail BUT i feel that Little's bottom part of beak is shorter than big's & wondered if maybe he broke some off during one of his falls...which could account for him pecking at his food sometimes & not eating like big does.
Q: when will the parents start repairing the nest for the next family? this one is a bit worse for wear but both eaglets will still be coming thru aug. prox.
Q: how often does an eaglet molt in order to lose it's original scent? & how come? if new feathers are growing from the same bird.
Here's a question from the other blog.
Do eagles dream?
Do ANY birds dream?
Does anyone who has a pet bird know whether birds dream?
How would we know? Would they sit on their perch with their head over their shoulder, dozing, and flap thir wings or make a little screech?
This isn't meant as a joke, it's curiosity at work.
Sunday July 30th
7:50 AM
Both eaglets on the nest. Water looks strange, as though it's rippling, but just in one particular place. Maybe it's the wake of a boat. A LARGE boat.
I can see Little in profile and his crop appears to be quite full. He's on the outer branch, Big is on the branch nearest the camera. He seems intent on keeping an eye out, like he's hoping for a parent to come in with more food! :-)
Will go to live video to see if I can hear anything. Just some squeaking noises, don't sound like eaglets.
Oops. WHile i was gone, one eaglet apparently left. Unless it's elsewhere in the tree. It's 7:57 --- oops, with the next click of the still cam, the second eaglet was gone. I wonder if there's a parent nearby with food?
This is the most I've seen of the eaglets in a long time. I've had to enjoy them vicariously on the other blog. Thank goodness for the pictures posted there.
BRI: if you do this again, could you please consider using a blog that viewers can post images on??
Being able to see other peoples comments with pictures posted there might cut down considerably on the number of "hits" you would have on your video, so it might benefit BRI and it's supporters, too.
I don't get a chance to check the cam but once a day. I just cliced on to read more comments and found both babies feeding in the nest. Made my day!
Just caught the two adults at the nest. They almost looked lost as if they were wondering where the kids were. Our triplets on Salmon Lake are doing very well. Yesterday they were doing a lot of flying around probably just trying to cool off. They sound like seagulls when they are hungry and crying for food. Sound carries over water so well you can hear them all over the lake!
We also have two loons chicks that I think are big enough now to avoid a fish or turtle....at least I hope so. They look so cute following the parents around the lake.
Thanks again for keeping this site online and for all the work you do.
Sunday July 30th
I thought I posted a rather long comment shortly after five AM about the two eaglets waiting for food .. they waited for about 40 minutes.
One flew off and the other almost followed him. But the first one came right back, so the second one changed his mind and stayed.
Then the second one flew off, and the first one followed HIM.
It made me wonder whether an adult was calling to them from near by, or whether an adult was perched in a nearby tree with food, or were they simply going looking for the adults and looking for food?
Question:
Eagles seem to spend an awful lot of time just perched in one spot. On the other hand, song birds seem to be constantly on the move from dawn to dusk.
I'm not a "birder, so don't know if these observations are correct or just the impression I got.
Do all the raptors spend a lot of time just perching? And if so, why?
Another question:
Since you (biologists) have said you can't tell the gender of eaglets at this age, does this mean that at this age their size has more to do with their birth order than their gender?
As they mature, is it possible that the bigger larger eaglet in any given nest could turn out to be a [smaller] male, while the one that's smaller while in the nest could grow up to be a [larger] female?
July 30th. It looks like a beautiful Sunday morning in Maine -- sunny, with a gentle breeze -- perfect for flying lessons! Silly me thought I might actually find someone at home! But I will just have to check again later in the day! As always, I enjoyed reading your posts! It is reassuring to know that I am not the only person in the world who is gaga about eagles. I hope that is not too presumptuous ...
5:30 am pst July 31st Monday
Parent made food drop. Took off.
2 kids, one mantelling & eating, other one, on cam side of nest, crying for something.
Both kids seem well.
Monday 7/31 8 AM ET
Just checked in...both babies are at the nest and, as usual, Little is chirping away, with Big adding her two cents. I didn't get to see them at all yesterday so it's nice to see them together and know that they are OK. They are still in silhouette, what a pretty picture!
8:15...just checked back, food drop. Little saw the parent first and started mantling. I'm not sure who got to the food first...think it is Little...Yes! It is Little, Big is stitting on the water-side branch making a big racket while Little eats, and I believe I can hear a parent bird in the background somewhere. Oh-oh, Big has jumped back on the nest...but Little is holding his ground. Big is actually lifting Little's wing with her beak...to no avail, Little won't give the food up. 8:15 Oh-oh...a tussle...Big is trying to take over the food but Little is still mantling...ooops, he gave it up, but I believe he got his fill...Big is now finishing while Little has retreated to the water-side branch, he has hopped out to the very end...there goes Big out to the same branch, they are still chirping quite loudly. It's almost as if they are talking. Now they are both back on the nest fighting and crying loudly because a parent has landed. The parent has taken off...I don't know if it brought more food, but it appears that Little is eating something else so it must have. Big is trying to figure out how she can get the food...finally pushing Little away from the rear. Little has retreated to the camera-side branch while Big eats. All is quiet...what a busy half hour for the birds. It would seem that they both got a good meal this morning.
Rhode Island
Burke, VA - 7.31.06 - 9:15am
Both babies were on Little's branch sitting very close together at 9:00am. I just checked back and I guess they decided rain or no rain they neeed to go find their parents.
I am absolutely treasuring these last days of seeing them. Especially when they are being nice to each other.
07/31/06..0950EST.. Good Morning everyone! What a great morning, as usual our babies are at the nest this morning and they were talking back and forth and pickering around the nest as well as sitting on Little's branch together. I think they must have been fed as even Big was laying down kinda roosting.Very peaceful together!! Yesterday I was out on my walk way and I heard an eagle cry or I was very sure it was, I live on a street just above the Kennebec River in Augusta up by where Bates Mill was only on the opposite side of the river. I looked up into the huge Maple tree accross the street from my house and just as I did one baby eagle went over my neighbors house you could see the down still on its belly and then 2 seconds later another cry and this eaglet went right over my head so low that had it dragged its talons it would have it the telephone wires. I could also see the down on this ones belly as well.I was so excited and sat on my front steps for about an hour reading so that I could see if they flew back by. It was sucha marvelous birthday present!!! I agree with previous blog person who asked Jane for more knowledge and stories about her eagles. She is so informative and observant!! I love reading her blogs. Susan as well and there are a few others who are so very interesting. I have saved every blog message as there is a ton of info. Thanks everyone! BEV
Monday July 31st
Just a quick note from Winslow. I usually go up back to look across the field at the nest either at dawn or at dusk, to be sure TWO eaglets are still with us!! I claim that it's for the exercise or the fresh air but I don't think I'm fooling anyone!
The eaglets can often be found hanging around in the immediate vicinity of the nest, usually in a nearby tree, without being in or on the nest itself. Probably a lot of the time when we see an empty nest on the eagle cam Big and Little are nearby.
The bigger eaglet here is mostly brown -- a huge fellow. The smaller one is jet black, like a crow or a raven. He's the darkest black one I've ever seen, although most of ours are a darker brown than Big and Little, by the time they fly. They don't have as much white on them as Big and Little do either. There must be some variation on that!
It's nice that the two here are so different because when you see them (occasionally) flying down the river, you know which one it is. The smaller one is easily identified; the bigger one can be mistaken for one of last year's eaglets, except for his clumsiness! :-)
One of you pointed out that Little had the advantage of having learned how to survie in a tough world. That's very true. Also, a smaller bird can "cut" smaller circles, in flight, and might be able to maneuver better. It was the big one who disappeared for several days after his first flight!! :-) The smaller one made it right back to the nest by night fall of his fledging.
The big one (I call him Brownie) still approaches the nest by circling all the way around the field from the opposite side, instead of going directly to it in a straight line from the river as the matures do! I don't think he can change direction very quickly, or gain or lose altitude quickly, either. So he goes in the long way around! He flaps his wings very slowly. The smaller one moves his wings more rapidly although I don't think he necessarily MOVES any faster.
Biologists -- please comment and correct me if I'm giving people faulty or incomplete information!!
7/31 Three food drops early this morning. Both Big and Lil were well fed before flying off.
Thank you for the wonderful experience this has been.
Hopefuly, I can see the eaglets a few more times before they leave, or the cam shuts down.
Oh Bev, I loved your story about the Augusta eaglets!! I've heard about people looking out office buildings down there and seeing eagles fly by, but imagine you seeing two new fledglings fly out of the trees on your street!!
It must have been totally unexpected for you!!
I could really identify with the part about how close they flew to you, and how close to the electric/phone wires!! Boy... these guys are going to have to get savvy if they plan to live around us people!!
And to Susan S. for posting Emily Dickinson, and the beautifu thoughts that followed.
Emily Dickinson wrote,
This World is not Conclusion.
A species stands beyond-
Invisible, as Music-
But positive, as Sound-
TRIBRUTE? Will you be making available any merchandise, books, calenders, videos, etc. to commemorate this wonderful experience we have shared? I hope so, and hope others will join me with this request.
Thank you again for all you have done, and this beautiful gift you have given.
Oregon
Tuesday morning August 1st
5:02 AM EDT
One eaglet on the nest. Oops.. I thought he flew off, but he jumped up higher on the branch. I think it is Big, because he looks very plump.
5:15 He left the nest.
I didn't hang around long to see what happened next.
Monday August 1st
Continuing the report about Winslow eaglets flight skills, thinking that they might be comparable to Big and Little, and you don't get to see this part.
When I went up to my lawn chair in the woods with my second cup of coffee, I couldn't see the eaglets. But on the way up I heard chirping, so I knew at least one of them was there. I sat down to wait and watch. This was about six AM. After seeing what happened subsequently, I think the two eaglets were perched in a nearby pine tree on the parent's route back to the nest, waiting and watching!
Eventually I heard a lot of screeching and in flew a parent with a meal, from the direction of the river. Right on his tail were the two eaglets, one behind the other, screeching all the way. The first one into the nest mantled. The parent disappeared; I don't think he or she stayed on the nest any longer than it took to recover his balance after dropping the fish!! I wouldn't have, either!! :-)
Behind the mantled wings I couldn't see who ate what, but it seemed to go pretty much the same as it does at the eagle cam nest. One of them, probably the larger one, ate the biggest part of it. The other stayed there in the nest for a while, and maybe picked up a bite or two (I didn't see) Eventually one of them hopped onto a nearby branch and cheeped quietly like Little sometimes does at "our" nest. Probably it was the smaller, dark colored one, but in that light I couldnt tell for sure.
This won't surprise any of you. but when there's food involved, Brownie doesn't bother circling all the way around the field to land at the nest. He's THERE, baby. Straight line, pretty near on top of the parent's tail all the way in!! :-)
I wanted to say more about dreaming but it seemed kind of irreverent and I didn't want the biologists to not take the question seriously. Here's the rest. Hope they aren't looking! All biologists -- skip this one.
When you search eagles and dreams on the web you get all kinds of interesting reports about what it means to dream about eagles! Boy, have they entered our culture or have they entered our culture!! They are a very powerful symbol.
I wonder whether they themselves dream.
Wouldn't it be funny if they dreamed about people?! But I guess we wouldn't be a very powerful symbol in their dream world. Hopefully people can become friends and allies of the eagles in this new relationship of co-existence in the modern world.
Jane ... but the dream question didn't originate with me, I just spun off having fun with it! :-)
Tuesday August 1st
6:11 PM
An eaglet out on the launching pad branch. Looks like Little, but not sure.
he made no movement whatsoever ... even on the video camera. I thought the still cam was stuck so looked at the video.
Oops ... all of a sudden four minutes later he's gone ... no preliminaries whatsoever. He disappeared off the still cam first, before I saw him go on the video.
Not much of an observation, I guess. Just that they come and go, and like Bucky said, it's around dawn and around twilight.
August 1st. Susan in LA -- I have tried and tried to send an email to request that the use of carbofuran be banned but I cannot because my 6-digit Canadian postal code is not accepted. By the way, this is the first time I have ever heard of carbofuran, and I am sorry to be so naive, but what the heck is it for? Why all these poisons in our environment? I sure hope that all of you with acceptable ZIP codes will send an email protesting vigorously the use of carbofuran and whatever else they will come up with next!!! Remember what DDT, mercury, etc. did to eagles?
08/02/06...0730EST... Jane, it was totally awesome and I was shaking and sooo surprised. I know there is a nest somewhere near by as have the an adult esrlier in the season perched in a tree on the river. I have to thank Charlie for this cam as I never would have recognized the call if I hadn't been watching the eaglecam since it started. It was the best birthday present I could have asked for. Our babies at nest twice yesterday(08/01/06) and from what one other watcher it was actually three times. Early am 6ish and then again at 11:15 they were both there and then again at 4 they were both there...looking for foood I think as Big roamed around then flew and Little sat just as peaceful for 45 minutes, when I left at 4:45 Little had just flown. Have a great day and Jane please keep us informed I love your delivery of the eaglets where you live, I have been keeping a journal with pictures since they picked this nest and your blogs will be a great part of these3. BEV
Carol --
Did you find Stalmaster in print available for purchase?
All I could find it was on ILL, and only made copies from the sections I needed most. I would love to buy it, am going to try today to find it in a book store.
Is there anything in there about how they build nests, for the person that asked?
Jane
Weds. Aug. 2nd
HOW THEY BUILD NESTS
I hope the biologists aren't preparing a column on this right at this minute, but I've held off as long as I can stand it. The teacher in me won't hold back any longer! :-)
Also, i wonder if they described that here on the biologists journal, early in the life of this site. I didn't take the time to go back and look. Did the person with the question check the early biologists journals?
If you look at the nest tree from a distance, you'll see that the nest is constructed at a place where there are a lot of branches coming out at about the same level. I know that at the bottom of the nest are bigger sticks. Looking up at the nest from underneath, you can see them. I think they put the big sticks cross-wise of the trunk, resting them on some of these other branches that stick out at nearly the same level, forming Vs. Start laying your sticks at the cross wisw on the V and work out from there. Any country kid who ever built a tree house could tell you that! :-) But how does an eagle know? Is it trial an error? I've seen the ospreys try and try to build on a pole that has single cross bars, before they finally catch on to use the poles with double cross bars. So some of it is probably trial land error.
The bigger sticks are about the size of a broom handle or a rake handle. But they are lighter weight, because they are dead branches and have lost a lot of moisture content, and also probably have little or no bark or dry bark that will soon fall off.
They are probably also from pine trees, which may be less heavy (less "dense") than sticks from hard woods like oak or maple. So an eagle can pick them up.
They have to be dead, and dry, but they must also have strength left in them, to support a nest like that. My neighbours have reported seeing mature eagles during the pre-nesting season, actually breaking off branches from pine trees, flying at them with all their force, to break them off. Charlie told me he saw that once, too. Perhaps this is in an attempt to get branches that are "dead" and WILL break off, but are still strong enough to support some weight. They aren't so dead and so dry that they have broken off in a wind or snow storm.
You have to wonder how smart ARE these birds, or is all this "instinctive". They never saw their parents building a nest and juveniles wouldn't have been allowed to hang around while a mated pair was building one. So how do they know what to do? I can see that they would know by experience what the top part of a nest is like, but how do they know how to BUILD one?
I guess that's another topic. I'll split this letter and hope and pray they post the other part, too. :-)
Jane
Weds. August 2nd
HOW MUCH IS LEARNED AND HOW MUCH IS INSTINCT??
As I was sitting in the lawn chair in the woods for half an hour or more this morning waiting for something to happen (it didn't) I noticed that our nest tree has a perfect "launching pad" branch. It's the favorite roosting perch of matures and eaglets, and it hangs down at the end like Big's launching pad. But I've never seen an eaglet here use it the way Big and Little did.
That was "learned behaviour" on Big's part, I feel quite sure. I didn't take much Biology but took a lot of Psychology and Child Development courses, etc. The first time Big flew he "bounced" himself off that branch, partly by accident. The wind was blowing, and he was flapping his wings and wondering how to get going, and suddenly he kind of "bounced" off into flight. For a long time afterwards he always went back there to take off, remember? He would try to get Little to move off that branch, and if that didn't work, he'd jump right OVER the top of Little to get out to the launching pad and fly off.
And after a while Little caught on what was happening and observed Big very carefully, and HE started doing it, too.
I'm very curious about how much of eaglet behaviour is instinctive, and how much of it is learned. I tend to see a lot of what they start doing during this period as "learned" -- by trial and error, and by watching what the parents do, etc. But I don't think the biologists necessarily agree with me, or if they do, I don't think they would use the same terminology!! :-)
Any thoughts? Any biologist comments?
Jane
PS re NEST BUILDING
Yes there ARE some comments in the early biologist's journal about nest building, particularly in Mark's journal for Februrary 25th. They don't go into a lot of detail about how a nest is constructed from "scratch" though.
"Nearly every morning both eagles were busy carrying branches to the nest. The female (larger eagle) seems to be the interior decorator and spent the most time arranging the sticks. After two weeks of persistent work, they raised the nest platform about 6 inches. In the last few days, they began carrying small twigs and grass to line the nest bowl. Curiously, nearly all eagle nests contain a sprig of white pine in the nest bowl. We think this is nature's remedy to deter parasites like feather mites.
I've observed bald eagles on the ground in February gathering grass for their nest - an odd behavior for a regal bird that spends much of its time soaring high above the earth. I've also observed eagles snapping large branches from pine snags while in flight and oftened wondered, "what happens if the branch doesn't break?" They seem to have an uncanny ability to judge which branches will snap easily!"
Jane
On the Stalmaster book, there are several (used) copies on Amazon.com -- but, it it lists for around $77. I was reading a bibliography on www.eagles.org and they did note his book and said it is "...one of the two most comprehensive volumnes on the bald eagle available anywhere). FYI, the bibliography also highly mentions The Bald Eagle: Haunts and Habits ofa Wilderness Monarch (per the bibliography: "If you can only afford to purchase one book on the bald eagle, this is the one to choose"). Biologists - do you have an opinion on this book?? It, too, is listed on Amazon for under $15. I also have to mention one book I recently bought, not eagle specific, tho. The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany. It is a collection of poems, legends, folk tales, excerpts from writings of naturalists, etc. from all around the world. It explores our relationship with birds. Great book and the illustrations are beautiful! It is now out in soft cover.
Answering my own question:
Stalmaster, Mark V.
The Bald Eagle
is not in print and the cheapest second hand copy available is listed at $80.00 according to my book store.
I didn't order it, although I'm sure it would be worth it!!
Maybe I should give it to myself for my birthday -- if one of you doesn't get it first! :-)
If you're lucky you'll find it at your local library. If not, you can get it on interlibary loan. I did.
Jane
Stalmaster on NEST BUILDING
Found a minute to look at my photocopies from Stalmaster. I am missing a crucial page (54). Maybe Carol still has a copy of the book. It's so amazing.
On page 52 under nests, it describes nest building as an "arduous task" and says that the sticks are arranged, usually by the female, so they "intertwine like the fibers in a basket and provide a ridgid support for the many activities of home life. Construction may take as little as four days ..."
He talks about a variety of nest shapes .. the supporting structre largely determines both the shape and the size the nest will assume. A nest may be shaped like a sylinder, a bowl, a disk, or an upside-down cone."
< skipping quite a lot, not so much construction oriented>
"Cylindrical (italics) nests are most commonly built between two upright branches that are parallel to each other." I think that's what I was describing earlier, and what we have here.
"Bowl nests (italics) are 'cradled' on several sides by supporting branches and the tree trunk" That's more what the eagle cam nest looks like, to me.
"Disk nests" (italics) occur ..... SORRY, that's the bottom of page 53 and I don't have page 54. :-(
Jane
Greetings all!
To answer the questions about how long the camera will be running: we will keep the camera running until you no longer see the eaglets--most likely through August.
Thank you all for all you excellent observations. Soon I will start looking through all the archived footage and will put together a slide show of the entire season, from building the nest in the snow, to the fledging of the chicks.
Wing Goodale, BioDiversity Research Institute
Wing.... that would be GREAT to have a slide show!!
Thanks again for everything you've done. It's very reassuring to know that we can watch the eaglets for a while longer ... and thanks for letting us know what to expect!!
Jane
August 3rd
5:44 AM EDT
An eaglet was in the nest alone. I think it was Little and either he was eating or picking away at left overs or sticks, in the nest. In comes a wing flapping eaglet to join him. I guess BIG thought he might be eating!! The first one goes out to a branch. Now the new arrival is picking at nest. ...
Tried to go to video. I can't get the video.
When I got back to the still cam it looked like just one eaglet was there, but now there are two again. Waiting for food. Don't know if they were just finishing up the first delivery when I logged on ...
They are very restless. With every 15 second change in the camera view, they have shifted to different positions. At least once I saw the beak of one of them wide open, calling for food, no doubt. The image is black and white, but VERY clear.
Image switched to color. They are going out on the launching branch. I can barely see the tail feathers of one of them ... They seem to be ready to fly away looking for parents or looking for food. I wonder whether they are learning to pick up food off the beach/shore when the tide is out. Will look at the tide chart. ---- IT's high tide. They aren't going to find any easy pickings on their own, right now.
The one on the launching pad jumped back to another branch. The second one shifted positions by the next view.
The water is gorgeous, and the view is so clear you could believe you were THERE!
6:13 they are still moving all around. Very jumpy. Not waiting patiently or perching immobile at all.
Looked away for a minute --
6:22 they are BOTH gone.
The way they were both so jumpy, both staying out on the branches ready to fly, and looking out to sea, it seems as though they must have been expecting a "call" from the parents... and heard one.
Oops. 6:25 and one is back. I think it is Little. He's pecking either his talons or the nest contents again. This is where I came in, half an hour ago!!
Oh my gosh ... he's gone again. 6:26.
Just as I was wondering whether he came back because Big had gotten the whole meal, whatever it WAS, WHERE ever it was. Little found some reason to take off.
You have to wonder whether the parents are starting to feed them away from the nest, on a branch, so they can start learning to eat there. Wish we could see! :-)
August 3rd
6:43 AM EDT
They are both at the nest, and it looks like one of them is manteling. I never saw the parents. Did I miss something? I must have.
One of them is picking something up ... a twig? Oops. There seems to be only one of them there. I think it's Little and his twig.
We're playing a waiting game. Ooops. Little is flapping his wings. I think he's gone. Nope, in the next 15 seconds he's back.
Little is out on the branch again .. a blur of white. It's surprising how much white they have on them. Looking at him in profile, he doesn't seem to have a full crop.
Big is in the nest and Little is very curious about whatever Big is picking at. Now Little is looking in back of himself, turning his head almost all the way backwards, looking to the right of the screen. Looking for a parent? Now Big's head is up, too and he's looking. Now back to pecking the twigs.
Suddenly both are in the nest and there's a lot of manteling going on. Is there actually something to eat there, or are they fighting over nothing? It's a mystery! I never saw a food delivery and it couldn't all be over in one 15 second blink of the camera. Little must have gone closer to see what Big was picking at.
Both are hungry, and willing to eat anything, even possibly a remnant of another meal or a twig that has a little flavor of yesterday's prey on it!
Going to get my breakfast now. 6:54
(This has been going on about ten minutes)
8:00 AM EDT
August 3rd, THurs
One eaglet in the nest looking out to sea. Finally managed to get to the video cam, but he just flew off. And the video cam just shut down. 8:13 AM
11:19 AM EDT
Thurs Aug 3rd
One eaglet sitting on the nest. He's in Little's favorite branch and I think it is Little. I don't see any white triangle on his back, but he is side to. For a minute I thought he was dozing off. I don't have time to stay here, was just checking in, as always. Interesting to see him here now.
Maybe the weather is drizzly there or something. It looks overcast.
8:28 pst Aug 3 thursday
kid sitting on cam side branch just looking around. Ears perked up when another bird flew by ocean side.
Great news, Wing;; Looking forward to seeing the slide show.
Surprised to see an eaglet at the nest just now, 11:35 a.m. Aug. 3. I rarely get to see either of them anymore.
Glenda
Fieldale, VA
To: Wing Goodale, BioDiversity Research Institute/baldeaglecam
I wish to thank you and your colleagues and all your partners for having given us a chance to follow this beautiful pair of parents
and their 2 beautiful fledgelings soon to be juveniles.
I am, and my friends are hoping we will be able to watch again next year. It is amazing how we can learn from observing eagles
how living creatures behave on this earth. I do wish to express my gratitude to all concern.
Thank you :-)
Aline Paquet, August 3rd, 2006 of
Québec city.
Wing, thank you for letting us know about the slide show!
Thank you Jane for the excerpt from Stalmster on nest building -- it is simply facininating to me!! I wish that book wasn't so expensive!
I was watching this morning about 7:00 with one eaglet in the nest (I don't usually see them that late). In flew one of the parents with the second eaglet so close behind they landed at the same time. Really funny to watch.
Karen in Pittsburgh
I wish to take this opportunity to sincerely THANK YOU for the wonderful opportunity to see the wonderful Eaglets and their parents from the Maine nest. My hardiest congratulations on a job well done.
Glady Gates
Nova Scotia, Canada
Carol - thank you for the missing page 52 on the nests! Very, very interesting! I am so tempted to splurge on that book! And Nurse Doris, thanks for the two eagle book suggestions!
This afternoon I see a dark colored bird on a branch, but no eaglets. Looks nice and breezy.
Arizona, 8/4
Sat. aug 5th I think
At 7:30 AM EDT
Saw both eaglets at the nest, at first they were manteling and on the still cam it looked like one huge umbrella or tent over the top of the nest. I didn't see the mature.
Then I went to the video, and saw them both eating. Big was getting the most of it when I checked off, Little was watching from right beside, to the left of, Big.
I think Little got a bite or two at the beginning, though.
I am traveling, and I can't get to the info tech site with the link I had. Could someone please post it here, so I can get there after they update this blog?
Thanks
Jane
P.S. Here's a tip for you. There are no bald eagle nests in the entire state where I am!! :-)
Sat AM Aug 5th I think
Correction:
This state DOES have at least one "active" eagle nest, it's just that it failed this year, which was the first year.
So it ALMOST has a successful nest!!
How could I overlook that!!
Jane (visiting birth place, etc)
Saturday, Aug. 5. One eaglet on the nest this morning, next time I checked in at around 11:15 EDT both eaglets were there lying down. One got up and went to front branch and left. The other one is still lying down in the nest, 11:35 EDT.
Aug. 5
thanks to the two anonymous people that read my June observations about the female eagle feeding the eaglets & especially little & thanked me for & made kind comments about same. appreciate.
to jane: i have enjoyed reading your observations & sharing with us your expertise along with the bio diversity research institute team's. invaluable learning experience. thanks to all.
about your Q re: eaglets' behavior being taught or instinctive. i watched a pbs program the other morning about the Black Eagle that breeds in southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to south east Asia. It is a bird of mountain woodland, which builds a stick nest in a tree and lays one or two eggs. the program had a disastrous ending but i did learn from the narrator that siblibcide is instinctive but hunting for food, roosting & where to do same & what and who to stay away from is learned behavior which i believe that you mentioned in one of your blogs awhile ago: that big & little were off being taught & learning from their parents. it was mentioned that nest building was not known about & whether it was instinctual or learned. maybe that book that y'all talk about mite have the answer to that & you could post for the rest of us to learn. thanks.
miffy at home :|
Sunday 8/5 6PM ET
I keep missing the eaglets...haven't seen them in a few days but I'm keeping track through all the posts. The only visitors I've seen are several very small birds that visit from time to time.
That is wonderful of you, Wing, to put together a slide show...we'll have something to carry us over till next season. I sure hope we will have another eagle cam...
I'm kind of disappointed not to see an update from Bucky...
Rhode Island
Saturday
August 5th
Miss my eaglets when away from home! :-) I DID finally get into the infotech forum and saw a lot of good "snap shots" of Big and Little there today, which helps!
My home town is going to sell the land the Vermont eagle nest tree is on to the state thru a conservation group. The eagles have been repairing the nest, which they say is an indication that they plan to try again next year!
(I hope they put a predator guard on that tree -- Charlie, maybe you better give them some advice!!)
They are quoted in the paper as saying the eagles will nest there for the next five years. Where would they get the idea it would be for only five years, and only those specific eagles? It could be used on into the future forever, if eaglets are raised there, couldn't it, biologists?
Jane
Last night checked in on nest and saw 3 "regular" birds around the nest---really showed the true size of the nest!!! Thought that was a really neat site too.
Thanks again and again, for all the wonderful sights and information.
Glenda
Fieldale, VA
Breakfast at 6:45 am PDT, Dad brought in a small fish while Lil was in the nest. He manteled over it but Big flew in and took it away.
1:45 pm PDT Lil in nest and another food drop. He starts to eat and Big flies in again. This time Lil picks up the food and flies away with it. Smart move!
Monday 8/7 ET 1:20 PM
STILL haven't seen the eaglets...but I was glad to read that Lil finally smartened up and flew off with the food rather than let bully Big take it.
I'll keep checking back...still no update from Bucky or anyone....
Rhode Island
Wow!! It's 8/7 about 630pm and I just witnessed one of the babies (Little, I think) sitting in the nest and calling out, I saw another eagle fly by and the babie flew off in the same direction. A few seconds later one of the parents flew into the nest followed very closely by the baby, so closely thatthe baby crashed into the adult, LOL!!!! The parent then droped the prey and flew off while the baby mantled and ate it. It is such a thrill to be a part of this! Thanks, Bucky and friends!
Tuesday 10:15 AM ET 8/8
Both birds are at the nest...I think Little is on the water side branch, I can hear him calling once and a while. The other is resting in the nest. It's so nice to see them...and it looks like a very nice day in Maine. I'm disappointed that there have been no new updates since July 24th. But, I guess there's not much to update any longer.
Rhode Island
08/08/06..11:00Est.. Just saw something most unusual. I think it was Big at the nest roosting, but am not sure now that I look closer to the printed picture. When I checked this am they were both there at 7:30-830am and then just now I checked to see and there was something laying in the nest. It could have been Big but I didn't see it leave as I have to go accross the office to get the things I print and while I was gone whatever it was left. Did anyone else see it? I usually try to watch at 7-9am and 11:00 to1pm and then again between 2:45 and 4:30 as it those times that I catch them now and this is all EST. If anyone else saw this please let me know if it was Big. Thanks, BEV
Burke, VA - 8-8-06
This morning I checked about 9:50 am and both babies were in the nest. I checked periodically and it did not seem that the parents made a food drop. One left around 10:35 and the other shortly thereafter. It was good to see them both together, probably won't be too many more sightings.
Burke, 8/8 - 5pm
Both babies on the nest (5pm) enjoying the beautiful day.
Tuesday August 8th
6:50 PM
Both eaglets are sitting at the nest. They seem to be getting along together quite well, sitting on the launching branch, side by side. I also saw a video of them playing together with sticks in the nest, on the info tech page.
A few minutes ago I looked and neither were there.
08/09/06 07:20 EST.....Eagle cam gone already? I signed on this am and the screen is black. Did I miss something in the blogs? Last night at 4:30 the babies were there until well after 5pm they looked so good. Big laying in the nest and Little sitting on the forward branch! I am going to miss them. Thanks to all, Bev Wibng is this it?
MORE ON NEST BUILDING
This is from the Delaware Raptor Center
" A new nest usually starts with a major branch a dozen or more feet from the top of the tree. A fork in the branch helps hold the first sticks in place. Photographer Scott Nielson writes in A Season with Eagles that this can be
". . . the most difficult stage of nest building. I've seen potential nest trees littered with branches at their bases and climbed them only to find the unfinished nests, aborted simply because the first few sticks would not stay in place."
If the initial stage of stick placement is successful, both sexes will continue to bring in sticks, frequently snapping them off with their powerful feet while in flight. An old nest being reused is added to with the same degree of enthusiasm. With some of the sticks being brought in measuring six feet or more in length. Smaller branches form the rim of the inside bowl; spaces between the branches [are] filled in with smaller vegetation such as grasses, rushes, moss, cattails and conifer sprigs. Dr. Nielson calls bald eagles "compulsive nest builders" that simply must rework last year's nest, no matter how complete it looks to a human observer..... "
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dvrconline.org/images/perefalcn.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dvrconline.org/builder.html&h=345&w=252&sz=18&hl=en&start=16&tbnid=wK4CMjsk41gZ4M:&tbnh=120&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnest%2Bbuilding%2Beagles%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DG
Picture the trunk of the tree as the starting point, and two branches going out like a V from the trunk. The first biggest and longest sticks are laid cross wise of the V, at right angles to the trunk.
I assume but don't know for sure that if these sticks stay in place, the next layer goes diagonally or at right angles, cross-wise of the sticks on the bottom, so that when they put weight on them, when they stand on them, the second layer or sticks is supported from beneath by the first sticks. They aren't exactly WOVEN in and out but the layers are cross wise of each other like they would be if sticks that large COULD be woven.
Maybe you can get hold of the book cited here.
I think of Big and Little playing with twigs when they talk about compulsive nest building!! They must be playing house! :-)
Jane)
8:45 Weds Aug 9th
First time the camera has been on this morning. Big and Little are sitting quietly side by side on Little's branch. I can't believe how "chummy" they have been the last few times I've seen them. Maybe after being out in the big wide world, the familiar sibling doesn't look so bad after all (until a parent comes around with food, and the sibling is seen as competition again)
Or maybe they simply have other things to do besides beat up on their sibling and pick up sticks.
Hey ... maybe eagles invented the game "pick up sticks"!! I
or the inventor was an eagle observer! :-)
August 9 9:45 AM ET
Thanks very much to Jane for that 'lesson' in eagle nest building from the Delaware Raptor Center...how ingenious those birds are!
And, thanks to Jojo for including that link, I really enjoyed seeing those baby eagles. I couldn't believe that baby ate an entire frog leg in one fell swoop! Loved how the parent bird kept trying to get the frog away from the other eagle, I guess it was afraid the baby would choke trying to eat the whole frog.
I'm always afraid that when I click on to the eagle link each morning, the cam will be gone. Every day is such a gift. Let's hope we will have it for a while, yet...the nest is still quite active.
Rhode Island
08/09/06 10:00eST.. Thanks you Burke, Va, if you saw them both there at 10:35 then most likely this was "Big". It just looked so big and then head was facing the ocean so really couldn't tell. Bev
FYI - I was looking on www.baldeagleinfo.com (some interesting eagle stats) and there is a link to a story about "The Eagle Lady". She lives in Homer, Alaska and began feeding a pair of eagles in 1977. She currently feeds 200 - 300 eagles 500 lbs of food a day from late December - mid April. There is an interesting photo at the bottom of the article - countless bald eagles waiting for food in a snow storm! She's currently 82, I dare wonder what will happen to those dependant eagles once she cannot do that anymore.
Took a boat trip down the Kennebec River today from Gardiner to Richmond and we counted 11 eagles, 10 mature and 1 eaglet. What an exciting day!
JANE!!!!!! - you should be writing books!
The highlight of my day, is to read your postings; and the last post was about the Deleware Valley Raptor Center by Julie Collier. This journal had me keyed up again and I find myself pulling out the checkbook for Briloon!
What a plethora of information!
So far I have 2 books on my wish list. My daughers had better get them for me so I might curl up to read them this winter, (instead of another household appliance!!!)
Thanks much to our Storyteller Lady Jane!
Thurs Aug 10th
7:32 AM
I'm back in Winslow. I have seen both eaglets individually, the brown one flying up the river, and the black one sitting in the nest tree. So I know they're both doing fine! :-)
This morning there were no eaglets crying at the nest for food .... but I could hear that familiar cheeping coming from the river bank nearby ... so I think the parents have now started feeding the young at the river.
Maybe the young start following them to the source of food, more than that the adults make a conscious decision. Who knows?
During the day, as they follow their parents around, and explore the territory, the eaglets have seen their parents fishing, and probably have been fed down there. They may now head out in the morning to find their parents and sit in a nearby tree whining and begging for food. I sometimes feel sorry for the adult eagles, and admire their patience, which borders on stoicism.
A week or so ago I found the eaglets waiting for breakfast in trees on the parent's path back to the nest. From there it wouldn't be much of a step to finding the parent at the fishing place!
From now on I think if I want to catch the eaglets in the nest tree area it will be during a siesta on a real hot day, or at bed time.
Often there is also a mature roosting in a nearby tree, late in the evening, at bed time. Most evenings in past years just as it gets too dark to fly safely, I have seen eagles and eaglets fly overhead, one by one, within a few minutes of each other, heading toward the nest tree area for the night.
Most years both eaglets here return to the nest tree to sleep, but some years only one of them does. I never understood why, but maybe it happens when they aren't fond of one another, as Charlie explained.
Big and Little seem quite fond of one another now.But just yesterday I saw both Big and Little at their nest in the morning as soon as the camera went on. (It's off again this morning, too)
Jane
Is there a problem with the webcam? The last 2 mornings it has been off but then comes on sometime later.
On 8/8 I was so excited to see both Big and Lil in the nest together. Just as I had to refresh after my 2 minutes I saw a parent fly into the nest and one of the babies fly out. The parent landed and then took off immediately but left no food. It was so cool to see the parent. The baby left in nest looked puzzled that there was no food. Never saw the parent come back with food.
2:40 PM ET Thursday 8/10
Gee I hope the cam hasn't been turned of, I've been unable to get a picture all day. I'll keep trying and wait for the today's posts to be added to the blog site.
Rhode Island
thursday aug. 10, 3:00 pm est
one eaglet arrives at nest
unable to view live feed, camera is down again
when will live feed be restored?
Thursday Aug. 10
Miffy: Thanks for tellilng me about that PBS show which discussed learned eagle behavior versus instinctive behaviour.
It encouraged me that I'm not totally "NUTS" in thinking they DO learn some stuff -- it isn't all instinctive. I thought maybe biologists would say it was and/or might think I was reading too much human behaviour into it.
Especially at this stage I think eaglets learn by seeing what the parents do. Probably both now and later on they continue to learn also by experience, and trial and error. It's fun to watch them learning and growing in their skills. The funniest thing is watching them learn to catch fish!
My own impression is that most of the eagles I have lived around are very intelligent. But I guess I should quit while I'm ahead, without trying to evaluate them on the Stanford Binet IQ scale!!
Thank you so much!!
Jane
Friday morning Aug. 11th
6:52 AM
One of the eaglets is at the nest, on the launching branch.
From this distance I can't be sure but I think it's Big. And he already has a full crop.
Oops... now there are two eaglets on the launching branch. The second one is Little. I think he flew in between camera shots. Now he jumped down to the nest and is pecking around in there. He too appears to have a full crop already.
No sound, but I think Big is letting out a screech now and then. His beak seems to be open in some shots. Big just spread his wings and jumped down into the nest, too. His wing spread is HUGE. Goes from one side of the nest to the other, and beyond.
In the next shot he's gone and Little is looking after him to see what's up. Now Little has moved out on "his" branch and looking out. And in the next shot, he's gone, too.
Oops ... now all I can see is wings. They are both back, Big is manteling, Little is out on the launching branch and he looks so tiny. Turned off my fire wall and went to the video. NOW I can hear a lot of cheeping. I never saw a parent, I never saw any food come in, I can't imagine what Big is manteling over. As the video shut off, he stopped manteling but continued to hover over the food. On still camera again. Little appears to have flown off.
I can't tell whether Big is actually eating or not, from the still camera. Going to get on the video again for long enough to see. I don't actually think he IS eating. I can hear Little cheeping in the background and I just heard an adult call. So maybe all this fuss is in anticipation of food. Now Little is back at the nest. ... still chirping ... still no sign of an adult coming in. Off went the video.
Will keep an eye on them off and on, looking to see whether food actually ARRIVES. Oh, pooh ... the still picture just disappeared. It does that and I'd have to log out of my web browswer to get it back, so I'll simply end here and get on with the rest of my morning browsing!!
08/11/06..0735am EST..Jane, good morning, I have had such luck with catching the eaglets and Dad at the nest first thing in the am around 0715-815 and then again between 415 and 5 pm before I leave work. I signed on at 0730 this am and was disappointed as no one was there but within 5 minutes they both showed up. I was really excited as its been a couple of days as the eagle cam has been down during the mornings. Haven't seen my eaglets in Augusta again, but did hear them last night somewhere in the trees on the river side/. Have a great day everyone. Bev
I wish we could all meet up for dinner after the eagle cam goes down! I am feeling the anticipation of it! I also feel like I have made some new friendships over the past few months. It has been so neat and informative to be a part of this wonderful experience and I have learned so much! :-)
Hi, From Fieldale, VA. Fri. 7:17 p.m....I tried to skim the blogs for the person that would like to seee "..what I saw..." The little birds...well I just saw them again. I had been trying to remember when I saw them...I don't get to see the Eaglets very often for some reason, so sometimes I just click on the "empty nest" and that was what I did that day and now. Both I think must have been about same time, because it was when the cam goes to B/W. Just looking at the still cam, they can look just like twigs...until you see they have moved!!...When you click on the live video., you can see them...some tonight looked like moths, or leaves, so you have to watch for a bit to see them fly in and land on a branch....It is fun...Hope you get to see them too.
Glenda
Fieldale, VA
8/11 For those of you that missed it today, Will posted an excellent video on the Infotec forum showing the feedings this morning and Lil getting the best of Big again. It is a put file so when it comes up click video and then the one on the top left.
http://www.putfile.com/willpatt
8-12-06 7:27AM (EDT)
Both juveniles were in the nest this morning, calling for the parents, however, they left without a feeding.
Yesterday morning they ate a couple of times at the nest. They are well fed.
Once yesterday I viewed as an eaglet flew out of the nest after a squabble, with food in its talon! They obviously have learned how to HOLD their meal.
This time next month they might be leaving and flying off on a grand adventure. That will truly be sad.
Saturday Aug. 12th
Recently someone on this blog mentioned seeing Little fly off with the food right under Big's beak. Yesterday on the infotech blog someone reported seeing Little do the same thing twice in the same early morning feeding, at the end of this week.
I guess Little has learned how to hold onto food, carry it, land with it in his talons, and eat while perched with food in one "foot".
I LOVE it!!
8/12 9:20 dst
one eagle in the nest eating fish.
Looks like Big. Hard to tell them apart at this time when only one is in the nest.
Saturday Aut. 12th
9:10 AM
An eaglet is on the nest. By the size at the distance -- and this habit of looking for left overs, I think it is Little.
Yes, it is. i recognize his profile. There is something different about Little's profile!!
Will keep him on screen until I leave, to see if anything happens. He's now sitting on Big's branch.
I left the room at 9:30 and when I returned ... he was gone.
8/12 5 PM eagle time - Big up on her branch, Lil in the nest trying to rearrange the furniture. While trying to work one stick in the sea side of the nest, it dropped overboard, whoops! Then trying to pick up a large stick in the center of the nest while standing on it, finally gave up. So did Big, she flew off.
Satuday August 12th
6:49 PM
Both Big and Little are at the nest. I'm so surpised to see them there!! It may be raining or blowing there ... or is foggy. I can't see the water except in the very near foreground right around the nest tree branches. Maybe they are at home because of the weather.
They are still there at 7:43, and I'm leaving now. No adults as far as I have seen, and no food deliveries.
OOOOps ... I'll be darned. 7:44 I looked back and both were gone. WHy?? Were they called by an adult? Usually they don't both leave in the same minute.
Sunday August 13
7:59 AM E.D.T.
An eaglet is in the nest, and it looks like Big, although he's hunched over and back to, and the light is all coming in from in front of him, so it's hard to be sure.
8:07 he looks up like he hears something. But then settles down like he's taking a nap.
8:27 he was still there, appeared to be asleep, but in the next 15 second still cam view he was suddenly gone.
I wonder why? No activity in between times, none of that restless jumping around that often precedes leaving the nest. No looking skyward or anything. Just hunched over asleep and then in the next view ... GONE.
Sunday August 13th
7:20 PM
For just a moment I saw a bird sitting at the nest. I think it was Big. He had a white tail fanned out.
Oh, he's standing now way up on a teeny branch up to the right of the screen ... further out on Big's branch .... on the right side of the Y fork where the launching pad branch would be on the left side of the Y fork ...
oops ... now he's really gone. I THINK. 7:24
Wonder what that brief drop by the nest was about?
JANE - When were you at the Eagle nest where Big and Little are?
I thought you were just visiting someplace else, another said you were visiting the nest we view on this live cam.
The eagles you were talking about, that you see fly down the river I thought to be right there in your own home/back yard.
Could you please set [b]me[/b] straight?
Thank you very much Jane.
Monday 8/14 11 AM
I haven't seen the eaglets in a couple of days, I keep missing them. Thanks to everyone who posts here...it's almost as good as seeing them. At least I know they are safe and sound. Glad to hear that Little has learned to carry food. I wish I'd seen that. I've checked out the videos suggested by one blogger and they are really fun, especially since Little seems to be doing so much better getting food now. Thank you for posting that site.
Rhode Island
Burke, VA 5pm 8/14
I think it is Little who has been on the nest -- I checked about 4:45p and he was just sitting on branch and then looked like he was calling for company.
It is always so good to see at least one of them, I have not seen the parents in ages. But they must be off being eagles and I know as much as we miss seeing them we wouldn't have it any other way.
August 14th
Monday
For those who were confused by some quotations from my post shown above under:
Thurs Aug 10th
7:32 AM
I was talking about the Winslow eaglets, not the eagle cam eaglets. I have never seen the eagle cam nest or the eaglets there in "real life", just on the computer screen, like you.
If I talk about the Winslow eaglets again on the blog I'll try very hard to be sure and call them "the Winslow eaglets" so you'll know for sure which one's I'm talking about.
I haven't seen the Winslow eaglets for a couple days now ... and am getting real anxious to see them. But I was gone all day today myself.
Last evening I went up to look for them at or near the WInslow nest and only one of the parents was up there roosting in a tree nearby, looking like HE was wondering where the kids were, too!
They are growing up.
7:41AM EDT Aug 15, 06
The eaglets are becoming a rare sight and seldom any food drops, so our time seems to be coming to the end.
This is a bit like weaning their admirers. The world has certainly been a captive and faithful audiance to this devoted nest family.
Thank you Charlie, Mark, Wing (Barb) and BioDiversity!
It's been uplifting, heart-warming and most educational.
Tues August 15th
7:55 AM
An eaglet (I think) in the nest. It seems to have a white head. I wonder if it could be the "stranger" (the more mature eaglet from past years)
Maybe it's just the light that makes it look white. His head is slightly out of the picture right now. Now his head is behind a branch.
It definately seems to have a white head ... but not a white tail like the parents.
He's just sitting up there on the launching branch that's below Big's branch. Have to leave the room.
Darn. I think he was still there when I came back into the room -- but the camera screen went blank - white.
8:10 the camera is on again and he is still there. I still can't see the head.
something about his "pose" makes me recognize him as "Little" ... I saw a little white triangle on the top of his tail, which may also identify him for some of you.
I'm not real good at identifying them except I know Little's profile!! :-)
He has sat in the same position for so long I suspect the camera is stuck. WIll see if I can get into video,
He left while I was turning my fire wall off because WMPlayer wouldn't open the file.
Gone at 8:24 I saw no feeding, no parents, no other eaglet during this time frame.
Tuesday, Aug. 15...10:07 a.m. Fieldale, Va.
Hi "eagle family" I just checked the site and no eagles/eaglets, checked Will's videos and saw a clip from yesterday, Thanks so much to the person that gave that link...I actually got it to open this time...But what I'm writing about now is an article in our local newspaper this a.m. that says a bald eagle has been spotted at Philpott Dam here in Henry County, VA. Do you all know anything about a nest being around here?? I got so excited, that is only about 20 mins. from me.!!!
Hope to hear from someone soon.
Glenda
It's 6:20 PM Tuesday evening, 8-15-06 EST and both babies are at the nest - I haven't seen them in days...this is SO exciting. Both are sitting on Big's side of the nest looking out at the water. They are so beautiful and gaining an air of regal-ness about them. What an awesome privilege the BDI has given us all to be such an intimate part of their lives. Happy in Hallowell
Weds Aug. 16
5:22 AM
Little is sitting at the nest on Big's branch, looking around.... spreads his wings .... feet in the air ... in the next shot someone is manteling in the nest ... and the Little guy is just sitting to one side with his head down.... now the manteling is over with and there are two eglets in the nest .... apparently there was no reason to mantle... no food there yet. Now Little is on his branch and big is on the ocean side of the nest looking out. Turned on the video ... Big has jumped to his branch and started crying out for food. His voice sounds like an adult eagle!! (I haven't heard it in a long time) They are both calling now.
5:37 one of them flew off. One remains, sitting on Big's branch. Ooops. Now Hes gone, too.
No adults, no food delivery at this time.
Friday Aug. 11th
Now that it's getting near the end of this amazing experience, I want to thank BRI and especially Wing, the web master!
And the biologists. Charlie, Mark and Bucky for answering so many of our questions. A special thanks to Charlie and Barb for going down to find out that Little was okay so they could let us know.
And a special thanks to the land owners.
And thanks as well to all the corprorate and government sponsors.
Even though I have lived with nesting eagles for many years, this experience added SO much!! Here in Winslow, I've seen them sitting on the nest in the snow and freezing rain. And their devotion to older eaglets, and their patience with them.
But before the eagle cam, I never before saw the teeny little newborn eaglets, or saw the adults gently feeding their young, sheltering them from the sun and rain, etc. All of that was very moving, to me. I love them and admire them even more, which I would have thought impossible!
Jane
8/16 12:30 PM Wednesday
I wish they hadn't changed the blog page...I liked the other page and it made mores sense to read to the bottom and then add a comment. Oh well.
It's 6:20 AM on Thursday morning, the 17th, and I've just tuned into the eagle cam. To my delight, both babies were at the nest, each being on his/her own branch. They were looking to the left and then flew off. What a glorious way to begin my day! Content in Hallowell
Thurs. August 17th
5:32 AM
An eaglet is sitting on what used to be Big's branch, looking out to sea. I think it's Little.
I left the room for half an hour. Now it's 600 AM... the color just came on. And he's still there. I can see his tail feathers way out on the end of the bouncy branch, below Big's branch. Yesterday or the day before I watched this performance and he leapt off that branch and disappeared.
Now he's lower down on it ... looking intently over his shoulder to his left. Next shot, he's down further on the branch. Every 15 seconds he seems to jump to another position. Now sitting still for a few minutes. Now in the nest, pulling at a twig. Now back on the branch. I can see white tail feathers in the center of his tail. I don't see any white triangle on his back but he's facing into the sun -- his back is in shadow.
Left the room shortly after six. Came back and the still cam had gone blank white. Went to the video. At six twenty he's gone. Guess he gave up on the idea that he'd get fed at the nest and has gone to see where the action is! :-)
The format of the blog has changed, for me.
8/17/06 - 12:30pm - Burke, VA
When I checked about 11 an eaglet was at the nest. I think it was Little. He mostly just rested and there was a fly-by twice (I think it was Big) just before Little left the nest about 12:30p.
8/17/06 - 12:30pm - Burke, VA
When I checked about 11 an eaglet was at the nest. I think it was Little. He mostly just rested and there was a fly-by twice (I think it was Big) just before Little left the nest about 12:30p.
Burke, VA 8/17
I would like to echo Jane's thanks to the whole team, Wing, Bucky, Mark, BRI, and, of course, the Lucky Landowners, and also all the cam watchers who let us know what they saw, since we can't all watch all the time, we were able to know all was well with "our" babies when we didn't see them. Thank you for such a wonderful and educational experience. I will truly miss you all when the cam is down. But look forward to chatting with all of you next year.
Also, someone just asked LL if they have seen any of the ground training, if so, please let us know.
Thurs Aug 17
12 noon.
Either it's an adult or it's the stranger again. white head, looks like blotchy white body of a older eaglet. In nest, looking all around, has the NERVE to lie down in the nest. Tail appears to be black, but he's in the shadows.
I HATE this. The whole still picture went blank/white. Have to log out and back on again to see if he's still there.
Wish I could stay to watch but have to go. Hopefully someone else will check in on this. Maybe it's just the noonday sun and the shadows that make him seem to have a white head? I saw this a few days ago, too.
Left about 12:15....
12:42 came back to the computer. He's gone.
jane
8/17
Has anyone seen the Hancock eaglets?
Thought you all might enjoy learning that both eaglets seem to be doing OK since they fledged. Flight duration has been increasing and I am seeing both of them as far as .68 of a mile from the nest site. Parent presence at the site is down from previous years which is troubling but the young seem to be getting enough food at present so this may simply be a matter of me being at the Right Place at the Wrong Time.
All for now....
Thurs Aug. 17th
Winslow
Am writing about the Winslow eaglets.
I haven't seen them for a couple days, but this morning I went out at about six AM to meet a jogging neighbour, and as we stood talking a HUGE brown eaglet glided down out of a nearby white pine, turned toward the river, and flew gracefully, lazily, away! It was the big brown eaglet! :-) Later I saw him come back up the river and swing low over it with his talons down trying to catch a fish. He came up empty taloned but he's learned where breakfast comes from.
When I went out to do errands about nine I saw the jet black eaglet fishing over the rapids below the Benton Falls dam, just above here. She was circling over the water, trying to catch something. Made a rather clumsy improvised landing into a nearby pine tree!! I had to laugh. And I was so happy to see her!
They are both learning how to use their territory. I am very relived because I went up to the WInslow nest at 5:30 AM today hoping to see them, and the only one around was one of the parents, perched on a nearby tree. Thats all I saw a few days ago at eaglet "bed time", too. So I was very glad to spot both of the Winslow eaglets this morning. They're doing fine!!
8/17/06
I checked in again today at about 10:50 am and low and behold there was one of our eagletsl, I'm not sure but I think it was Little. I kept checking every few minutes and for about 1 1/2 hours he stayed right there. I was hoping that I would see Big or maybe a parent bring food but nobody else showed up. He appeared to take a nap and also I thought at first he was eating but maybe he found some leftovers from another time, this was the first time I had caught one there for a week. I was thrilled to see him again, won't be long before we don't see any and then we will all have withdraw. Those putfile website that people mention doesn't come up as anything for me, it's some weird site, video and music is what it says. I don't understand why I can't get what you good folks already know about. Can somebody enlighten me as to what I am not doing right?
Loon Lover on Sibley Pond
8/17..4:00pm
Checked in, but the nest is empty as well as the branches!
It's sad but true...we won't be seeing much of the eaglets and soon the web cam will be off.
8-17-06 8:18pm EDT
I've heard much about a WHITE TRIANGLE on the eaglets tail and watched many video and live-cam. If you watch close you'll notice there isn't a WHITE triangle, merely what appears to be such.'
The eaglet folds it's wings back, and as the two wings come together they cover the tail and meet at a point, causing what many believe is a design on the actual tail feathers.
I'm open always open to others suggestions, or proofs. I believe I can post some substantiating videos which will show the motion of the wings moving together which causes this illusion.
Friday August. 18th
7:11 AM
Tuned in... there was bright sun and a bird sitting way up on the launching branch, with only his tail showing. The next shot -- he's gone and the color is gone, too.
I have not been able to get into the blog page at all this morning. Wrote it on a note pad and wIll try to remember to post this when I can get into it.
WHile I'm waiting to get into the blog, I check back, and an eaglet is back at the nest at 7:30 picking at something. The camera is still in black and white, although I saw it in color once.
I don't dare go back and look to see whether the eaglet is still there because it took so long to get the blog page to open. NOW I can't get the comments page to open. Technology is breaking down here. I thought it could be my browser. but it's working fine on other web sites.
Took a peek. It's 8:14 AM and he's still there (unless the camera is stuck -- it was still a black and white shot)
Burke, VA - 8/18 - 9am
First, as I read my blog from yesterday, I realized I forgot to thank Charlie and Barb. The two wonderful people who went to check on the eaglets to put us all at ease during their initial fledgling. (And, of course, all else you have done Charlie.) Thank you.
Checked at 8:10 am - no one was home. At 8:25 I checked and I think it was Big at the nest. Checked at 8:50 the nest was empty again.
Also, when I go to the Putfile -- all I am able to access are the old videos of the Hancock eaglets. A few of us need more explicit directions.
Friday Aug 18 9 AM ET
I'm always a little hesitant, lately, when opening the eagle cam link...I'm so afraid it will be gone. This has become a way of life for me and, I know, many others. I am so grateful that we are still able to watch the comings and goings of our eaglets...even if they don't spend a lot of time on the nest anymore. It's still such a thrill when they DO visit their nest and just waiting and hoping to see them is a wonderful experience.
There has been so much interest in this particular nest site that I hope it will convince the owners to bring the cam back next year...PLEASE BRING IT BACK!
I was not one of the fortunate people who watched from the very beginning but I am hoping that next year I will be one of those who will see this miracle as the parents start rearranging their nest in preparation for a new generation of eagles.
I have always been a 'birder' and my rather large yard has become a sancuary for all sorts of wildlife. My property borders a pond so wildlife is abundant here but eagles...not near Providence.
I know we've all said it before..but thank you so much to the people who have made this wonderful experience available to us. With a very few exceptions, this is the only time we will ever see eagles, nesting...or otherwise.
Can anyone tell me when it was first turned on? I would like to know exactly when to look for it next year so I can be there from the beginning.
Rhode Island
Friday Aug 18
Thanks for the explanation about the "white triangle"! I've seen it too, but never on a live Winslow fledgling! So I think you must be right! :-)
And as for the person who can't get the "put file" videos to play -- I couldn't either but recently the ones from "WillPatt" do. The others don't play for me. But his are great, I really enjoy them. He has an i index page of them now. Can't leave here to get the address or I'll lose this message. Will post it later.
You might try shutting off your fire wall to get them to play. I have to do that to see video from the eaglecam.
And ... many many thanks from the Lucky Landowners who let us all know how the eagle cam eaglets are doing!! I LOVE it!! :-)
Jane
Will Patt's index page for his videos of the Maine eagles is:
http://www.putfile.com/willpatt
And I didn't have to turn off my fire wall to view them.
Jane
from New Albany, IN
yesterday (8/17) I believe it was Little at the nest around 11:30 EST eating a big meal. Didn't see the drop, but he finished it all off. Stayed in the nest for around 35 minutes. Couldn't believe he stayed for so long, all alone with the food! He kept a sharp eye for big sister while he was eating. She was a no show. After 35 minutes I had to get to work (ha!). Checked back around 12:15 p.m. and he was gone. What a beautiful day it was.
Saturday Aug. 19th
7:21 AM E.D.T.
I've been watching quite continuously since 500 am for Little to come to the nest, and someone finally showed up --but it's a PARENT!! It definately has a white head and tail. It's eating the prey itself. I'm on the video now.
The cameras have gone dark, although the sun was shining earlier. Yes... it's definately one of the parents. We have a long view now, but I think it's the Dad as he seems quite small. He's sitting in the nest apparently quietly -- I've got the mike cranked up to full power but there's no sound of calling. That makes sense, though. The Winslow adults don't call the young to come and get it. I suppose they figure if the young are trying to catch their own food, so much the better. But they bring them food because the eaglets can't provide for themselves very well yet.
It's odd that no eaglet followed him in for food. He's getting ready to fly off.
WHere are the children his morning?? Just checked the tide table -- it's high tide in another hour so there shouldn't be much beach scavanging or catching fish trapped in shallow water. They should be glad of a free meal and watching the parents closely. Maybe Mom has come up with a meal at the same time, somewhere else !
Hes gone. 7:27
Exactly five minutes.
I checked in and was surprised that I saw one of the eaglets!! This was about 8 am pacific time. I think it was little because he was on little's favorite branch. I am going to miss them when they leave for good.
Andrea
California
6:00 pm Central time, August 19
One fledgling flew into the nest,stayed a couple of minutes and then flew off again.
Sunday August 20th
5:57 AM
There's an eagle or eaget sitting out on the little bouncy branch on the right ... It's dark and overcast. Checked the Bar Harbor weather... it reported overcast at 5:35 with rain expected, and patchy fog. Rain may be heavy at times this morning.
Wow... saw the camera turn to color. Light blue water, dark green pine branches. The eaglet hasn't moved even a feather and the branches are blowing or moving at all, so I'm going to video and see whether the camera is stuck. No, the scene remains the same in video. Could the eaglet be sleeping? Maybe he was there when I looked in earlier and I simply didn't see him. WIll keep checking back here between reading news stories.
6:12 still sitting there. Can't be calling out, as his body doesn't move.
6:21 still sitting there. I keep waiting for something to happen.
6:34 checked video again. camera is not stuck.
6:40 this behaviour really puzzles me because eaglets are usually very hungry first thing in the morning and cry for food or go looking for their parents as a source of food. This eaglet isn't moving at all, and they usually bounce all around the nest area when they are waiting for a food delivery in the morning.
I think it's Big. The body looks too full and large to be Little. But I can't be sure.
Unfortunately I have to leave for a while now. 6:44
But I see that Aline and Laura on the Infotech blog are keeping an eye on him, too. So we can find out from them what happens next.
Jane
Sunday August 20th
6:57 AM
Had to come back in the room after something and he's GONE. Laura said on the other blog that he left at 6:55. So there was no action.
I think it was rainy there, or perhaps "drizzling". Maybe that had something to do with his behaviour.
Jane
Burke, VA - 8/20/06 - 8am
When I first checked this morning at 7:45 the nest was empty, when I checked again 10 minutes later both babies where there, one on the branch and one in the nest. They didn't stay long.
Sunday August 20th
7:56 AM
One eaglet hunched over in the nest. He just looked up, and seems to have a white head. And I gather that it's raining. He looks wet.
Seems to be eating, verty slowly. Yes ... it's an adult. Definately.
Now he's on the launching branch and I can see his head clearly even though it's dark. He turned around... has a white tail. Is perched on Big's original launching branch. Ooops ... he's GONE.
I saw this yesterday, too. An adult brought food to the nest but no eaglets were there. He looked around, ate it himself, and left.
WillPatt submitted a very good video showing quite a lot of activity yesterday, including the time when an adult brought in food only to find noone there. And one shot of an eaglet carrying food in to that branch below and to the left of the nest -- and dropping it before he could get a bite!
http://www.putfile.com/willpatt
His videos are wonderful. And he's in Britain. It's amazing what the internet and these web sites allow us to do!! :-)
Sunday August 20th
8:35 AM
Thre's an eaglet back again on that same branch where I saw one between five thirty and six thirty. It looks like he's sitting in the rain and fog.
Still there 9:08. Maybe if this is teaching us anything, it's about how the older eaglets and eagles behave during rain.
9:15 he's moved facing the other direction,,,, and he's gone.
The ocean looks pretty and a pastel blue color, and the fog seems to be lifting.
Jane
Sunday August 20th
Was looking around the BRI site trying to see whether they had posted any financial information about how much we bloggers had contributed to the eagle cam project. So far I haven't found one. Have you?
I came across a link to this, and Loved it. You might enjoy watching it. It's a short film clip done by a local TV station, and shows a biologist climbing a tree to band eaglets in a remote location in Maine. It seems to end when he gets the eaglet into the bag, and before he descends the tree and bands it, but it's still fun to watch!
There's an interesting interview of a Maine game warden done at the site, as narration, while the biologist is shown climbing the tree.
These pictures were taken in a remote area of Maine, nothing like where the eagle cam is. If you copy the link and post it elsewhere PLEASE make that clear.
When the warden talks about his territory covering 13 "townships" he's talking about parts of Maine that were mapped or plotted early in our history, but have not been "developed" as towns or villages, etc. Possibly the land is owned by a paper company and has been for generations -- that would be typical. This is why he can walk all day and never meet another person. This part is a bit of local color for you! :-)
http://www.genotv.com/index.php?sh_id=110&sh_station=2&pageNum_allClips=0&to
Sunday
Just realized why that eaglet dropped the food just as he landed, in the video yesterday.
He automatically opened his talons to grab the branch, and when he did, he dropped his prey!! He'll have to learn to land on one foot! I never thought about that before. Slow down and land carefully, with only one talon opened up to grab the branch! :-)
Go to Will patt's index page and click on the video for Aug. 19th. You have to look carefully to see him drop it but Will included two shots of it in the video.
http://www.putfile.com/willpatt
Jane
Aug 21st
Monday
I just discovered that the TV program on banding eaglets continues on to show the rest of the process. Sorry I didn't realize it when i posted before.
This is just exaxtly what it was like when I watched and helped a little bit, when they banded the Winslow eaglets.
Wing Goodale is doing the testing, etc You can see how gentle and careful they all are with the eaglets. Another BRI staffer is interviewed about the mercury testing on Maine eaglets, and why it's being done, etc.
http://www.genotv.com/index.php?sh_id=110&sh_station=2&pageNum_allClips=0&totalRows_allClips33
Jane
August 21st
7:48 E.D.T.
An eaglet is on the nest, evidently eating or pecking at some remains in the nest. I didn't see him fly in, but he wasn't there a minute or so ago when I checked. If there was also a food drop now, it happened awful fast ... and he isn't manteling or showing any signs that another eagle has been around.
8:10 I left the room for a few minutes. just returned. There is still an eaglet there in pretty much the same position. There COULD have been a food delivery or a change in persona while I was gone but I don't think so. I'm posting this anyway, because it shows that we are still observing the eaglets at the nest!! :-) Aline posted on the other blog (with pictures) a sighting about an hour ago. As far as keeping the site going, probably only what we post here lets them know officially that we're still observing eagle behaviour at the nest.
Because of his size and posture and behaviour, I think this is Little, but I could be wrong -- it's kind of dark and "overcast", and we have a long view! He looked out to sea, but returned to picking at the nest bottom. I can't tell whether he made a cry for food when he looked out to sea.
Left the room about three minutes, came back at 8:28... he's gone.
Burke, VA - 8/21/06 - 8:45am
When I checked this morning at 8:15 there was one eaglet on the nest; I think it was Big since she was redecorating. When I checked back a few minutes ago she was gone.
I am treasuing these last sightings.
Greetings all!
Request for corporate sponsorships for Eaglecam 2007.
Thank you for all of you financial support of the eaglecam this year. Your donations kept pace with costs and allowed us to keep the number of viewers unrestricted and literally kept us running day to day month to month.
Now I am looking forward to next year and am happy to report that the landowners have given us permission to continue for another year. A HUGE thank you to them!
In order to run at full capacity, I am working on raising funds for next year and am looking for corporate sponsorships in the $1,000 - $5,000 range. Companies that support the camera will have their logo and link placed prominently on the camera’s homepage, will be mentioned to the media, and would be encouraged to advertise their support on their Web page.
The companies should have fantastic exposure—this year we had 25 to 41 million hits a month to our website. Additionally, we had national stories in LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, USA Today (twice), CNN, Fox New (twice), and ABC News.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please write them into the blog with contact information—I will not publish the entry—and I will contact you.
Finally, I am planning on keeping the camera running the entire year so we are able to record nest maintenance and building through the fall.
Thank you again.
Wing Goodale
BioDiversity Research Institute
Burke, VA - 8-21
Thank you Wing for that great news! Will there be much activity by the parents after the eaglets take off for parts unknown? Also, they still seem to be dependent on the parents for food. Are they being fed occasionally by the parents and then part of the time catching their own food?
Also, do you know if there are any shows on Public TV or any of the nature channels that show the life of eagles? I've never seen any, but I kind of hit and miss -- it's whatever is on when I decide to watch. And, if not, do we have any aspiring filmmakers out there?
Monday 10:15 PM EST
It has been a long time since I have written anything in this blog. Haven't been able to see much of the eagles live, where they are not at the nest much now, and my job, and life in general keeps me away from the live viewing during prime times. I do read the blogs most every day and catch up with them just as soon as possible. The blogs are awesome. I have also been able to watch videos and look at great snap shots, thanks to those at infonet. I would like to take this moment to say THANKS to all involved over there in bringing BIG and LITTLE to me through thier efforts. Without the blogs here and over there, I would not have been able to enjoy the eagles, for as long as I have. SO, MANY MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE HERE AND OVER THERE. YOUR EFFORT MAKES MY DAY ALOT NICER.
A special thanks to the Land owners, for there support of this project. Without your support none of this would be possible. Because of your generosity, you have allowed us to watch this spectacular show of the rearing of the eaglets. No other realality T.V. could even come close to this.
Last but not least, Thanks to BioDiversity Research Institute for bringing this to us. It is great to hear that you plan on running it year round. I have learned alot about eagles through this program. I have smiled alot and cried now and then for the eagles. It is nature at its best and sometimes at its worst, but none the less, it gives a better understanding to us, how hard living in the wild and thriving really is.
Tue - 8-22-06 8:30am (EDT)
This morning Big was in the nest eating at leisure, and she might have brought her own meal in. I wasn't certain it was Big until I heard her chirping just prior to her taking wing about 8:20.
The babies have matured rapidly and already look regal.
This Maine nest is the most successful one on the Internet! Congratulations to all the biologists for choosing this site and Wing Goodale for keeping those cameras rolling!
Yipee! It will be exciting to watch the nest being rebuilt; an absolute delight!
Question for the Biologists
I read today that the Hancock eaglets and parents are totally gone from the nest and area. They both fledgled long after Big and Little had fledged. Yet B&L are both coming to the nest and the parents are still making food drops. Is the area where they live a factor about when they leave? Or some other reason(s)?
Thank you.
Will someone continue to answer the questions from time to time? Not that it's essential. I'd rather have the camera on with no questions answered, than give up the camera. Don't get me wrong!! :-)
People have asked why the parents keep feeding the Maine eaglets when they don't seem to do that at the other eagle cam nests online. And why are the other eagles "gone" when the Maine ones arent?
(People who have asked, can you tell us more? Did a biologist at that eagle cam say they were gone or was it a comment from another blogger or what?
And where ARE the other eagle cams? On the West coast? Are they perhaps going for salmon runs or something?)
There will be no Fall salmon runs here. American eels will go down river, and small alewives. But we don't have any major anadromous fish runs in the Fall and I don't think we did, historically. Ours are in the Spring. Maybe that's the difference?
"Our" eagles in Winslow, Maine, won't leave here until mid to late October or even later. The eaglets go first. The adults hang around until there's ice on the river. Then the adults go down to the Kennebec, in down town Winslow, until IT freezes. Then they probably go just to Merry Meeting Bay or the nearest bay that doesn't freeze over. The eaglets wander much further, as Bucky, I think, said.
Fall is SUCH fun here because the eagles all soar on the wind together. They just LOVE to soar!! Spread their wings as wide as they can and shift the angle of the wings, change the way they hold those feathers far out on the tips of their wings, and just kind of steer themselves on the wind. I wish you could see it.
The adults allow all the older eaglets into the territory in the Fall, after the new eaglets can feed themselves. Ten or more eagles and eaglets in all stages and colors of feathering, from past years, sometimes soar above the river, near here, on the updrafts. It's not predictable, and it doesn't happen every day, but when it's windy, we all look up to see if they're there! All the neighbours talk about it and cars stop beside the road to watch. It's amazing!!
I saw something like that one Fall when I stayed on Swans Island near where Big and Little live. Maybe it happens near their nest, too.
It's my favorite time ... and the saddest one. because I know they'll soon be gone for the Winter. I'm awful glad they don't go NOW. I don't think I could STAND it. Fall is one of the BEST times to live with eagles!!
: -)
Jane
That is outstanding news that the camera will be up all year! Just can't convey how amazing this has been. Thank you, thank you, thank you to ALL! I hope the corporate sponsorships soar -- with the number of monthly hits, businesses would be foolish not to. Would be great if the press could give BRI's request some exposure. Don't know if you can answer this non-eagle question (or if you would know who could), but for years I've walked daily by the ocean in Freeport and it appears this year that there are alot less Great Blue Herons feeding during low tide. My imagination? Thanks
8/22 - 6:15CDT
Just a note to let you know the eaglets are still around. I looked at cam at 6:10pm and no one home. Looked again at 6:15pm and was delighted to see one of the eaglets in the nest. No idea which one as he/she was in shadow but appeared to be picking at food but must have been very small pieces left over. I was so excited as this was first time in 2 days I saw one.
08/23/06 0900EST... Jane, again thank you so much for your adventure with the Winslow eagles and for sharing about the FALL activites. I can almost shut my eyes and see it all. With the colorful foliage it must be awesome. I love our eaglecam eaglets and as with most LITTE is our baby!! I have been catching them in thew early morning and also once in awhile in the afternoons. Did you see the video where Big/Little caught his own food( assumption )and tried to bring it to the nest and dropped it!!! Little is still playing with sticks even tho he mostly plays along. Well, haven't seen them this am yet!! Have a great day and thanks again...To Wing, Charlie and Bucky as well. BEV
Jane, that was a great little piece (video). What a neat place for a nest out on that little island.
Thank you Jane.
Wednesday 8/23/06 12:30 ET
Thank you SO much to the land owners and you, Wing, for that terrific news. Now we can relax knowing that the cam will not be shut down. I am presently looking at an empty nest but just the anticipation that I might see one of our eaglets keeps me checking and re-checking.
I hope you, Wing, will be available to us to anwer questions...there are so many and, I'm sure, there will be many more as the year progresses and we watch the parent birds start to rebuild the nest. The one I have is...at what point will the parent birds start chasing the eaglets from the nest?
Thank you again!!!!
Rhode Island
8/23 6:30pm CDT
It is so cool. One of the parents was in the nest for at least 10 minutes. Appeared to be picking at little pieces of food and looking for someone to come. But no one was home so the parent flew off.
I tuned in to the eagle cam yesteday evening and saw one of the adults eating food on the nest. . . probably the female as it was a very large bird. . . nobody else around.
In following Jane's blog above, last winter here in Indiana, a friend and I drove up to Patoka Lake to see if we could catch a glimpse of an eagle as we had never seen an eagle out in the wild. We saw 2 eagles soaring very high above the lake (not FLYING, but SOARING!). What a beautiful site that was! We were so excited about seeing an eagle soaring freely in the sky.
We heard about them draining another lake up at Starve Hollow Lake in IN and that there were lots of eagles there eating the fish floating on the top of the water. One weekend we made a trip there to see if we could catch a glimpse of an eagle, and much to our surprise, we saw around 12 eagles high up in the trees, coming down and grabbing up the fish on the water! It was an amazing site! I believe it was in January and it was very cold and windy! There were lots of people there taking pictures of this sight. It is easy to spot eagles from other birds flying high in the sky since they don't flap their wings and fly--they soar! What a beautiful, regal bird! That's how I got interested in this immaculate creature. And this Maine web cam has been absolutely amazing. I have shared it with many people! Thanks so much to ALL who made this possible.
8-24-06 8AM (EDT)
Jane, thank you for that wonderful accounting - as usual - I read all the posts but enjoy your vivid thoughts and words. I posted your last comments at the wavelit forum, and I hope you don't mind; but if you do, please let me know.
The juveniles are seldom in the nest now, so I'm guessing they're meeting up to form a flock of teenage eaglets, in preparation to ready themselves for the coming day when they fly the coop. Or possibly just flying a little further each day away from their nest, learning to hunt on their own.
Either way, they'll be missed by thousands of viewers, all over our world.
Someone posted that you could click on the archive video link but I can't find the link. Where is it?
8/24
Thanks so much Jane! Your "fall" letter is so descriptive. I almost feel present! Arizona desert fall is just about nonexistent!
I'll take a stab at answering the question posed about the timing of young eaglets departure from the nest. Here in Maine it has been my experience that the young often stay in the natal area as late as Sept/Oct. Some leave earlier than that for reasons that are difficult to detemine. Over the past 3 decades of bald eagle field work I have gradually come to suspect that single eaglet nests often result in early seperation from the nest site. Young in nests with 2 or more young, on the other hand, often stay in the nest area for longer. Just a theory, but it may be that young eagles have a need for social interaction with other young eagles which prompts them to set off in search of same.
There are other possible explanations for earlier dispersal of single young. For instance it may be that a lack of available food might have resulted in the premature death of other eaglets and that the continued lack forces the surviving eaglet to seek more suitable foraging areas.
Finally, while we humans sometimes tend to believe that all chickadees are the same, the fact is that variability is a cornerstone of natural processes. Thus eagles, like humans, act with a certain degree of individuality when it comes to behavioral characteristics. This sometimes makes field work more challenging, it always makes it more interesting!
Friday Aug 25th
For two or three days now the only eagle we've seen at the nest has been an adult, bringing in fish, and looking around as if expecting an eaglet to fly in.
Will has made videos of this, posted on the info tech blog. I swear in one of them the parent flew out in a circle around the tree with the fish in it's talon, as if to see whether an eaglet was nearby and would see him or her, and follow it in. I couldn't tell, without sound, whether he or she was calling to the eaglets while taking that short loop out from the nest. He or she came back with the fish and finally ended up eating it him or her self.
Even if I'm mistaken about that part, and I don't think I am, just continuing to come to the nest with fish, and looking around for the young, etc. shows you what great parents they are. I hadn't realized that they did this.
They evidently keep bringing food to the nest until there is no eaglet at the nest that wants it. Isn't that GREAT???!!
I wonder if the biologists knew this.
These eagles are great parents!!
Jane
8/25/06
Have our babies left the area? Lucky Landowners have you seen them? Wouldn't the parents know that they have left, but they keep coming to the nest looking for them?
Question for Will Patt: (First - a great big THANK YOU - I finally got in and the videos are great!) Your videos seems to catch them when they are there, is the video running all the time? And then you just edit out all the down time, or is it when you happen to see them. Since according to what we have been told, it is too early for them to leave the nest area and that they should still be visiting.
I was just reading the latest blogs and someone asked about how to find the video archives. I had a hard time too and couldn't find them. I had tried to go to the putfile site and couldn't ever get it right, it was something about music. Finally, I saw one again and it worked for me, try this one and see if you can get it..........
http://www.putfile.com/willpatt
I read that this gentleman is from Britain and it's a great site with videos galore. I wasnt't able to be home on the day that Big made her maiden flight but it's there along with lots of other good videos. Thank you to him for his efforts in keeping us up to date with our eaglets and making it interesting with his naratives along the way.
I wish that if Jane has a site that she would post the address so that I could check it out, I live only about twenty miles from her. We also see eagles here on the lake where I live and I absolutely love seeing them. In winter they will land on the ice and eat the fish that people leave behind. This spring we had one land in a tree on our shoreline and eat a fish or something, it stayed for at least 15 minutes and I got a few pictures. Occasionally we will have a hawk and an osprey pay us a visit. It is all very thrilling to have them close enough to observe like that.
Thanks to all who have made this such a wonderful experience, BRI and all the sponsors. Especially the landowners who allow BRI to set up their camera, how I envy them to have such a birds eye view!!
Loon Lover on Sibley Pond
August 25th
Thanks for answering the question about why Maine eaglets -- at least those with a sibling or siblings -- stay around later in the Fall ... than some eaglets observed elsewhere apparently do ...
Your observation about maybe there's a need or desire to socialize with other eaglets is very interesting. The way they gather here on the Sebasticook in the Fall and play together on the wind seems like socializing, too. We don't see them hanging out as a "group" until Fall.
I wonder whether they have any kind of a Fall migrating instinct triggered by shorter days or colder weather?
The mature eagles who have a nest evidently have a stronger instinct to stay near their territory and protect it.
Interesting stuff.
I have read that when eagles travel, they wait for windy days and more or less glide on the thermals, following mountain ranges or terrain that has thermals. And that they lay over on days with no wind. That they don't flap their wings all the way, they mostly glide. Don't recall where I read that. It sounds like eagle behaviour!
I wonder if the eaglets from this area go off together in the Fall .... and if all this soaring on the winds in large groups in the Fall has anything to do with preparing to travel??
Jane
Saturday 8/26/06 4:26 PM
Has anyone seen either eaglet in the last few days? I sure haven't. If anyone has would you please let us know?
Rhode Island
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