Two weeks until hatching
Mark your calendars; April 9th is when the first egg may hatch. Although, I speculate that the hatching may be a couple days longer than the standard 35 days because of the very cold weather after the first egg was laid. We have observed that loons will actually not begin incubation of their first egg until the second is laid; I believe to help the eggs hatch around the same time. The loon eggs tend to hatch 12 hours apart even though the eggs are laid 24-48 apart.
With the eagles this year, the cold weather may have delayed embryo development and perhaps we may see the first two eggs hatch closer together. Perhaps there is a third chick as well we don’t know. If this is the case, it could mean that the first and second chick may be closer in size.
I wanted to update you on our fundraising campaign. So far it has been a great success and a huge thank you to all of you that have donated. Since last Friday we have had $1,800 in donations! This is a fantastic first step towards out $50,000 goal. If we keep up at this rate we are sure to reach our goal by fledging in July. If you have already supported our eagle research please encourage others to do so as well. Thank you!
Click here to donate
https://host2.maineserver.com/briloon/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=32
Below are some close up shots from this afternoon.
Wing Goodale, BioDiversity Research Institute
With the eagles this year, the cold weather may have delayed embryo development and perhaps we may see the first two eggs hatch closer together. Perhaps there is a third chick as well we don’t know. If this is the case, it could mean that the first and second chick may be closer in size.
I wanted to update you on our fundraising campaign. So far it has been a great success and a huge thank you to all of you that have donated. Since last Friday we have had $1,800 in donations! This is a fantastic first step towards out $50,000 goal. If we keep up at this rate we are sure to reach our goal by fledging in July. If you have already supported our eagle research please encourage others to do so as well. Thank you!
Click here to donate
https://host2.maineserver.com/briloon/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=32
Below are some close up shots from this afternoon.
Wing Goodale, BioDiversity Research Institute
posted by Bald Eaglecam at 1:12 PM
73 Comments:
Wednesday afternoon
Marcy 28th
There are about five posts you may not have seen, including some videos and observations of the last nest exchange last night (a very "funny" one) and the first nest exchange of this morning.
Because left our comment on the comments linked to that column, that's where they are posted.
This used to confuse us and cause us to miss some good stuff, so that's why I"m mentioning it.
Wed. 3/28 .... 3:04pm
Thanks Wing for the updated tally on the donations so far and also for those great pictures!
Jane/Will
Thank you so much for making me laugh this morning! That video is priceless of Mom bopping Dad with her stick :o)
Dad's left leg/foot continue to improve which is a super great thing!!!
All is good in Maine eagle land.
Lori
Interesting article from the Bangor Daily News regarding peregrine falcons and Wing's analysis/research of the contaminant, Deca.
There was also a story on the local news about this. Very scary!
Here's the link:
http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=147766&zoneid=500
By the way Wing & Chris...
Many have asked and I must too, are you going to band "our babies" this year???
Lori
No eagles on nest for over 15 minutes now? That can't be good. Does that happen often? It's 4:20, usually a next exchange in here about that time but I've never seen them leave the nest a lone this long :^(
Has the nest been abandoned? There has been no eagle on the nest for at least 12 min. With the wind I was wondering if something happened to both eagles. Keep us posted. Thanks for the wonderful pictures.
Wed., 3/28 ...4:30pm - 4:50pm
I am getting really worried. No one has been on the nest for over 20 minutes.
Where's Mom & Dad?
The wind today in Maine is horrible!
Sure hope someone comes home soon...
I haven't seen either eagle in the nest in about half an hour. It's 4:05 central here. Will the eggs be alright for that length of time ?
I am glad to hear that so many donations have come in so far. I hipe I get a chance to donate myself later next month.
I was just wondering, where did the eagles go? How long can eggs survive with mom or dad keeping them warm? I have been switching between the cam and still photos and haven't seen either for the last 10 minutes. I didn't see them leave so I don't know how long they have been gone before I logged on. Hope everything is ok.
Mar 28, 2007 5:10PM (EDT)
Mom left the nest 3 times this afternoon and Dad hasn’t been seen. Mom left a fourth time at 4:07pm and it's over 1 hour, leaving the eggs in 43º weather. This does not appear to be conducive to producing a brood for this season.
It’s not my intention to be a nay-sayer, so would a biologist care to comment on whether or not the eggs could still conceivably
hatch or not, IF a parent returns to incubating?
Where are the eagles? It is 5:22 eastern time and I have been watching for a while. Is everything okay? Is this normal eagle behavior? I have never seen them from the nest this long. :(
Haven't seen mom or dad in the nest for well over an hour. Is this normal? Wind is blowing so hard I'd fall out of the nest if I tried to stay in there. Are the eggs okay without cover for this long of a period?
its 5:30p.m. and for the last hour i haven't seen anyone on the nest -does anyone know what happened?
5:32 and nest is empty. Very windy. Has something ominous happened?
it's 5:38pm maine time & it's really windy here today... where are the eagles???
March 28, 07
No eagles for ages now. I keep coming back but it's no use.
What happened? They can't possibly leave the nest for hours.
3/38 5:38PM - Mom and Dad have been off the nest for over an hour. Does anyone know what is happening?
I too thought nest was empty....look very closely, eyes peek up once in a while between strong gust of wind!! Wendy in Maine March 28 5:44
Wed., 3/28 ... 5:43pm
It's now been well over an hour and still no eagles :(
I want to cry.
Will the mom abandon the nest if something happens to dad ???
I am worried about the eggs too, I have not seen mom or dad sitting all day (I am in Arizona have been checking since this am, now is pm)are the eggs ok? or have they abandoned them for some reason?. I will pray all is ok and tomorrow I will see mom or dad with the eggs...
I'm another maine native... it's very windy & cold... where are the eagles? It's 5:52pm
I know, I'm worried too! It has been over an hour! And Dad hasn't been seen all day? I hope something didn't happen to Dad!
I don't know...but i think i see some head feather on the right side o' the screen, hunkered down next to the main tree branch. Could this wonderfull creature be in there , riding out this gale?
Bob from Manayank
March 28
6:00pm ET
:( Still no Mom or Dad. I wonder if the eggs weren't developing (possibly due to the severe cold weather) and Mom and Dad are able to tell, so they abandoned the nest??? Is that possible? Would they mate again and lay more eggs? I feel bad about the eggs, but I'm more concerned about Mom and Dad. Shouldn't we have seen them at least a bit at the nest??
...scared! Worried!
6:05 and still no parents!
March 28
6:10pm ET
Could it just be the camera angle has changed (it's looks a little lower) and we can't see Mom or Dad in the nest?? Let's hope!!
The nest has been empty since
4:06 pm est and it is now 6:24 pm
est. March 28th, 2007 I did not
see anything unusual today other than Mom left the nest often. She
seemed rather antsy. Perhaps she
was worried about Dad and her flights were to look for him?
Sincerely hope that Mom and Dad
are ok.
I don't know, I've been watching the still shots for over two hours and I can't see any sign of eagles. They're so big you would think you'd be able to see them if they were in there anywhere? I'm in AZ and I know that it's going to go to infared soon. That'll make it even harder to see :^( I was even watching when they messed with the zoom on the camera and I couldn't see any signs of them :^( Hope all is well and can't wait to see mom or dad again....
They are gone and no eagle "chatter" at all for well over 2 hours.
6:30pm and dad just came back!!!!!! His leg looks bad though again.
has it been too long???
6:33 pm Moms back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of them came back @ 6:34 eastern time. That nest was empty forever. Does anyone know how long the eggs can go unprotected like that and still be viable? At least someone is back to sit through the night. Whew!
One eagle \just got back. It'd 5:34pm Central. Hope it's not too late.
it si 6:33
Dad just came in and is sitting on eggs....he is looking around though....what is up????
6:24 EST-- Mom/Dad (someone!)has returned!
Let's hope it's in time to warm up those eggs!
6:38pm - Mom (or Dad) is back!!! Whew!!! I hope the eggs are okay.
Dad arrives 6:33 pm est. Lands
on branch with chatter, then
to nest, limps holding up talons/foot and nestles in.
Well, one of the eagles finally flew in at 6:33P local time, looks like the male. I'm sure the eggs cooled down after more than two hours without incubating. Maybe one of the biologists can comment if this amount of time can affect the developement of the embryo.
OK, we need the pro's to answer what took place from 3pm to 6:30pm when the nest was empty for all that time. Pleese!!
I'm off to make supper for the family. Now that an eagle (I think the male) is back I feel better. Saw him roll the eggs or arrange them in some way then settle down again. Maybe he thought mom was on the nest all day and she's missing :^( Maybe I should do something other than spectulate about the ins and outs of eagle relationships :^) Glad all is well in eagle land and I'll peek in again tomorrow for sure!
Weds Marcy 28
6:46
One of our regulars was watching when the eagle came. He landed on a branch, and then the nest. She said she knew it was Dad because he limped.
Most of us already thought it was Dad ... although I must say it's harder to tell with the wind blowing his feathers.
Mom should be all right. I wonder whether she'll come back and chase him out of the nest.
Greetings all!
Just reviewing your comments and I see that the birds were off the nest for a couple hours. Hard to say why, perhaps an extended foraging run, but rest assured that the eggs should be fine since today is well above freezing.
Wing, BRI
I'm pretty certain that it is the male eagle in the nest.
I saw him come in and unless the female also has a bad left leg, it was the male. He had a real hard time maneuvering into the nest when he arrived.
I believe that Mom was there until around 4:15EST. I checked the still shot around then and saw her but didn't see her leave.
BRI...Are the eggs ok???
Thank you Wing for helping us the best you can with our questions. Nice to hear the reassurance about the eggs welfare. :^)
I know!!!! They're fighting because of the stick incident :) LOL
Wed 3-28-07 6:33pm EDT
After being gone from the net since 4:07pm MOM returned at 6:33pm vocalizing and then getting on the next. She got up at 6:40 pm and moved the eggs and got right back down, picked a bit at the material around her. It is still windy but not as fierce as it has been during the past two hours.
OH!!! Thank you Wing for letting us know that the eggs are still OK.
My tears of sorrow are now tears of joy!
Sure wish Mom would come back though now and I would really feel better. That is just so unlike her to leave her eggs for that long.
Did anyone see her leave?
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
The reason I believe it was mom that landed in the tree limb at 6:33 was the way the left tallon was grabing the limb--it looked fine, and when she landed on the nest there was no limp like with dad. I still can't tell who's who--Dave
Mom is back at 7:17pm...
Approximately 7:18 pm est Mom
arrives. Both eagles were in the
nest with chatter. Took Dad a little bit of time to get up. I don't think he wanted to leave the nest. Limped a little and then off he flew and Mom nestled in.
Checked on the nest around 6:20 pm central time briefly saw both adults on the nest > probably an exchange? Tried to switch to one of the live cams - but by the time it opened up one of the adults was gone and the other is on the nest.
DC in OKC
My bust> It was dad that came in after all that time, mom just came back at 7:13PM and dad limped off the nest,and were they happy to see each other, they were going crazy with joy, or she was giving him HELLo for being gone for so long--Dave
SO good to have seen them both together for the evening exchange. I'm thinking that at this point in the egg development...that the developing chicks must generate some heat of their own and if two or three eggs are still viable they keep each other warm. I suppose their might be movement within them that the parent eagles could feel as well as the heat? Time to google for eagle egg development! Thank you for the reassuring words Wing!
Thanks for the reassurances, but I am concerned about the comments surrounding the male's leg. What happened or what is the nature of the injury? I guess this is the biologist's question to answer. Maybe the chicks will come Easter Sunday. That would be a real gift!
Tracey in Houston.....
What an intense day! They are probably fighting, as parents often do, since she hit him with a stick today. lol
I'm glad someone is back to take care of the kidos.
Watching these woderful creatures live and unedited
is truely a blessing.
a big Thanks to Wing, BRI and all involved. I made my donation.
3-28-07 7:06 PM
We are now getting an ad on Live Video 2.It takes almost half minute with both the ad buffering, the ad itself and briloon buffering before getting to the live shot now.
If enough is donated will that ad still be necessary??? I'm afraid that the ad will encourage folks to leave that link open rather than sign out and have to cope with the ad again.
Thanks for your consideration. It has been quite a day for all of us eagle surrogate grandparents! I can only imagine the angst of loon season to come!
3/28, 9:40pm AZ time
Thanks Wing for the updates. Soon there will be chicks, and maybe three. It was so exciting last year to see that third baby! Sad when it didn't live, but that is part of what this is all about.
I think dad eagle is living a double life. That's why he was wacked with the stick.. seriously though, do male eagles ever have 2 mates? Anyone?
3-29-07 am EDT
TO BRI:
Neither video is working. Messages come up saying the input is "invalid"!!!!
03/29/07.. Boy was I GLAD to see her this morning!! When I went home last night she had been gone from the nest from 4:06EST and it was 5:30 pm. I see that they came back about 6:33pm. I was so worried and upset, but remembered that they eggs are probably under about 3-4 inches of eagles down and also it was warm in the sun yesterday. I guess we will just have to waity and see what if any damage was done. Have a great day. Bev
Could someone please post the link to the "bop in the head with the stick video"
The live feed link no longer works for me-- it will not open at all--due to the advertisement someone else mentioned? My students are going to be disappointed today... is there a way this can be fixed? Our class watches this all day and are very invested in these eagles!
I am confused by Anonymous' comment and would like to know where to go to see the video refered to
This is a report that a student wrote. I wanted to share it.
My Bald Eagle Report
By Brandon
What has 7,000 feathers, excellent eyesight, and a yellow bill? Here is another hint if you didn’t guess already. It is a large blackish bird with a white head and tail. If you guessed the North American Bald Eagle, you are right!
The eagle communicates by using a squeaky, high-pitched voice. The female bald eagle is 35 to 37 inches tall and the male is a little smaller. The wingspan is from 79 to 90 inches. They weigh from 10 to 14 pounds. It can live to be about 15 to 20 years old. The longest living bald eagle was 48 years old and lived in West Stephentown, New York.
The Bald Eagle lives near lakes, rivers, marshes, and seacoasts. It will usually build its nest in a tall tree or sometimes on top of a cliff. They will use this nest made out of sticks year after year. Some nests can be as big as 9 feet across and weigh 2 tons. It will lay 2 or 3 white eggs in the nest. Baby eagles are called eaglets. Eagles will protect their nest during nesting season up to 3 miles.
It has excellent eyesight. The eye is about as big as mine. It can spot a rabbit almost a mile away. It can even see colored objects. When they go to sleep they close their eyes just like I do.
The Bald Eagle is threatened in the entire continental United States except Alaska. Did you know about half of the world’s 70,000 Bald Eagles live in Alaska? One reason why the bald eagle was once endangered then threatened was because DDT, a harmful chemical, was sprayed on farmer’s crops to kill insects. The DDT leaked into rivers, lakes, and streams. Then the fish ate small plants and animals. Bald Eagles and other large birds ate the unhealthy fish.
Did you know the Bald Eagle is at the top of the food chain? When an Eagle sees a fish swimming near the surface of the water, it will glide and grab the fish out of the water with its talons. The eagle will never let go of the fish. Sometimes it will even drown if the fish is too big to pull out of the water. It will use its large wings to help it swim, but the eagle must be out of the water for it to fly.
I hope you have learned a lot about this beautiful bird called the Bald Eagle.
Good to see someone back in the nest. Was a wee bit worried. You sure get the wind sown there. I hope it doesn't get any stronger.
What a great report. Have you shown your class the video. The Raptor Force. Great footage.
Glad to see the eagle back. Still trying to spot the difference between the male and female. Hope she can weather out that wind.
This is a great site.
At 9pm last night (3/28) I went to watch live video 2 before shutting down the computer and I got a "hacking, phishing" song video of some sort...
Was that line hacked last night? Today it doesn't work at all for me. Only video 1 works today.
Glad to see someone on the nest though! Just wish that the winds that we're having here in Maine would let up.
IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CAM? I AM NOT ABLE TO VIEW THE BIRDS THIS MORN.
SURE HAPPY TO SEE MOM/DAD BACK ON THE NEST AND THE WORD FROM WING THAT THE EGGS WERE OK LEFT UNATTENDED FOR A LONG PERIOD.
AWAITING THE EAGLETS.
3/29/ 9:45 A.M.
OK, video 2 finally just worked for me and I watched the whole thing and see that it's an IBM promo and not a hack! I was so freaked out by it last night that I just quickly shut it down and did a virus scan...lol
I think if BRI is making some money on the promo then I'm all for it! Doesn't bother me one bit.
3/29
Thank you Mrs. E for sharing Brandon's Bald Eagle Report! I did not know Bald Eagles have 7,000 feathers ... that's a lot of preening!
-- Liz (W,DC)
I love to see all this wonderful live action.
Video of an unusual late nest exchange around 7:48 p.m.
http://judykb.org/meapr8748ne.asf
4/11/08 at 1:08 PM Central time I happened to look and and saw the eagle stand up, lower her head and seem to roll something around, turn around and settle back down facing the opposite direction from which she started.
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