Cam is up!

Check out a beautiful day in Maine!

Cam Down...

There was severe weather this weekend throughout Maine. I am working at getting the cam back on-line.
Best,
Patrick Keenan
Biodiversity Research Institute

Eagles on the nest

Well, what a weekend! Not only was the weather beautiful but the eagles were very active at the nest. Many thanks for posting the videos. I still find the breadth of eagle vocalizations amazing--each with a different meaning and circumstance for use. I must also comment on the value of being able to see the bird vocalize and observe its postures and gestures as it does so. Enjoy the evening and keep posted.
All the Best,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute

Cam is reconnected.

Hi all,
The camera was down yesterday. You should now find that the image has returned and shows a beautiful day here in Maine.
All the best,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute

White object in nest

Hi All, many of you probably observed the white object that was visible in the nest for about the past week. It is no longer visible as of about 11:00 am this morning. I think this is a great chance to point out that many different items, natural and unnatural, find their way into eagles nest. In visits to nearly 200 eagle nests in Maine, New Hampshire, and New York BRI scientists have observed unnatural 'trash' in roughly half the nests. The wide variety of items found range from paper wrappers to fish hooks and line to pieces of plastic. The item that was brought to the nest on October 8th appears to be very lightweight as it waffled int he wind. I could only guess at what it could be. However, it is notable that the eagle spent quite a bit of time 'working' the object and appeared to tear it to smaller pieces so it is possible that it was a prey item of some type. It would be interesting to hear about anything specific that you all see that might help us figure out what this item was. I recommend watching the video at the address that GG posted for a good look at the object and the eagle manipulating it.
All the best,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute

Bald Eagle nests are large!

Hi All, I would like to respond to a good question about the size of Bald Eagle nests. As you might imagine nests vary in size. An average nest ranges from 1.5 to 1.8m (4.9 to 5.9 ft.) in diameter and 0.7 to 1.2 m (2.3 to 3.9 ft.) in height. Nests sometimes increase in size over time as eagles renest and continue to add nest materials. They are built either on cliffs or near the top of a large tree where they are supported by a set of large branches and interwoven sticks. The Bald Eagle nest that we observe on the web cam appears to be on the larger side. This is an estimate because I have only viewed the nest from the ground.

Patrick Keenan,
BioDiversity Research Institute

reference: Buehler, D. A. 2000. Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). In The Birds of North America, No. 506 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc, Philadelphia, PA

October begins!

Well...it is nice to see that the eagles are active in the nest area. They are calling occasionally and seem to have weathered tropical depression Kyle without obvious incident. I would like to comment on Peggy's action packed video post which can be viewed under our last blog post. Although it is difficult to be certain of the identity of the second bird, after several viewings and several consults, it appears to be a young eagle based on its large size and shape (this could offer a nice discussion point if others had other perspectives). Furthermore, it is not uncommon for young eagles to "explore" nests as they disperse. If you haven't viewed Peggy's video, I recommend it!

All the Best,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute