A time for renovations...

Hi All, I am sorry for the long duration between my posts. As you may know the eagles have been visiting the nest infrequently since my last post. They seem to be both adding sticks to the nest and using the nest as a feeding perch.

In past years eagles at this nest have laid eggs as early as the first week of March. Currently, these birds do not seem on track for that date but nesting is still certainly a possibility at this site. Notably Maine is anticipated to receive a wintry mix of rain, ice and snow on Thursday and Friday. It will be interseting to see how these birds weather the storm.

Please keep in touch with your posts and questions to help direct the content of this blog.

Until next time,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute

Intruder Visits on 2/5/10

Hi All,

Well, it is nice to observe these continued yet irregular visits. Perhaps this weeks biggest event came on February 5th when an immature bird visited the nest and caused a bit of a scuffle with what was likely one of the resident eagles. There are images posted to our online community of this interaction.

Notably, interactions like this one are not uncommon. Immature eagles often explore large areas in their early years in search of an open nest site where they can establish a territory. Adults that are already established at nesting territories are often intolerant of these visitors.

Some may remember the fierce interactions that we observed last year between resident birds and 'visitors'. Such interruptions may lead to eagles giving up on using a nest site for a season. Please feel free to post your comments, questions, and observations. We moderate comments on this blog so that we can spare you all a high rate of spam comments and solicitations which are sometimes offensive.

Keep in touch and visit www.briloon.org for more information about our other research projects and results. Thanks for enjoying

All the Best,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute

First mating observed and recorded!

Hi all, I am happy to say that along with the restorations to the nest that we have observed we have also witnessed the first mating attempt of the season by these eagles. CLC a members of our online community has posted a video link of the mating attempt. Thanks CLC!

Obviously, this is a good sign of the season and of the birds intention to nest this year. Let's keep our fingers crossed for continued activity. Thanks for your posts and please keep up with your questions.

All the Best,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute