Thursday, March 11, 2010

To nest...or not to nest


Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your comments on to our blog and for following these birds. I am once again a week late with my post. Above is a very nice photo from this morning captured by JO of our online community. It shows the pair perched at the nest. Several of JO's photos show the size difference between the male and the female. Female eagles are larger than males and for a known nesting pair that can be a good way to differentiate the individuals.

This pair is showing signs of breeding. They have mated several times during the past week and they have been bring sticks to the nest. Has anyone seen these eagles bringing softer grasses to the nest?

Only time will tell whether these eagles will nest this year. In previous years eggs at this site were laid on March 5th and on March 6th which is probably on the early side for nesting by Maine eagles on the coast. If the birds do intend to nest this year we would expect to see activity and the visits by the pair continuing to increase.

Hope you are all well and please keep up with your posts and questions and comments.

Cheers,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This morning (3/11/10,7-8), it looked like the female was shredding some twigs to make a softer nest in the bowl. I hope it's a sign that they are getting ready to mate! I'm an optimist! I'll keep hoping as long as I can!

3:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks Patrick for the update, always curious to know how you at BRI are intrepreting their behaviour. I get frustrated when I see them using the nest to eat, but of late a few nestorations have been happening. Going back a few years, we specualated a lot about mate switches & 2nd nests and I have to wonder if we don't have a different pair here this season maybe a blend of the old couple or maybe totally new. Maybe a 'new'
couple are still getting their feet wet with this copulating/nesting thing....maybe.
The close-ups were wonderful yesterday afternoon, thanks.

J in S.P.ME

7:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good Morning:

Checked your site today and see that no progress has been reported since 3/11/10. Read the other day that daily updates were posted.

Thank you for your site.
Anonymous (Turkey Feeder)

5:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

March 14 , 9AM: seems to be one eagle feeding at nest. Cam 2 has 2 eagles, sitting on one egg... Are there more eggs there yet?

9:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sunday, March 14th, 2:51 PM, one eagle on the nest...watched for 1 minute, flew off to the left...don't know how long it had been there...still hoping!

2:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mon., Mar. 15, 6:28, 1 eagle flies to nest. 6:30, flies down to left, 6:32, Dad ?, flies in with large stick, fixes nest, 6:34, flies down to left.

7:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Checked in at 8:00 this morning, eagle having breakfast.
Judy in Western Maine

8:12 AM  
Blogger D&B said...

3/19/10 6:15a.m
Both eagles at nest #1
One flew away to the left the other remains on the Y limb upper right.
Wing or Patrick. Would it be possible to zoom back a bit, so we can see more of the tree?

6:19 AM  
Blogger Redbird14837 said...

I have spent many hours with hopes of seeing an eagle...I have watched in the mornings, afternoons and evenings with no luck. I don't understand why we don't get more wide angles...maybe one would fly by. If they were nesting then close-ups are great but with so much non-eagle time sure seems like a better approach.

Red

2:00 PM  
Anonymous Cheap The Eagles Tickets said...

yah it looks nice thanks for sharing all these

4:04 AM  
Blogger Seasidecrafter said...

Can we please get an update on this pair of eagles? So much mis-information being passed around in the chat room at upstream. Thanks!

5:46 PM  
Blogger Seasidecrafter said...

Can we please get an up date on this eagle pair? There is so much mis information being spread in the chat rooms at upstream its ridiculous. Thank you

5:48 PM  

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