(Eaglets fourteen weeks old)

Based on the images we’ve seen on the Eagle Cam, it seems clear that both Intrepid and Destiny are now flying and doing so successfully. The eaglets are gone from the nest for long periods of time and they do not appear to be on the local branches. The parents occasionally return to the nest with fish, and sometimes both eaglets come back to feed, but sometimes only one eaglet returns for the meal (meaning the other is out exploring somewhere).

Also, we’ve noticed that when the eaglets are at the nest for a meal, we often see them mantling now — mantling is when a raptor spreads its wings and tail over food to indicate that the food belongs to them and they don’t intend to share. Seeing this posture is a sure sign that our eaglets are growing up.

Cam watchers have asked if the eaglets are fishing on their own. While we’ve seen photos of both parents bringing fish to the nest, it seems unlikely the eaglets are catching their own live fish so soon. The skill of fishing is normally one that takes time to develop. In the meantime, the eaglets might be scavenging food that they find around the Blackwater River or the Refuge property. In fact this is how immature bald eagles find many of their meals — by locating food that has already died (and this could include snakes, turtles, small mammals, etc.).

In time the eaglets will learn to spot fish in the river and then learn to time their flight over the water so they can pluck the prey out with their talons. The better they are at this skill, the easier a time they will have surviving the first year on their own.

If you’ve never seen a bald eagle fishing, I should point out that they have a different fishing style than ospreys. It’s true that both bald eagles and ospreys catch their prey near the surface of the water, but while an osprey will dive into the water to capture the meal, a bald eagle will usually fly over the surface of the water and pluck the fish out with its talons. Sometimes the fish might be too heavy, and the eagle is forced into the water. At times like this, it’s not uncommon for the bald eagle to “swim” to shore with the fish in order to get its prey on land. So if anyone asks you if bald eagles can swim, the answer is yes.

If you’d like to see a video of an American bald eagle fishing, click on the thumbnail to the right; this WMV file is courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Also, here is an excellent video from the ARKive nature website showing a white-tailed eagle (from Europe) capturing a fish. White-tailed eagles are the nearest relation to our North American bald eagles, and they fish in a similar manner. After watching these videos, I think you’ll have a better appreciation for the unique skills that our eaglets must master in order to pluck moving fish from murky water while gliding through the air at the same time.

As for Intrepid and Destiny’s future plans, we expect our eaglets will hang around the nest for a while longer — relying on the parents for an easy meal — but eventually over the summer they will strike out on their own and begin developing their fishing, hunting, and flying skills so they are prepared to make it through the upcoming winter.

As for the Eagle Cam, sometime in the next few weeks we will turn off the camera feed because the eagles will be gone for most of the day, as the eaglets become even more independent. But in November, we will expect to see these same parents return to the cam nest and begin preparing for another breeding season, so around mid to late November we will turn the cam on again to catch the start of nest preparations.

I should point out that our Eagle Gallery will stay open as long as the Eagle Cam is live, and I’ll be posting an update to the gallery soon, but this entry will be the final post of our 2008 Eagle Cam Web Log. It’s possible I might get a couple last eaglet videos from the Refuge, and if I do, I’ll post links to them on the Eagle Cam page.

I’ll also keep posting updates on the Eagle Cam page as we hear news from other eagle nests — like the avian pox issue that we’ve been following in relation to the Norfolk Eagle Cam chick. Fortunately the news there seems to be getting better. And if anything noteworthy happens with our eaglets, I’ll be sure to mention it on the cam page updates.

Thanks to all those who have followed the cam, the web log, and the gallery updates. We feel this season has been a great success, and much of that is due to the tremendous dedication of our cam watchers. We greatly appreciate your time and support, and we hope to see you again in November.

Stay safe,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

Tags:
eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland

 

(Eaglets twelve weeks old)

Our eaglets — Intrepid and Destiny — have been very active as of late. We’re about convinced that Intrepid is flying due to the amount of time he’s been missing from the nest. Also, Destiny appears to be branching, but based on the amount of time he’s been seen in the nest, we don’t think he’s flying just yet.

Also, I recently posted a few photos that seem to show an eaglet taking off (Photo 1 and Photo 2). One second the eaglet is there, and then he’s not.

Recently I received an email from someone who seemed to think that by posting these photos on the cam page I was indicating the eaglet had left for good. For those folks, I suggest they read my previous web log postings where I’ve explained that even if the eaglets are flying, we expect to see them returning to the nest. “Taking off” doesn’t mean the eaglet has left for good, it just means that the eaglet is flying and no longer bound to the nest. And as we’ve seen in many image shots on the cam in the last week, occasionally there are two eaglets there, meaning that even if Intrepid is flying, he’s obviously doing well enough to return to the nest.

Thanks to all those who have been sending in photos to our Eagle Cam Gallery. I’ll post an update to our Gallery later this week.

Other Eagle News

The main reason I wanted to post this update is because of some rather dramatic eagle news that happened around the Web the previous week. Those who follow some of the other Internet eagle cams have likely heard this news already, but for those who have not, I thought it would be helpful to post an update.

First, at the Norfolk Eagle Cam in Virginia they announced that their sole eaglet has developed a growth on its beak. At first there was speculation that the problem was Avian Pox, but they have since removed the eaglet, and now they do not believe that is the cause. Unfortunately the most recent tests show that the aggressive growth has grown into the eaglet’s sinus cavity and appears to be involved with the underlying tissue and bone, which makes the situation much more serious. At this time, we don’t know what the outcome will be for the eaglet who is otherwise healthy and strong.

You can read more about the eaglet on this WVEC news report and also on the Norfolk Cam blog.

We feel especially sorry for the Norfolk fans, and for this eagle family, since this is the nest that lost their first batch of eggs to the intruder eagle earlier this season. The sole eaglet was seen as a bit of a miracle because it arrived so late and was the only eaglet to hatch and survive.

The other bad news of the past week was the dramatic happenings at the Pelican Harbor Eagle Cam on the Channel Islands in California. As I’ve mentioned in my web logs before, we always show a special interest in the Channel Islands’ bald eagles because of the history of the islands. The Channel Islands is a locale that was severally affected by tons of DDT (the now-banned pesticide) that were dumped into the California waters decades ago, which subsequently devastated the local bird populations (DDT moved up the food chain and weakened the eggshells of the local raptors that ate the contaminated fish). The Institute for Wildlife Studies, along with other local supporters, have been working to restore the bald eagle population on the islands, and this has involved removing eggs from the nests and swapping them with fake eggs, then incubating the real eggs by hand and returning them after hatching. This process has been necessary due to the fact that DDT still weakens the shells of the local eagle population.

This past week, the two seven-week-old chicks at the Pelican Harbor nest were accosted by a locally born sub-adult bald eagle. Cam watchers on that website witnessed the scary scene where the sub-adult bird hung out near the nest for a considerable period of time and then eventually attacked the resident chicks. A video on YouTube shows the footage where, despite the efforts by the chicks to scare the intruder off, the aggressive intruder swooped over the nest, dragging one chick out of the nest with him. A short time later, the intruder returned and did the same to the second chick.

Representatives from the Institute for Wildlife Studies were alerted to what had been seen on the cam, and they rushed to the remote nest as fast as they could. Both chicks were found beneath the nest (likely too heavy for the intruder to carry). The recent reports say the one chick has a puncture wound in its beak and the other has a fractured right wing that has since been set.

As for the parents, one parent was seen fighting off the intruder after the attacks, but unfortunately the parents did not appear to have been around when the eaglets were calling out and trying to scare off the sub-adult. Maybe the parents did not expect another bird to attack such big eaglets.

You can follow the action of this event as it was recorded on the Channel Islands’ Discussion Forum. Also you can see photos of the eaglets after they were rescued and as they were being examined by the vet.

Dr. Sharpe from the IWS said in a television interview that this attack by a local sub-adult of the same species — on large eaglets in the nest — was very unusual and not something they would have expected.

As if this news wasn’t bad enough, earlier in the season, the Channel Islands’ fans also lost the female adult bald eagle and two eaglets at what is known as the grassland nest — a nest that an eagle pair had built on the ground (possible because of a lack of land predators on the island). You can read more about the grassland nest on the Channel Islands’ forum .

In addition to these two events, the Channel Islands’ fans were dealing with the additional sad news that the eggs at their Santa Rosa nest did not hatch, so this has been a difficult year all around.

Although our Blackwater Osprey Cam this year was a bust, we feel lucky that our two eaglets — Intrepid and Destiny — have had a relatively uneventful season and appear to be doing well. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for them as they learn to fly and spend more time out in the world, where danger is great for all forms of wildlife.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

Tags:
eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland

 

(Eaglets eleven weeks old)

Our eaglets are now eleven weeks old, and if you look at this comparison shot, you’ll be amazed at how much they’ve changed in such a short period of time.

Normally eaglets fledge at around 9-13 weeks of age, so I went to the Refuge on Saturday to tape some video clips and to watch the video monitor at our Visitor Center to see if I could tell if Intrepid (our older eaglet) was flying. The eaglets were acting a little lazy on Saturday morning, but later in the day they became more active, and Intrepid did do a bit of flapping and branching, but did not appear to leave the nest. So at least as of this past weekend, it doesn’t look like he’s flying yet, although that could happen any day now.

Our younger eaglet, Destiny, will likely take that first leap not long after Intrepid goes, since the eaglets are close in age. Also, the sight of Intrepid flying around will likely motivate Destiny to get moving as soon as he’s able.

In our first video below (these videos are on YouTube as well) we see the eaglets at 10 weeks of age (the first two videos were recorded last week and the third is from Saturday), and in this clip one of the eaglets gives us a great view of his developing feathers. As he begins to flap, notice how his down feathers are falling off and blowing away — like snowflakes in the wind. Once the eaglets’ feathers are completely developed, the eaglets will have some remaining down feathers, but they’ll be under their feathers and close to their body.

4 MB

In the second clip, we see one of the eaglets doing a little nest maintenance (notice how much the nest is moving in the wind), then suddenly the eaglets become excited as they hear one of the parents returning to the nest. Next we see the father fly in with a fish, and one of the eaglets aggressively tries to take the fish from the parent, but the father hangs on and manages to feed both eaglets as they stab at the fish pieces. Gone are the days when the little chicks sat meekly in the nest and waited to be fed. :-)

6 MB

And in our third clip, we see the eaglets as they were on this past Saturday. In this video, Intrepid dances around the nest a bit as he flaps his wings, and he even jumps onto the branch briefly, but he does not leave the nest.

7 MB

It was breezy at the nest on Saturday, so it was interesting to see both eaglets flapping while also reacting to the windy conditions. Reading the wind is a skill that they’ll need when they’re riding the air over Blackwater Refuge and the Chesapeake Bay.

Speaking of Blackwater Refuge and the Bay, I wanted to talk a little in this web log entry about where the eaglets will go once they fledge. The Blackwater River is the main body of water within the Refuge, and the eaglets will spend a good deal of time perching near it and fishing in it over the upcoming months. What makes Blackwater Refuge a popular place for eagles (and ospreys) is that the local waters are very shallow, and since both eagles and ospreys get their fish near the surface, the waters offer a habitat that suits their fishing styles. Also, the Refuge has plenty of safe nesting areas and a healthy food population. Below are four photos that give you an idea as to where our eagles like to hang out. Click on the thumbnails for larger photos.

In the first shot, two adult eagles are perched over the Blackwater River and its marshes; this tree is a favorite perching spot near the Wildlife Drive. In the second photo, an adult eagle is perched on an empty osprey water platform. In the third shot, a perched eagle in the distance overlooks a fall scene where migrating geese fill the marshes. And in the final shot, the sun sets over a group of trees where immature bald eagles like to hang out together and watch for an easy meal in the river below.

While I was at the Refuge on Saturday, I saw quite a few immature bald eagles hanging out in the marsh and fields behind the Visitor Center. Often immature eagles (up to about four years of age) will stand or perch together — like a gang of teenagers hanging out on a street corner. It’s possible they feel less threatened with fellow immatures and it’s also likely the camaraderie may help them in their never-ending quest to find food.

In this photo that I took from a distance on Saturday, you can see a group of immature bald eagles of varying ages standing together near the water. Note how none of them have a completely white head yet. And in this next shot, you can see an immature bald eagle playing in the water that is behind the platform on the Osprey Cam. The two birds you see on that tall pole in the photo is our Osprey Cam pair, and the Blackwater River is in front of them.

So these are some of the places where our young birds will go once they are no longer bound to the nest. Blackwater Refuge is a wonderful place for a growing raptor, so we know they will have a wonderful time exploring the region, and we wish them all the luck in their future adventures.

Once our eaglets fledge, they will come back to the nest occasionally during the weeks that follow. The parents might meet them at the nest with a meal, and the eaglets might come back to sleep or just to rest for a bit. But eventually we’ll see less and less of them, and that will mean they are becoming independent young raptors that no longer need a nest. At that point, Blackwater Refuge — and the Chesapeake Bay area — will be their home.

Cam watchers have asked about bald eagles and migration. Many bald eagles do migrate, but the ones in the Chesapeake Bay region normally do not. During the winter, our adults will roam around the area but not really leave; however, areas like Blackwater Refuge will get more eagles during the colder months as bald eagles from up north migrate down here for part of their winter.

As for our immature bald eagles, young birds often roam for the first few years of their lives, since they don’t have the responsibility of a mate and chicks (that will come around five or six years of age). So while Intrepid and Destiny won’t migrate, they might roam over a large distance until it’s time to come back to Blackwater and settle down with a family.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

Tags:
eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland