We have some eagle videos to share in this post, but first I wanted to share some interesting eagle news from the Refuge.

On January 10, the Refuge held its 29th Annual Mid-Winter Eagle Survey. Our surveys are part of a national effort to track the health of local eagle populations. Participating in the Blackwater Refuge portion of the survey were 27 volunteers and 7 employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and despite the relatively mild weather conditions in early January, a record number of eagles were sighted during the morning portion of this two-part survey effort. A total of 145 eagles, consisting of 108 bald eagles, 1 golden eagle, and 36 unidentified eagles, were observed during the morning count. And in the evening roost count, 130 eagles were observed, including 120 bald eagles and 10 unidentified eagles. At least four additional golden eagles that were not detected as part of the official survey were observed by survey participants.

When the winter is mild, Blackwater Refuge often sees fewer eagles because the warm weather means the eagles can stay up north longer (or not migrate so far south). But even with the milder weather, Blackwater’s count this year was very good. To give you an idea of how our bald eagle population has grown, in the 1980 eagle survey, we reported only 24 bald eagles!

Although some golden eagles were spotted in the survey, normally Blackwater Refuge does not see many golden eagles since they are more of a western raptor. But one of our volunteers — Dave Brenneman — got a chance to photograph a golden eagle during the survey, and he was kind enough to share his beautiful photo with us. This golden eagle is sitting in a loblolly pine tree — the favored tree of nesting bald eagles.

It’s important to note that immature bald eagles can look a lot like golden eagles, so birders have to look extra hard to be sure that what they’re seeing is really a golden eagle. At Blackwater, any brown eagle-sized raptor is more likely to be an immature bald eagle, but occasionally birders get lucky and see an actual golden eagle.

In addition to the survey, we had some other excitement on January 10 — a rehabilitated adult bald eagle was released at the Refuge. In December 2007, this injured bald eagle had been transported from Blackwater Refuge to Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research in Newark, Delaware, and treated for soft tissue damage. This eagle returned to the Refuge on January 10, and was released with the help of Tri-state staff and Refuge volunteers. The release photo is also courtesy of Dave Brenneman.

As always, we thank Tri-State for their excellent work in saving and rehabilitating local birds that have had run-ins with cars, power lines, windows, and even other birds. Tri-State is always looking for volunteers, so be sure to check out their website.

And for our last piece of eagle news, I wanted to report that we have a new bald eagle nest that was just discovered near our popular Marsh Edge Trail on the Wildlife Drive at the Refuge. Since the eagles appear to be getting ready for nesting season, the Refuge management has decided to close this trail until about April, so as not to disturb the eagles while they might be tending eggs or young chicks.

So if you visit the Refuge and are disappointed to see our scenic Marsh Edge Trail closed, you can try some of our other prime eagle-spotting places, such as the rest of the Wildlife Drive, as well as along the lower reaches of Maple Dam Road, which you can reach by taking a right at the end of Key Wallace Drive. (Note that Key Wallace Drive is the road where the Visitor Center is located). In fact, many folks don’t bother to go out on Maple Dam Road, even though it possesses some of the most beautiful and unspoiled sections of marsh at the Refuge. So if you’re up for exploring, be sure to drive south of the Refuge and check out the less visited sections of Blackwater. (Note that this section of road is also very popular with cyclists.)

Eagle Videos

I was out at Blackwater Refuge on Monday, and while the eagle activity was a little quiet, I did see two adult bald eagles playing in the sky a bit. During mating season, eagles will perform a sort of aerial dance that you may have heard about, although it’s common to hear the story repeated that bald eagles will mate in the air, with talons locked, as they’re free-falling to earth. While it is true that bald eagles will engage in dramatic aerial displays when courting, the real mating or copulation occurs on the nest or in a tree — not in the air.

As for the bald eagles’ aerial displays during courtship, most of them are very impressive. One is called the cartwheel display, where the eagles will fly high, lock talons, and then cartwheel to earth, only breaking apart at the last moment before they hit the ground or water. Another is the chase display, where after chasing each other they will lock talons and roll together. And finally there is the roller-coaster display, where an individual eagle will fly high, fold its wings, then plummet down, only to swoop up at the last minute to avoid hitting the earth. While these aerial activities are certainly captivating to watch, eagle biologists report that the ritual of building the nest together is probably more powerful in securing a tight bond between the pair.

While I was at the Refuge, I also recorded some live video from our Eagle Cam. Left-click on the links below to play the movies or right-click and choose “Save Target As” or “Save Link As” to download the movies.

In the first video clip, watch in the upper left corner and you’ll see the male approaching the nest. He lands in the branch on the left, then works his way up into the nest. Next the female arrives and they engage in a short tug-of-war over a stick (which she wins), followed by a little pecking. Notice in this clip how much bigger the female eagle is compared to the smaller, more compact male.

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In the second video clip we see the male leave and then return a short while later. Both eagles then engage in some fussing with the grass and sticks in the nest — moving things around and doing general housekeeping. They do this a lot, and we sometimes see the older eaglets mimicking this behavior once they’re in the nest.

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A couple technical notes: 1) our videos do not have audio because there is no microphone on the cam and 2) you can see some yellow artifacts in the clips; this was some noise in the video signal and not yellow coloring on the birds.

We’re still hoping for eggs soon, as our eagle pair certainly looks ready for another nesting season. We won’t be worried about an egg-less season unless they go into mid-February without producing one. At that point, we might have to reevaluate our prospects for seeing chicks.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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Tags:
eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, eagle video, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland

 

First, a nest update. On Sunday morning — after a brief period of snow — our female eagle was seen sitting down in the nest. After she left, we could see a small indentation in the nest where the nest cup will likely be when she’s ready to lay eggs. In two of our three years of the Eagle Cam, the first egg appeared around January 24-25, so we’re getting close to that prime time.

Normally eagles do not like to spend a lot of time in the nest, especially at night. They prefer to be perched in the trees during the day, and even at night when they sleep. So anytime we see the female actually sitting down in the nest, we get excited because it means she is gearing up for nesting season.

In the last three years of our cam, the one huge hint that something was about to happen was when we saw the female spending the whole night on the nest. Every time we have seen this behavior, an egg appeared the next morning. So we’re keeping an eye out for shots showing the female on the nest late at night in the sleeping position; that will be our cue that she feels an egg is about to be laid.

Florida Eagles

For those who missed my note on the Eagle Cam page, the Audubon of Florida Eagle Cam has one or possibly two eaglets in their nest. Go to the “For the Love of Eagles” forum and scroll down about halfway to see a cute photo of one eaglet.

Florida raptors — both eagles and ospreys — nest earlier than our birds here in the north. This is because the Florida parents want the young out of the nest and independent before the brutal Florida summer arrives. In fact, quite a few of Florida’s immature bald eagles actually head up here — to the Chesapeake Bay — for the summer, as we have less intense heat and lots of fishing for the young birds. Once the summer passes, the birds head back down toward their home state.

Pelican Island NWR

Speaking of Florida, I wanted to spend a little time talking about a very special place in Florida — Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, near Sebastian, Florida on the east coast.

During the late 1800s, it was the fashion in America for women to wear bird feathers on their hats. According to Audubon Magazine: “In 1886 Frank Chapman hiked from his uptown Manhattan office to the heart of the women’s fashion district on 14th Street, to tally the stuffed birds on the hats of passing women. Chapman, who would later found the first version of this magazine [Audubon], was a talented birder. He identified the wings, heads, tails, or entire bodies of 3 bluebirds, 2 red-headed woodpeckers, 9 Baltimore orioles, 5 blue jays, 21 common terns, a saw-whet owl, and a prairie hen. In two afternoon trips he counted 174 birds and 40 species in all.”

Despite a great deal of effort by conservationists, it was unbelievably hard to get the fashion industry — and American women — to cut back on the demand for bird feathers, even though millions of birds were being slaughtered for the fashion market.

Pelican Island was one of the last stands in this war between feather hunters and conservationists. The little island was a favorite target of hunters, but it was also the last breeding ground for brown pelicans on the entire east coast of Florida, and after hearing about the pelican slaughter on the island, Teddy Roosevelt signed an executive order in 1903 establishing Pelican Island as the first federal bird reservation. Local boat builder Paul Kroegel was hired as the first national wildlife refuge manager at Pelican Island, and he was paid $1 a month by the Florida Audubon Society, as Congress had not set aside funds for this executively created refuge.

Being a warden protecting birds from feather hunters was dangerous work — in fact two other wardens were killed in the line of duty. Kroegel — who had a family homestead near Pelican Island — had watched the hunters blast away at the pelicans, and he was determined to do his best to protect the local bird life. When Kroegel saw the hunters approaching, he would head out with only his boat and gun to protect him, and there is no doubt, Kroegel was the best friend the birds could have.

Kroegel remained the refuge manager at Pelican Island until he retired in 1926. In 1963, Pelican Island was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior because of its status as the first federal area set aside specifically to protect wildlife, and in 1968, Florida expanded the lease with the refuge to include 4,760 acres of mangrove islands and submerged lands. In 1970, Pelican Island became the smallest wilderness area (six acres) in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Pelican Island received another honor in 1993 when it was recognized as a Wetland of International Importance. The refuge has since acquired over 500 acres through purchases, management agreements, and conservation easements along its eastern boundary to provide a buffer against encroaching development, and provide a link to the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge.

I recently paid a visit to Pelican Island NWR, and it’s truly a wonderful location for wildlife. In 2003, which was the 100th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System, a Centennial Trail was built at Pelican Island to honor the Refuge System’s anniversary. The trail features a boardwalk with planks that honor each refuge in the System. I searched for the Blackwater NWR plank and found it near the end of the walk (the planks are arranged chronologically). The very last plank in the long boardwalk is for Pelican Island NWR — the very first refuge.

At the end of the boardwalk is a gazebo that offers an overlook of Pelican Island and the beautiful Indian River Lagoon. The entire area really is an amazing place, filled with mangrove islands and loads of bird life. The lagoon also hosts manatees.

I also visited the charming town of Sebastian, Florida, and it’s attractive Riverview Park, which offers another view of the Indian River Lagoon, as well as a life-sized bronze statue of Paul Kroegel — the first refuge manager and the pride of Sebastian. (See the statue here).

Pelican Island is not without its problems these days. Encroaching development, erosion, sea level rise, infestation by exotic species, and budget and staff cuts threaten to undermine protection of the refuge. But despite these challenges, I think Paul Kroegel would be proud to know how the Refuge System has grown and how many species have been protected because Teddy Roosevelt made that first declaration way back in 1903.

If you’d like to see current photos of Pelican Island’s bird life, visit the Osprey Watch website where our friend Bob Montanaro follows the adventures of ospreys at Pelican Island NWR. Bob recently went on a boat tour around Pelican Island, and you can see his photos showing the many pelicans.

And if you’d like to learn more about Pelican Island and its history, visit the websites below. Visitors should definitely make a stop at the attractive town of Sebastian, Florida. Besides Riverview Park, the town also offers nice amenities for tourists to the area. Also note that on March 8, 2008, they will be holding the Pelican Island Wildlife Festival.

Pelican Island NWR
Pelican Island NWR Friends Group
Saving Pelican Island

And more about Paul Kroegel
One Person Can Make a Difference

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

Tags:
eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland, Pelican Island Refuge, Florida

 

At this point, we hope that we’re getting close to some egg-laying, which might occur around the end of January. We’ve seen promising signs from our Eagle Cam couple, such as the two of them bringing food to the nest and adding grass and pine needles to the nest cup. In past blogs, I’ve talked about the eagles’ fondness for pine needles; it seems there has been speculation by biologists that the presence of pine needles helps reduce parasites in the nest.

In the past few days, we have seen more shots of immature bald eagles on the nest, but these visits will end once our eagle couple gets down to serious nesting. Even if the immature eagles are former cam eaglets, the parents will not likely tolerate the birds hanging around the nest when the eggs or chicks are there. To illustrate this point, check out this eagle nest diary from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. When you get to the link, scroll down to the “Guardians” entry and read how the nesting parents reacted to an immature bald eagle near their nest and chick. He was definitely not welcome.

Blackwater Refuge Photos

In this blog post, I wanted to talk a little about some of the recent photos photographer Bob Quinn has posted in his online galleries, which I’ve linked to from our cam pages. For those who are not aware, Bob is a part-time photographer who spends some of his weekend time at Blackwater Refuge and often shares his photos with us. We greatly appreciate Bob’s generosity, especially since his photos give our website visitors a wonderful “seasonal snapshot” of what is going on at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge throughout the year.

In one of Bob’s recent photos, we could see an adult bald eagle and an immature bald eagle in the trees together. Visitors to the Refuge will often see eagles perched together in trees, although a more common sight is to see several immature birds perched in a group; this habit of hanging out together likely helps the inexperienced birds find more food sources.

In this next shot we see a flock of tundra swans, which are among the more beautiful and majestic birds at the Refuge during the winter. In the past, we’ve had quite a few visitors write or call to inquire if the tundra swans have arrived at Blackwater, as many birders enjoy seeing them. I have noticed that the tundra swans will often stand near the flocks of snow geese, so if you see a big group of snow geese at the Refuge, look closely for tundra swans mixed in with them.

Speaking of geese, Blackwater also hosts a large population of Canada geese, and these are probably the most abundant birds at the Refuge during the winter. While Blackwater Refuge does have some resident Canada geese, the majority of the Canada geese you’ll see during the winter are true migrants. In fact, many of the geese wintering on the Chesapeake Bay breed in northern Quebec, up to 1600 miles away.

In this next photo from Bob, we see an adult bald eagle among a group of Canada geese and a few mallard ducks. This eagle wouldn’t likely be a threat to healthy geese since they are so large, but eagles will pick off waterfowl that are sick or injured, especially since those types of birds are often isolated or slow to fly away. Also, unlike ospreys, eagles will eat carrion, so the food we see the eagles eating on the cams might have actually died before the eagles got it.

Next is a photo of two Northern pintail ducks, which are one of my favorite ducks because they are so handsome. Northern pintails were once one of the most abundant waterfowl species in North America, but their numbers have declined dramatically, which makes seeing them now a special treat. In addition to pintails and large populations of other duck species, Blackwater Refuge also gets large numbers of snow geese and red-winged blackbirds at this time of year.

In this next shot, we see two adult bald eagles perched on a snag at the Refuge. Eagles often like to perch in a high spot where they can survey their watery environment (which explains why they like to perch on the Osprey Cam nest). A couple years ago, a very popular eagle snag in the Blackwater River fell down during a storm. Bob Quinn was the one who actually told me it had fallen, and he was as distressed as we were because it had been one of the best places to get a close-up view of a perching bald eagle at Blackwater. So the volunteers and staff at the Refuge (with the help of the local utility company) put up this new snag that you see in Bob’s photo, and it sits in about the same place as the old tree. Based on Bob’s galleries, we can see that the eagles definitely approve of their new perch.

And finally, here is a beautiful shot of sunset at Blackwater Refuge. This photo reminds me of how wondrous a place Blackwater Refuge can be at the end of the day, when you’re standing on the Wildlife Drive and watching the sun go down in one direction while the moon rises in the other direction. And it’s especially magical if you’re there while the geese are flying in from the neighboring cornfields, because you can watch as they slowly float over the wetlands, honking to one another as they settle in for the night.

We hope that you will plan a trip to Blackwater Refuge in 2008, as it really is one of the most beautiful places in the National Wildlife Refuge System. If you’d like to learn more about visiting the Refuge, be sure to check out our Visitors web page, and also take a moment to look at our Blackwater Refuge Virtual Tour.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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