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