(Eaglets nine weeks old)

We’d like to once again congratulate the winners in our 2008 Eaglet-Naming Contest: Lenita Gullman from Middleton, New Jersey and Denny Motsko from Reston, Virginia. Our older eaglet is now known as Intrepid and our younger eaglet is Destiny.

Our eaglets are getting close to the point of fledging — maybe a couple weeks away. I was at the Refuge on Saturday and watched the video monitor to see if I could spot an eaglet jumping into the nest from one of the branches. Unfortunately at that point it still looked like they were stepping around the nest, so it didn’t seem like they had spent any time out on the branches of the nest tree.

However, we have noticed that since Saturday, both eaglets seem to be spending a good bit of time out of view. There is a possibility the eaglets are perching at the far bottom of the nest, which is the one area out of view of our web camera. Earlier I posted this photo on the cam page to show you what area I’m referring to. This photo was taken in 2006 when our camera slipped — or was accidentally pushed by the eagles — and we were forced to look at the back of the tree for a while. You’ll also notice there is another branch in this area — one I forgot about — where our eaglets could eventually branch before they fledge.

Since there is a chance Intrepid or Destiny might be perching on that branch near the bottom of the nest, I’ve asked our staff and volunteers at the Visitor Center to let us know if they see any live video where it looks like one of our eaglets is jumping into the nest from one of the tree branches. If I hear anything, I’ll be sure to pass it along.

Trail Eaglet

As I mentioned on the cam page earlier this week, we have a trail at Blackwater Refuge where you can see a bald eagle nest off in the distance. This nest has one eaglet, and I saw the young bird sitting out on the edge of the nest on Saturday. Lately we’ve seen our own eaglets sitting near the edge and gazing out like this. Now that the birds are getting close to taking that first big leap, you can’t help but wonder what they’re thinking when they look out at the world this way. The eaglets have only seen a very small part of the world so far, and they have so many amazing adventures ahead of them. In the next web log entry, I’ll talk more about the areas where our young birds will be flying and eventually catching their own fish.

Eagle Videos

Today I have two video clips to share. I’ve posted these on our YouTube channel, but you can also see a slightly less compressed version here. Left-click on the WMV video links below to play or right-click and choose “Save Target As” to download to your computer.

In the first clip, we see the father in the nest with a fish he brought. We don’t see much of the father these days, but he is around and he does occasionally help feed the eaglets. During the clip, the father hears or sees another bird flying around the nest (it might be the mother — you can see the shadow of a flying bird at one point), and he calls out, and then in the next clip you see the mother land in the nest.

7 MB

In the second clip below, the mother lands, and once again you can see the noticeable size difference between the two parents, with the mother being a good deal larger. For mom, one of the benefits of being larger is that she gets what she wants, so when the father doesn’t move away from the fish fast enough, she gives him a couple open-beak pecks to move him off the fish. Looks like the honeymoon is over. :-)

The father flies away, leaving his fish behind for the family, and the mother proceeds to feed an eaglet. Although it’s interesting to note that the father fed one eaglet and the mother fed the other. Nice teamwork.

7 MB

Technical Issues

We know our cam watchers have been a little frustrated about that fact that we don’t have a zoom camera that can show us more of the nest — especially when the eaglets take to their favorite spot near the trunk of the tree, which is out of our view. Our cam technician and I are once again starting to look for a zoom camera that might fit our unique needs at the eagle tree. This would be a camera for next season, but since the search could take a while, we’re starting it now.

There are certain things we won’t compromise on. First our camera is high in a tree and deep in the woods, so the camera must be able to support a wireless connection. Also, we use a waterproof camera because “weatherproof” cameras have proven to be unreliable in strong rain and fog. Finally we don’t want to give up our night vision — or infrared technology — which allows us to show you the wonderful night images we see. So with those conditions in mind, we’ll try to find a zoom camera that will give us more flexibility in showing you different views throughout the season.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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