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

 

Happy Earth Day to everyone!

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, by 20 million people across the country, and every year since then concerned citizens in America have tried to mark this day as a moment to raise awareness about our environment. If you’d like to read about how Senator Gaylord Nelson organized the first Earth Day back in 1970, visit the Wilderness Society website for more information.

In honor of this day, I thought it would be a good time to talk about the interesting relationship that exists between eagles and ospreys — the two wonderful raptors that we celebrate with our web cams. Eagle and osprey populations in the U.S. were not always as healthy as they are today. In the post World War II years, large amounts of the insecticide DDT were introduced into their environment, and the poison affected the ability of eagles and ospreys to reproduce successfully — much in the same way that DDT in the waters off California is affecting the reproductive success of eagles in the Channels Islands today. The eventual recovery of eagle and osprey populations was greatly helped by the environmental awareness that grew out of events like Earth Day and the publication of Rachel Carson’s seminal book Silent Spring. In fact, DDT was banned in America two years after the first Earth Day was held.

Eagles and Ospreys

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is fortunate in that it has a large population of both eagles and ospreys, so confrontations between the birds here is not uncommon. Often when the two raptor species tangle, the battle is about fish. Ospreys are considered perhaps the best anglers in nature, and while eagles are also skilled at catching fish, they are better known for being opportunists that will sometimes use their larger size and greater power to steal a fish from an osprey rather than catch it themselves.

The bald eagle’s propensity for theft is what gave it a less than noble reputation in the eyes of founding father Ben Franklin. In a letter to his daughter, Franklin voiced his objections about the eagle:

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.”

Biologists today are not as critical of the bald eagle and recognize this fish-stealing habit as an effective survival skill rather than a moral defect. And the eagle does often find success because despite efforts on the part of the osprey to keep its fish, many accounts of the birds’ battles end with the osprey being forced to drop its meal. But if the osprey puts up a fight, then you might see something more dramatic.

In the book The Bald Eagle: Haunts and Habits of a Wilderness Monarch, one of the authors describes an event on a Saskatchewan lake that showed a surprising twist to the usual skirmish:

“The eagle attacked from a few feet above and to one side of the Osprey — once, twice, and then a third time. On each pass the Osprey visibly flinched, for the eagle’s talons barely cleared its back. We anxiously awaited the outcome. Many observers had described how typically the Osprey drops its fish, and with surprising agility the Bald Eagle snatches the fallen prey in midair. We were not prepared for what happened. After three unsuccessful attacks, the eagle turned to brute force. This time coming up fast from behind and below, the eagle flipped onto its back, thrust its talons upward, and ripped the fish right out of the Osprey’s grasp. What a sight! After quickly righting itself, the eagle turned and flapped leisurely to deposit the booty on its nest.”

During the times when the osprey comes out on top, it’s often because it outsmarts the eagle. For example, sometimes osprey couples will team up to protect their food from the eagles. Our Blackwater ranger, Tom Miller, witnessed this when he saw an osprey fly toward an eagle to intercept it while the osprey’s partner quickly flew to the home nest with the fish.

In addition, ospreys can be even more aggressive if they’re protecting their young and their home nest. At Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, local photographer Bob Montanaro captured this type of event on film as he watched a group of four ospreys drive off a group of immature bald eagles that were flying too close to the ospreys’ nests. Be sure to view these amazing photos where you can see the osprey aggressively flying at the immature eagle and making it clear that the ospreys will not tolerate the eagles in their territory.

At Blackwater, our ospreys at the Osprey Cam nest will react to bald eagles that are perched in the woods to the left of the nest. You can’t see these woods on the cam image, but it’s an area where eagles sometimes like to sit, and the close proximity to the osprey platform makes the ospreys agitated when an eagle is there.

A few years ago, I was at the Refuge with my video camera and was lucky enough to capture an episode showing the cam mother chasing off an eagle that was trying to perch in the trees near the cam. The first video below shows the eagle flying into the trees near our Osprey Cam nest and the other shows the mother consequently dive-bombing the eagle. In this instance, the mother did a good job of sending a strong message to the eagle, but it was somewhat risky for her to have to leave the chicks alone to do this. (Left-click on the Windows Media Video file links below to play, or right-click on the links and choose “Save Target As” to download to your computer):

Eagle Flyby (3.5MB)
Osprey Dive-bombing (2.5MB)

Just recently, photographer Bob Quinn was out at the Refuge and witnessed a similar episode between our Osprey Cam birds and an eagle that had been sitting in those trees. His photo (on the right) offers a dramatic glimpse at how these aerial battles look when a smaller raptor tries to take on a much bigger challenger.

Even with all the ospreys’ spunk and determination, there is no denying the fact that bald eagles are more powerful. A great example of this can be seen on a YouTube video I saw recently that shows a bald eagle taking a fish away from an osprey on Lake Merwin in Washington state. The speed with which the eagle overtakes the osprey is truly amazing to watch. The chirping you hear in the background is the osprey “yelling” at the eagle for stealing its meal. In such a situation, there’s not a lot the osprey can do but accept the fact that the eagle won this battle.

[A sidenote to teachers and parents — this video includes a slightly muffled profanity at the end by one of the observers in the video who got excited watching the scene, so just a little warning for the youngsters in our audience.]

Happy Earth Day!

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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