Technical Update: First, we want to apologize for the trouble we’ve been having with our satellite dish. When our problem first appeared, our dish provider suggested we reboot the dish modem to fix our issue, and that worked in the beginning, but the problem has come back and the fix doesn’t seem to be working now. It’s possible we need upgraded software, so we’re trying to get this issue wrapped up before the hatching starts, which should be around March 1.

Our parents are doing a good job of incubating the eggs, and so far they’ve had pretty good weather, although it was very windy on Sunday with powerful gusts. We always get a little nervous with really strong winds since eagle nests do come down in windy weather, but fortunately our nest is in the woods, so the surrounding trees help diminish the wind speed.

At the end of last week we saw a couple funny sequences on the cam showing one parent putting grass on the other parent, who was sitting on the eggs. Here you can see the images: Image 1 and Image 2. If you remember, last year we captured some video of the mother putting a pine branch on dad, which he promptly took off, only to have mom put it right back on him. We’re still not sure why the parents do this, but it’s amusing to watch.

Incubation Videos

I have two new videos to share. I captured these last week after both our eggs had arrived. 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, we see the male eagle sitting on the eggs, and then the female arrives with some fresh grass in her talons. The male eventually gets up off the eggs and flies away, and the female then settles over the eggs and begins incubating them. One thing worth noticing is how she aerates the grass in the cup before she sits down on the eggs. Another thing to look for is how once she’s down, she rocks her body back and forth to ensure that the eggs are tight against her brood patch.

6.8 MB

In the second video clip we see the parent getting up and gently rolling the eggs with both their talon and beak. Often eagle parents will curl up their talons when rolling the eggs so as not to accidentally puncture them.

6 MB

Scenic Blackwater Refuge

Our friend Georgena Terry — the founder of Terry Precision Cycling — was recently at Blackwater Refuge and shared with me some beautiful scenic photos she took from our Wildlife Drive. In the first photo we see the Blackwater River, the marsh, and a group of geese sitting out on the water. The trees on the left are a popular perching place for bald eagles. And in the second photo we see another part of the river marsh at a different time of day, with geese both on the water and in the air. For those who have never been to the Refuge, these photos are classic Blackwater. Much thanks to Georgena for sharing her photography.

Miscellaneous News

As we reported on the Eagle Cam page earlier, the Eagle Cam at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia now has three eggs. Much congratulations to them!

Also, we saw an interesting bald eagle post by John Blakeman on the Pale Male raptor blog. What’s interesting about the post is how raptor-expert Blakeman talks about Ohio bald eagles that are nesting inland — away from water — and what they’re finding to eat.

As the bald eagle population in America grows, and choice coastal nesting spots become harder to find, more eagles may be forced inland to find areas to raise their young. While it’s possible for eagles to adapt, it will mean they will have to move away from a predominately fish-based diet, to a diet that more closely resembles the golden eagle, which is common in the West. No one is really sure how successful bald eagles will be at making this adaptation.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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

 

I decided to hold off posting a new blog entry until I was sure all the eggs had arrived. As it stands, we have two very healthy-looking eggs in the nest, and we’re very pleased with the amount. Two eggs is a normal clutch size and the extra egg gives us insurance in case one of the eggs doesn’t hatch — although there’s no reason to think that both won’t hatch.

Here is our 2008 egg scorecard:

1st egg
Laid: January 26
Possible Hatch: March 1 or 2

2nd egg
Laid: January 30
Possible Hatch: March 5 or 6

Paula, who is one our regular cam watchers, has posted a video on YouTube showing the moments when our first egg was laid. Be sure to check out her movie, and much thanks to Paula for sharing this.

Although bald eagle eggs can hatch anywhere in the 32-36 day range, the eggs we have had in previous years have normally hatched on the 35th or 36th day, so that is how I calculated the hatch dates.

As past readers of the Blackwater blogs know, we often pay attention to how much time there is between the laying of each egg because it will determine how far ahead the oldest chick will be in development. Our youngest egg was over three days behind the oldest egg, so we kind of hope the youngest chick hatches at the early part of its date range, so it isn’t too much smaller than the oldest chick. If the size difference is large, it can increase the chances of bullying by the oldest chick.

I wanted to post some of the egg information that I know a lot of our cam watchers are wondering about. First regarding the size of the eggs: According to the Journey North website:

“The eggs are dull white in coloration and may appear with some darkish flecks or staining. The surface of the shell is rough when compared to a chicken egg and the overall shape is rounder when compared to many bird species. On average, an eagle egg will measure 2.75 inches long by 2.25 inches wide, surprisingly small for a bird that will grow to have a six and half foot wingspan and weigh between 10 and 14 pounds before it leaves the nest in July.”

Once they arrive, newborn bald eaglets are about 4-5 inches in length, and weigh about 70-105 grams at birth, but will gain up to 180 grams a day. In fact, it’s been stated that bald eaglets are the fastest growing birds in North America. So our eggs may start out small, but once the chicks arrive, they will grow very fast.

Both parents have a brood patch, which is a featherless area on their breasts that is infused with blood vessels and is sensitive to temperature, and they place the patch against the eggs to keep them warm. (It’s helpful to think of the brood patch as a hot-water bottle resting against the eggs.) In addition to using the brood patch to keep the eggs warm, the parents also use the nest cup to keep the eggs protected from the elements, and you might have noticed how the nest cup actually has walls to keep in the warmth. Our eagle parents take turns incubating the eggs, although the mother does it more often, and the parents also turn the eggs about once an hour to ensure that the embryo does not stick to the inside of the shell.

If the parents do a good job of keeping the eggs warm and turning them in a timely manner, then the cells inside the egg will begin to turn into healthy organs, wings, a beak, a tail, etc. However, there are times when eggs don’t hatch, and there can be several reasons for this, such as the egg was infertile, the parents had a poor diet or were exposed to pesticides, the eggs were not turned often enough, the eggs were not kept warm enough, or the membranes and tissues inside did not develop properly.

I know some cam watchers are concerned when they see the eggs uncovered, but keep in mind that the parents are the best judges as to how warm the eggs are at any given moment and how long they can be left uncovered. Also, when it looks like the eggs are alone, it’s important to remember that just because we can’t see the eagles does not mean they are not nearby. In fact, an adult eagle could be sitting in the branches just above the cam watching the eggs the entire time.

Some folks have also asked about us centering the cam now that the female has chosen to have the nest cup toward the back of the nest. Legally we cannot disturb the eagles until the chicks are about a month old, so the cam that sits up in the tree is off limits to us until that time. We have noticed that the camera has moved a bit to the left, and we think that was caused by the eagles bumping the cam box while flying in and out. We’re hoping it doesn’t move much more, since our view is still good, but that is part of the gamble with an Eagle Cam — once you put the equipment 80-feet up in a tree with a protected (and often human-sensitive) species, you can’t risk disturbing the birds once eggs or small chicks are in the nest. So we’ll just keep our fingers crossed that our good view holds for the next couple months.

And last but not least, I wanted to point out a photo that shows a position a couple cam watchers had wondered about. In this shot from the cam, we see the adult using its preen gland. The eagles have a preen gland — or oil gland — at the base of their tails. They remove oil from the gland and put it on their feathers to clean them and waterproof them. Even if the adult is spending a lot of time on the nest, it still needs to waterproof its feathers to protect it from snow and rain. So when you see the eagle in this position, it’s often removing oil from its gland and spreading it on its feathers.

Norfolk Cam

I also wanted to briefly mention the Eagle Cam in Norfolk, Virginia because they posted some interesting shots the other night of a Great horned owl visiting the eagle nest. In fact, the owl didn’t just visit — it sat down in the nest for a while and made itself at home, and later tried to attack the female while she was laying the first egg. Check out this video on YouTube which shows the attack.

Great horned owls have been known to take over eagle nests, and they can also be predators of raptor chicks (and sometimes even raptor adults, like ospreys). But while it seems unlikely the owl could ever harm a full-grown female bald eagle, it could definitely cause enough trouble to interfere with proper nesting and incubation of the first egg. Hopefully the eagle parents will be able to persuade the owl to stay away.

Woody Dawson

Finally, I wanted to mention some good news related to our friend Woody Dawson. Woody is a wonderful photographer who photographs eagles along the Susquehanna River in northern Maryland and also in Alaska, and I’ve occasionally shared his work in my blogs. Woody just notified me that six of his photos were just used in a brochure put out by the U.S. Mint for their new bald eagle commemorative coin series. Here are two images showing the brochure: Image one and Image two. The only photo that is not Woody’s is the image on the far right on the first brochure — that is a photo of Challenger, the captive bald eagle from the American Eagle Foundation. Right now, these are the only copies we have of the brochure, but we wanted to share them, and we wanted to congratulate Woody on this wonderful honor. If you’d like to see more of Woody’s work, be sure to visit his website.

Technical Note
One closing technical note: We’ve noticed that our cam pages have been a bit sluggish lately, even failing to load sometimes. I’ve notified our ISP and we’re looking into the issue, which is likely being caused by our web server. We’ll try to get it cleared up before we get close to hatching time. Thanks for your patience.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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

 

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.

6 MB

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.

6.8 MB

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
Contact

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