We got the news today that the Norfolk Eagle Cam did get their third egg, although it was a tad late, so we’ll have to wait and see if it hatches. Here’s wishing much success to our neighboring cams at NCTC and Norfolk.

As for the Blackwater Eagle Cam, we’ll be the first to see hatching among the three eagle cams, and it usually works out this way because our eagles tend to lay their eggs earlier than the Virginia and West Virginia cams. We hope to see hatching around February 27-28 and then again on March 2-3, although we could see hatching a day before or after those date ranges.

So what should cam watchers look for when hatching time arrives? The amazing thing is that because this is our fifth year with the Eagle Cam, we can say with some certainty what should happen if the eggs are fertile. It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t that long ago when most people had no idea what happened in a wild eagle nest during nesting season. Now we’re all getting to be old pros — although that certainly doesn’t diminish the magic of seeing brand new eaglets come into the world.

In the past, we have had eggs hatch in the morning and also the late afternoon, so we can’t say for sure when we can expect hatching to begin. For those who are new to our Eagle Cam, here is a series of shots showing the first egg hatching in our 2004-2005 season. During that season we had the camera closer to the nest, although it proved to be too close when the chicks got bigger, so we’ve since moved the cam further up the tree.

When the eaglet is ready to hatch, it will turn itself inside the egg and pierce the egg’s air sac, then the chick will take its first breath of air from within the shell. Next the chick will use its neck muscles and egg tooth (on the tip of its beak) to pip or punch a small hole in the shell. The eaglet will continue to slowly turn and peck until it has cut a hole around the diameter of the shell so that it can push out the bottom half and free itself. This process is very tiring for the chick and can take 24 hours to complete since the young bird will frequently stop to rest. Once the eaglet is out, it will be wet and tired with its eyes closed, but it won’t be long before it dries off and is soon able to see and sit up.

Here you can see a photo of our first eaglet in the 2004-2005 season sitting up for the mother eagle, even as its sibling is hatching right beside it.

The parents will be our best clue that something is happening. When the eaglet first begins to chirp from inside the shell, the parents will hear it, and so we can watch their body language for signs that they hear something. If the parent in the nest looks fidgety or keeps getting up and looking at the eggs, that means the parent hears something.

Cam watchers often ask if the parents help the chicks during the hatching process. Biologists normally say that the parents do not, although I occasionally hear the rare story about a parent that pulled on a piece of the eggshell to help the chick. If those kinds of stories are true, then they are the exception, as normally the parent lets the chick work its way out on its own.

As those who were with us last year know, we think we had a new father eagle last year because he seemed to struggle with bringing food to the nest for the chicks on a regular basis (unlike our father from previous seasons). It’s possible something happened to our previous father and our female found a new mate. So this year, we’ll be watching closely to see if the father does what a good eagle provider is supposed to do — bring food to the nest so the female can spend most of her time with the chicks.

Up to this point, both our parents have been eating their meals away from the nest (like at the Osprey Cam platform), but on Thursday night we did see the father bring in what looked like a bird and share it with the female at the nest, so that might be a good sign.

Also cam watchers often get worried when they don’t see the chick being fed right away. This is not a reason for alarm. Before the eaglet hatches it absorbs the yolk and uses that for early nourishment. So if we don’t see the parents feeding the eaglet right away, that doesn’t mean that the eaglet is being deprived of food. Once the eaglet is hungry, the parents will know and will try to respond.

I want to thank all our cam watchers for their photos and comments. We’ll try to get the gallery updated before the hatching begins.

Best of luck to our parents in the coming weeks!

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

As we mentioned on the Osprey Cam page last week, it seems that suddenly we’re seeing quite a few immature bald eagles — of varying ages — on the osprey nest platform. In fact on Friday we saw what looked like an older sub-adult on the platform with what could have been one of our Eagle Cam adults.

The Osprey Cam platform is a popular perching spot for eagles because it’s right near the Blackwater River and it offers a high-level view of their fishing grounds. When the ospreys return in mid March, the eagles will no longer perch on the platform, but for now, it’s theirs to enjoy.

But why would we suddenly be seeing so many bald eagles? It’s probably because the weather turned much colder in large parts of the country and also in Canada, and many of these bald eagles that were riding out the winter up north have decided they want to come down to a prime fishing area that has slightly more moderate temperatures.

Eagles from the north nest later than our birds here at Blackwater, so while our birds are incubating eggs, these northern birds are waiting for it to warm up where they normally nest. Some eagles will remain up north during the winter — especially if they are near open water (like at a dam or on the coast) and can find food, but others will move around in search of easier meals. Also keep in mind that immature bald eagles are not tied to a nest or partner, so they can hang out wherever the temperature is good and the food plentiful.

Cam watchers often ask if they can see many eagles at Blackwater Refuge during the winter. Blackwater actually has more eagles in the winter than in the summer. Two factors contribute to this trend: 1) our resident eagles do not migrate south — they stay in the region, although they may wander a bit; and 2) since the Chesapeake Bay area (where Blackwater is located) has a good amount of food and is not as cold as the northern states, some northern eagles choose to come down here for part of their winter. If the winter is mild up north, we tend to see fewer eagles at Blackwater in the winter; but if the weather turns cold, our numbers increase.

In January, Blackwater NWR holds it’s annual Mid-Winter Eagle Survey, where U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees and volunteers go out on a particular day and do an eagle count, both in the morning and in the afternoon, when eagles are getting ready to roost for the night. Visit our 2009 Mid-Winter Eagle Survey results page to see this year’s count. Our numbers were a little lower than other recent years, but the survey was taken before the weather turned cold.

Speaking of northern eagles, another interesting fact is that bald eagles from the north are bigger than bald eagles from the south. The largest bald eagles are in Alaska and the smallest are in Florida, although there can be overlapping in other areas of the country. But this means that a male bald eagle from Alaska would be bigger than a female bald eagle from Florida — even though females are bigger than their male partners. This size trait is referred to in zoology circles as Bergmann’s Rule, which states “that within a species the body mass increases with latitude and colder climate, or that within closely related species that differ only in relation to size that one would expect the larger species to be found at the higher latitude.” So the colder the home climate, the bigger the eagle.

As for our resident eagles here at Blackwater Refuge, our ranger reports that the Refuge has over 20 bald eagle nests, with approximately 30-40 nests on adjacent or surrounding lands, and over 100 nests located throughout Dorchester County, which is where Blackwater is located. In fact, Dorchester County has the most bald eagle nests in Maryland, as you can see from this Maryland DNR Bald Eagle Nest Survey from a few years ago.

Eagle Festival

A reminder for all our cam watchers that we will be holding our 9th Annual Eagle Festival at Blackwater NWR on March 14. If you’re an eagle fan, this is an excellent time to come visit since we’ll be offering free Eagle Prowls during the Festival. An Eagle Prowl is where you can tour the Refuge with an eagle expert who will help you spot our many bald eagles and some of their nests. In addition, you’ll be able to see live video of our Eagle Cam and Osprey Cam on the TV monitors at our Visitor Center. We should have eaglets by then, so this means you’ll be able to watch live video of our chicks! So be sure to join us for what is our most popular event of the year.

Visit our Eagle Festival page for details. And if you’re interested in spending the night in the area, visit the Tour Dorchester website and click on “Lodging” for details (note that Cambridge is the nearest large town to the Refuge — about 11 miles — and they have a good selection of lodging).

Eagle Cam and Osprey Cam

As webmaster at Blackwater, I’m asked a lot of questions, but among the most frequent are “How far apart are the Eagle Cam and Osprey Cam nests?” and “Are the immature bald eagles on the Osprey Cam our eaglets from past Eagle Cam seasons?”

The answer to the first question is that the two cam nests are about 1/4-1/2 mile from each other, so for a large flying raptor, it’s not very far, and we’ve seen our adult eagles fly the distance in a relatively short period of time. The answer to the second question is that since we don’t band or mark any of our eagles at the Refuge, we can never be sure which birds they are. So while we can guess at the age of immature bald eagles that we see, we’ll never know which nest they came from — or even if they’re Maryland-born birds.

Thanks to everyone for their photos and questions. As a reminder, we hope to see hatching action start around February 27.

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