Eaglets eleven weeks old

As our regular cam watchers can testify, our two eaglets — Chesapeake and Choptank — are spending less time at the nest now that they’ve become more skilled at flying. Next in line for our eaglets is developing their hunting and fishing skills, which will be the hardest abilities to master but will determine if they survive their first winter.

In the fall of this year, our eaglets will eventually become fully independent and will break off from their parents for good. At that time the eaglets will have to provide their own meals and will truly be on their own. Many young eagles do not make it through their first winter because they have difficulty catching or finding regular meals, so the preparation that our eaglets are doing now — developing these important food-finding skills — are crucial for their long-term survival.

Wildlife research has taught us that young bald eagles that are searching for easy food (and not bound by a mate or nest) will travel long distances, often showing up in areas that might surprise us. Solar-powered satellite transmitters are the devices that allow researchers to follow the movements of birds (and other animals) to discover just where they go and when. In the Chesapeake Bay area, bald eagles have been tracked in the past by different organizations (educational, nonprofit, and government) using satellite transmitters, which incorporate technology that is becoming more sophisticated every year. Although many eagles in the Bay area have been tracked, most of the birds studied have been from the Upper Chesapeake Bay rather than from the Lower Chesapeake Bay, which is where Blackwater NWR is located (see map).

Earlier this week, I had mentioned on our cam page and on our Twitter account that folks from the Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) at the College of William and Mary went to the Norfolk Eagle Cam on May 20 and fitted the cam’s biggest eaglet (a female named Azalea) with a satellite transmitter. This was exciting not only because we got to watch the event on their live cam but also because this is one of the somewhat rare instances of an eaglet from the Lower Chesapeake Bay being fitted with a solar-powered transmitter that could potentially tell us a great deal about where these eaglets go when they leave home for good but before they reach breeding age (about 4-5 years of age).

The CCB folks did say that the transmitter should last about a minimum of 3 years, but eventually the eaglet could pull it off, so the transmitter does have a limited life. They also mentioned that eagle research using satellite transmitters has revealed that Bay eaglets sometimes travel north to areas like Labrador, Canada and south down to North Carolina, so even though our adult bald eagles in the Bay area don’t migrate much, their offspring can explore a wide area before settling down.

And since we’re talking about satellite tracking, I should mention that there is some controversy about putting satellite transmitters on birds — especially young birds that have not fledged yet. While the transmitter pack is often fitted using soft teflon ribbons (a more bird-friendly fastener), there is some concern that it could offer an unnecessary impediment to a young bird that is trying to learn to fly. On the Norfolk Eagle Cam blog, they did report the following:

The largest of the chicks will be selected to ensure the best fit. Choosing the largest of the eaglets will also reduce the ratio of the weight of the transmitter relative to the eagle. As a general rule of thumb the weight of a transmitter shouldn’t exceed 3% of a bird’s body weight. The transmitter being used weighs 70 grams (equivalent to about 14 U.S. nickels). At the time of the banding the largest eaglet was #2 (readable band HH) at 2973 grams. By the time the bird fledges the transmitter will only be about 1.5% (or less) of its body weight. The eaglet will be weighed and measured again while on the ground being fitted with the transmitter.

So it does appear that the CCB folks are being cautious in not burdening the eaglet with something that will interfere with its ability to fledge in a normal way, just like its siblings.

Be sure to visit the Norfolk Eagle Cam home page where they have links to a slide show and video showing Azalea being fitted with her transmitter. Also visit the websites EagleTrak and WildlifeTracking.org to learn more about the tracking of Chesapeake Bay bald eagles.

Note that Azalea is still a nest-bound eaglet at this time, so her tracking information will not get terribly exciting until she has fledged and begun exploring her home area. We wish her the best of luck for a long life that will hopefully further our knowledge of the movement patterns of young bald eagles.

As for our two youngsters — Chesapeake and Choptank — we have what will probably be our final round of video clips to post, and we’ll do that in the coming week, so stay tuned to our site. Even though the eaglets are around less, we’re still not done with the season.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland

Eaglets ten weeks old

We hear from our Refuge gift store manager that on Saturday, she saw what definitely looked like an eaglet flying into the nest. We suspect this was Chesapeake, since the older bird was further along in its development than our younger eaglet, Choptank. In the last few days, we had noticed images on the cam showing one eaglet by itself, looking longingly out into the woods. So with Chesapeake and the parents flying, it should provide good motivation for Choptank to join them as soon as the young bird is ready.

We did notice today that the cam view has moved to the left. This usually happens at this time of year when the eaglets are jumping and flapping around the nest a lot. Eventually they thump the cam box just the right way that it moves slightly from its braced position.

One cam watcher wrote in this evening because they were concerned that one of the eaglets was holding its wing funny (like it might have been hurt), but we don’t see any sign that either eaglet is hurt. Sometimes the birds air out their wings and feathers by holding them out while lying in the nest.

Gender

We’ve been trying hard to examine any images where the two eaglets are together to determine if one bird is bigger than the other, and right now I’m beginning to think they look similar in size. If that’s true (meaning they’re the same gender), than the next question is how big do they look compared to the female adult — which would be a good indication as to whether both eaglets are female or male.

Other Eagle Nests at Blackwater

Photographer Bob Quinn posted some new photos recently that included shots of another bald eagle nest at Blackwater Refuge. The nest in his photos has one eaglet this year, and the photos give a good look at how big an eaglet that’s about to fledge is when compared to an adult. Our eaglets are likely about the same size, so you can see how much they’ve grown in just 10 weeks. And to drive that point home, here’s a photo comparison from our nest showing how much the eaglets changed in just two months. Amazing!

Hornby Island Eagle Cam

I did have some sad news to pass along, and the main reason I share this is I know a lot of our cam watchers follow other Eagle Cam nests, so I thought it might be of interest. The well-known Hornby Island Eagle Cam (which is located in British Columbia, Canada) had two young chicks — Hope and Echo — and yesterday Echo perished in a very bizarre accident that is something I haven’t seen before on a raptor cam.

Echo somehow became entangled in its mother’s feathers on the underside of her body. The Hornby Island cam personnel were at a loss as to what could have happened, but they speculated that the chick either got tangled in her feathers, tangled in something she had attached to her leg (like fishing line) or “glued” to her by way of excrement possibly from one of the chicks.

The end result was the mother could not disengage poor Echo from her underside, and after a long period of trying (and the chick chirping in distress) she flew away — apparently on two different occasions — eventually returning the second time without Echo. The Hornby Island cam personnel later found Echo deceased on the ground.

Today on the Hancock Forum they said that after examining Echo, there did not appear to be any sticky areas on the chick to indicate how it became attached to the parent, so it appears the strange accident will remain a mystery. They have since buried Echo in a garden on the property:

A “forest flame” shrub is on one side of him and a scented azalea on the other side. He is surrounded by blue bells, hyacinth and bleeding hearts. A deep red rose and a white rose grow up the fence behind him.

The beach can be seen from here, the deep blue water and the distant mountains - lovely surroundings for our lovely little eaglet. He is now resting in peace.

You can read more about Echo and see video of the events (it comes with a warning because it’s a little disturbing to see the eaglet in distress) on the Hancock Wildlife Channel Forum.

Here at Blackwater we have had tremendous luck with our Eagle Cam families over the last five years, but events like this remind us that we shouldn’t take anything for granted, because each season brings new opportunities for peril and misfortune.

And while we’re grateful to have Internet cams that give us such intimate views of nature, watching does come with a price — and the price is that we will occasionally witness sad and awful events. But they too are a part of nature.

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

Eaglets nine weeks old

Chesapeake (our older eaglet) and Choptank (our younger bird) have been doing a lot of branching lately, but we hear from the Refuge staff that there are no clear signs of flying yet. Eaglets normally fledge around 9-13 weeks of age, so if they had flown, it would have been a bit early.

Cam watchers have asked about their gender. We’re not sure because it’s been hard to get a good shot of them side by side (the one on the right is about the best we have), but we do think there is a chance that Chesapeake is a female (she looks longer) and Choptank is a male, but again we’re waiting for a good shot of them lying side by side before we can be sure.

Cam watchers have also asked about what will happen to the eaglets when they do finally fledge. Normally the first flight is a short one — maybe to a nearby tree where a parent is perched and then back to the nest. Very often the landing is the most difficult part of the first few flights. Eaglets may know instinctively how to fly, but landing is a skill that must be perfected. If you visit the wonderful site ARKive, you can see an interesting video of a white-tailed eaglet (a close cousin to our American bald eagle) flapping and then taking its first flight. At the end of the clip, we see the eaglet swimming (something bald eagles can do as well). It’s not clear, but perhaps the swimming was necessary because the eaglet accidentally landed in the water. :-)

In the book The Bald Eagle: Haunts and Habits of a Wilderness Monarch (by Jon Gerrard and Gary Bortolotti) the authors witnessed a bald eaglet’s bad landing near Bernard Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada:

“Flapping slowly but strongly, C2 cruised past the nest, banked toward shore, and crashed into the canopy of a tree. We could hear the slapping of wings against branches all the way to the blind. When it was over, C2 was hanging upside down from a limb and holding on with just one foot. From out of nowhere the adult male flew in, calling excitedly, and soon perched on a spruce directly above his clumsy offspring. The adult female took off from the nest, circled above C2, and joined in the chorus of cackles. C2, rather calmly, just hung there, occasionally looking from side to side. After three minutes, C2 released his grasp and crashed to the ground.”

The authors played the good samaritans and retrieved C2, placing him on a rock near the nest. When they returned the next day, he was perched in a smaller tree near his home nest and he sported a bulging crop, showing that the parents had recently fed him and he was fine.

Once our eaglets have fledged and practiced their landings for a while, they’ll soon be as graceful as their parents. But the eaglets (or new fledglings) won’t be independent just yet. Chesapeake and Choptank will come back to the nest occasionally during the weeks that follow, and we’ll likely see them on occasion into the month of July. The parents might meet them at the nest with a meal, or 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’re becoming independent young raptors that no longer need a nest. At that point, Blackwater Refuge — and the Chesapeake Bay area — will be their home.

Immature bald eagles do not settle down right away — they won’t even get their adult plumage (white head and tail) until about 4 years of age — so in the meantime they’ll wander around, learning to hunt and having adventures as single eagles. They might even venture to locales up and down the Mid-Atlantic coast before coming back to the Chesapeake Bay area to seek out a mate and a potential nesting site when they’re about 4 or 5 years old.

If you’ve never been to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and you wonder what kind of habitat the eagles have to enjoy, here are four photos that offer a nice look at the Refuge. Blackwater NWR is home to one of the largest breeding populations of bald eagles in the United States, so our eaglets are very lucky that this is where they were born and where they can one day return again to raise their own families.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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