Eaglets eight weeks old

We wanted to get caught up with our latest batch of eaglet videos, so we’ll do that in this post. Remember that these videos are also available on our Blackwater YouTube Channel.

To view the videos below, left-click on the video link to open in Windows Media Player or right-click the link and choose “Save Link As” to download.

In this first video from March 27, we see the two young eaglets scratching their new pin feathers, then later in the clip we see a cute scene where they play Simon Says and both stretch their left wing out — one right after the other.

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In the second video from March 27, we see a feeding session, and at the end we see Chesapeake (the older eaglet) take a few nips at the parent’s tail feathers before the parent leaves the nest.

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In the first video from March 29, we see a collection of activities from the eaglets — slicing, stretching and scratching. Just a day in the life. :-)

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In the second video from March 29, we see Chesapeake attempting to pull off some meat from a leftover meal in the nest, then we see a nice wing flap from the same eaglet.

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In the first video from April 5, we see the father eagle feeding the eaglets, but then the mother eagle comes and takes some food from him and then begins to participate in the feeding session as well.

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And in the final video, also from April 5, we see the eaglets engaging in some playful snapping as bedtime nears. At the end of the clip, it almost looks like the mother attempts to end the squabble by putting grass on the older chick.

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We hope you enjoyed these videos, which offer a nice recap of our eaglets’ early days. And in case you missed the posting, we have chosen our winners in the Eaglet-Naming Contest (see our contest page). Now the eaglets are called Chesapeake and Choptank. Congratulations to our winners and much thanks to all who participated.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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

Eaglets seven weeks old

At this stage, our older eaglet might be only a few weeks from its first flight. Normally eaglets fledge around 9-13 weeks of age, although we expect our younger eaglet won’t fledge until 10 or 11 weeks of age since its development fell a little behind during the bullying period.

Cam watchers have asked if the eaglets can feed themselves at this stage, and we do think they are able to tear up food, although they might have trouble making the first rip in a newly caught fish. In this recent photo we can see one of the eaglets nibbling on some leftovers in the nest. Although it’s possible the eaglets can feed themselves to a certain degree, we have noticed in previous seasons that even when the eaglets can rip off food, they often like to have the parent feed them if the adult is nearby. I guess it’s just easier to have Mom do it!

Branching

Each day our eaglets get a little bigger and a little more independent, and it’s a bit sad to think that in the near future they’ll both be gone from the nest for a good part of each day, flying around the Refuge. But before either eaglet makes that scary first leap, they’ll spend a good bit of time branching. Branching is when the eaglets hop out onto the branches of their nest tree and perch there. This activity helps them develop their perching skills (remember they’ve been sitting in the nest all this time) and also gets them acclimated to maneuvering in and out of their nest and around the tree branches.

Our friend Woody Dawson, who photographs eagles near Susquehanna State Park in Maryland, loaned me this animated GIF (975KB) that he made showing one of his local bald eaglets branching. Notice how the eaglet uses its wings to maneuver its talons along the branch. Once the eaglet is in a secure place on the branch, it can perch there and observe the world around its home nest.

The loblolly pine tree that holds our web camera — and the eaglets’ home — has several branches for the eaglets to choose from. If you look in the bottom left corner of our current Eagle Cam image, you can see a branch that points to the left; in past years we’ve seen eaglets use that limb for branching, so it’s likely this year’s eaglets will use it as well.

We did see a photo from Monday where only one eaglet was clearly visible in the nest. We’re not absolutely positive, but we could speculate that during this time the older eaglet might have been engaged in some brief branching. We’ll continue to keep an eye out for photos showing either of the eaglets standing on that branch or jumping from the branch back into the nest.

In our next blog post, we’ll have some new video clips of our eaglets. And as a reminder, we’ll be announcing the winner(s) of our Eaglet-Naming Contest around the end of the week. Thanks again to all those who took the time to send in their names.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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

Eaglets almost five weeks old

We have a few new videos to post in the blog. These videos are also on our BlackwaterRefuge YouTube Channel — see the first three videos on the channel page.

To view the videos below, left-click on the video link to open in Windows Media Player, or right-click the link and choose “Save Link As” to download.

In the March 8 clip posted below, you notice a common sight from this season — the mother eagle digging up grass and putting it over the fish meal and then the eaglets. We’ve noticed the mother eagle covering the chicks more frequently this year, although we’re unsure as to why she’s doing it even now when they’re bigger. But she probably covers them to camouflage the chicks (or the meal) from birds flying over the nest. After this clip ended, the eaglets quicky uncovered themselves again. :-)

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In the clip from March 15, you see the father eagle fly in with a fish during a pause in a rainstorm. The mother takes the fish and starts to feed one of the eaglets, although the eaglet seems to get distracted by something toward the end of the clip and the mother is left holding out the food.

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And in the clip from March 21, you see the parent come in with a meal that appears to be the foot of a bird. The younger eaglet starts to feed, but the older eaglet asserts its dominance by pecking the other chick on the head, and the younger eaglet puts its head down and turns away from the meal. This is how the bullying by the older eaglet worked, although there does appear to be much less bullying in the nest at this time. At the end of this clip, the younger chick sneaks a bite.

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We have some additional video from the nest, but I haven’t had time to edit it, so we’ll save it for another post. But both eaglets seem to be doing well and, as I mentioned earlier, there does appear to be less bullying now that the younger bird is getting bigger.

Also, I wanted to repeat something I mentioned on the cam page — folks have asked about the gender of our chicks. We won’t know that until they are close to fledging. By then they will be almost fully grown and we’ll be able to compare their size (to each other and to their parents) to see what gender they are.

On a slightly different topic, I had someone ask about us setting up a deer cam, but the person didn’t include their email address. We don’t plan on starting a deer cam, but there is a good one currently online in western Pennsylvania. Be forewarned that they have a couple different cam shots, and one of them sometimes has a deer carcass, which is used to attract other animals like foxes and birds. The PA cam is especially interesting at night when the live deer and raccoons can appear in large numbers. During the early morning, the cam often has wild turkeys.

As a reminder in case you missed it, we recently updated the Eagle Cam Gallery. Also, our Eaglet-Naming Contest is open until April 18.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
Contact

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