Our Eagle Cam has a technical problem, and since the eaglets haven’t been at the nest much due to their growing independence, we decided this might be a good time to take the cam offline for this season. The adult eagles normally return for the new nesting season in late November or early December, and that’s when we plan to be live again with our coverage of this wonderfully productive eagle nest.

Avis and Aquila — our two eaglets — seemed to be doing very well with their flying, since we saw them repeatedly after they fledged (see the latest Gallery update). They showed up at the nest whenever they needed to rest or when a parent dropped off a fish for them, and it appeared the parents were doing a very good job of taking care of the eaglets. So we have high hopes that both eaglets will continue to do well as they fly around the Refuge and learn more about what it means to be an adult eagle.

Over time we would expect Avis and Aquila to learn to fish for themselves, and they’ll likely learn to fish in the Blackwater River, which is the main body of water at the Refuge. 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 will be 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.

So our eaglets will spend the upcoming months learning to fish, hunt, scavenge, and become expert flyers. They’ll also likely learn how to steal fish from the neighboring ospreys (maybe even our Osprey Cam parents!), and then eventually they’ll strike out on their own and begin exploring areas outside Blackwater Refuge.

Chesapeake Bay bald eagles do not normally migrate — the adults spend most of their year in this general area — but immature bald eagles are not tied to a territory and a nest, so they will normally fan out over a broader area (maybe even into Canada) before they return to settle in the Chesapeake Bay region when they are around four years old and are ready to mate. When they reach the mating age, they will also have their fully white head and tail — just like their parents.

We wish Avis and Aquila the best of luck. Their parents have given them an excellent start in life, so we hope for the best. And we want to thank all our Eagle Cam fans for supporting our birds through another successful season at our Eagle Cam nest — especially those who sent in so many wonderful photos and questions.

We really do have a wonderful track record at this particular nest, so we anticipate the 2010-2011 season will also be an exciting one as well, and we hope all of you will join us when we are once again privileged to watch the nesting season of the American bald eagle.

Until next season,
Lisa – webmaster
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eagles, wildlife refuge, eagle cam, Blackwater Refuge, Maryland

Avis and Aquila are now about 13 weeks old, and we believe both eaglets have officially fledged. As you can see from the cam, it also appears one of them hit the cam box again, giving us yet another view of the nest tree. This happens each season, but one of these years we’ll find a way to secure the cam box tight enough so that it doesn’t move so easily.

We expect to continue seeing our eaglets on and off for the next month, although over time they’ll become less dependent on the nest and their parents, and eventually the nest will have such a small amount of activity that we’ll turn it off for the summer. But for now, we’re still enjoying some eaglet antics.

Our eaglets don’t realize it, but they’re very lucky in that they were hatched at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which has one of the largest breeding populations of bald eagles in the United States. Our eaglets will find lots of quality fishing spots, as well as lots of other bald eagles to mingle with. Sometimes when looking out the observatory window at our Visitor Center, you can see immature eagles hanging out together around the marsh or perching near each other in the tall loblolly pine trees — activities our eaglets might participate in one day. In the meantime, our Eagle Cam parents will be showing our eaglets how to catch a meal and where to roost at night, when the eaglets are not sleeping in the nest.

If you’ve never been to Blackwater NWR, and you’d like to see the environment where our eaglets will be flying and playing, be sure to visit our Facebook gallery — Blackwater NWR Overview — for some excellent photos of the Refuge habitat.

Our Eagle Cam parents did a wonderful job getting their two eggs through the record snowfall we had earlier this year (when we really thought they’d lost them), and now they’ve done an excellent job raising two confident eaglets that have fledged. The eagle parents have been an inspiration to watch, and we feel very lucky that we have this pair on our Eagle Cam.

Below we have three new videos to share with you. These might be the last eaglet videos we post, since we’ll soon start recording action on our Osprey Cam as hatching time draws near for our three eggs. As always, please note that the videos below are also being offered on our YouTube channel for those who prefer to view them that way. For the clips below, left-click on the link to play the Windows Media Video file or right-click and choose “Save As” to download to your computer.

In our first video from May 15, we see a parent (possibly the father) fly in with a very small fish and immediately abandon it to the aggressive older eaglet — Avis — who then begins mantling the food, just because she’s big and she can. Soon Aquila notices his big sister isn’t eating it, so he takes the initiative and lifts the meal after offering her a peck to show he means business.

In the next video, which is the first from May 22, we again see the parent bring a fish and quickly release it to what appears to be Avis. It’s important to remember that at this age, Avis is bigger than her father and dominates the interactions between them, at least when it comes to the all-important meal time.

And in the final video, which is the second clip from May 22, we see a few takeoffs and landings from our newly fledged eaglets. In the first two shots, notice how the nest and camera shake from the power of the birds. They really have turned into mighty raptors.

We appreciate the photos that our cam watchers have sent in from the Eagle Cam. We’ll try to get the gallery updated next week, and we’ll continue to update the gallery until the Eagle Cam is turned off, probably sometime in late June, depending on when the action stops.

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

We have some new videos to share with you, and I think after watching them you’ll notice the dramatic change in our eaglets’ behavior now that they’re around 10 weeks old and very close to flying. Our eaglets are definitely becoming young raptors. No longer do they meekly sit in the nest and wait for the parent to feed them. If they see some food they want, they go for it.

Please note that the videos below are also being offered on our YouTube channel for those who prefer to view them that way. For the clips below, left-click on the link to play the Windows Media Video file or right-click and choose “Save As” to download to your computer.

In our first video, which is from April 16, we see one of our eaglets flapping and hopping around the nest, and you can see how much stronger their wing movements are now. It’s possible that our oldest eaglet — Avis — is branching a bit, but I don’t believe both eaglets are branching because we often see at least one of them in the nest. But in the coming few weeks, both eaglets should be hopping out onto the branches of their nest tree to prepare for their first flight. (First flights are normally at 10-13 weeks of age).

In our second video, from April 23, we see an interesting interlude between our eaglets. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what they’re doing, but they appear to be simulating the movements a grown bird would make when feeding an eaglet food.

And in our final video, which is from April 24, we get a dramatic look at one of our eaglets practically attacking the adult (and biting its talon) as it returns to the nest with a fish. This aggressive behavior shows our eaglets are rapidly becoming assertive young raptors that go after what they want, and this eaglet wanted the meal.

After the parent regains control of the meal in the video, both eaglets eat politely for a while, but then the aggressive eaglet one again lunges for the fish and grabs a big chunk, leaving the adult with a small bit of the remainder. At the end of the video, we also see the aggressive chick exhibiting some mantling behavior, which is when a bird protects its meal by spreading its wings and body over the food.

We did hear from one of our Refuge volunteers that while watching the cam monitor, they saw a parent drop off a still-flapping fish in the nest. Both eaglets then jumped on it and ate it by themselves. So our young birds are proving that they have learned how to grab live prey, kill it, and eat it themselves. Our chicks are growing up.

We’ve asked the volunteers and staff at the Refuge to keep an eye on the Eagle Cam monitor and let us know if they see any signs of branching or first flights in the coming weeks.

Other Eagle News

A couple quick notes. Be sure to check out the CCB Eagle Nest Blog to learn about the banding of the Norfolk Eagle Cam eaglets. They have some wonderful photos on that blog.

Also, they opened the hacking tower door for Noah — the Carolina Raptor Center eaglet that was raised by captive parents — although I don’t believe she flew on her first day.

Until next time,
Lisa – webmaster
Support the Blackwater Cams
Contact Us

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