Eagle Report for 3/5/18

Spring is Coming!

It's been a longtime since I posted on the blog and for that I apologize.  The new Bald Eagle Nest Watch program here in Wisconsin has kept me busy and the rental house's backyard has been extremely quiet for birds.  I have never had to throw out bird seed because it has sat so long but that is what I had to do with the lack of activity around the feeders.

As the calendar turned to March,  it started to feel a lot more like spring.  Some of the Bald Eagle pairs have officially started the breeding season and they are busy incubating eggs.  The above male is a member of one of those pairs.  He sat for me for a little while then flew over to the marshy area to grab some nest material and to take it back to the nest.  The nest can get pretty stinky with all kinds of half eaten prey and the eagles add their version of "potpourri" to help with that problem.

This is presumedly a younger pair since they didn't actually lay eggs last season.  If all goes well for the young couple, they should have baby eaglet(s) to take care of by the end of March.  Younger and less experienced eagles are a little what I call goofy.  They don't quite have the routine down and forget to incubate eggs, protect young eaglets from predators, start the season too soon or too late...etc.  This pair seems to be on the right track so far...

A few miles to the South, a more experienced pair are also busy incubating egg(s).  This was a beautiful sunrise from their territory.  This pair have been very productive for at least 5 years.  They have fledged close to 10 eaglets in those years.

 If you look real closely, there is a white head just visible in the nest.  This pair has been known to be a little sensitive to humans on foot so I have to keep my distance to not disturb them.  It will be interesting to compare the two nests as we progress through season.  They started incubating eggs both around the middle of February.  Hopefully with some luck, both pairs will be productive and fledge the next generation of eagles into the world.

First Weekend of Birding

Hello Wisconsin! 

I couldn't help myself.  I had to reference "That 70's Show",  A sitcom taking place in Wisconsin.  The first weekend of birding since we moved to Madison, WI was good but very buggy!  It was great hunting for the swallows, Eastern Phoebes and Eastern Wood Pee-wees that I saw but a little uncomfortable for me.  

One of the highlights of last weekend was the numerous Common Yellowthroats.  I don't recall ever seeing this bird in NY but I have only been looking for warblers for about a year.  The male's striking "black mask"  contrasted with his "yellow throat" is beautiful.  They did make photographing them a challenge since they are pretty much constantly in motion.  

This Veery gave me the eye while foraging on the path with its' cousin in the thrush family the American Robin.

This Red-winged Blackbird gave me his best angry face!

Here is another shot of the Common Yellowthroat.  On top of all that, I found my first Wisconsin Bald Eagle nest.  The Eagle Report will live on!  Happy Birding and I hope to chronicle more of my new experiences in Wisconsin.

Eagle Report for 7/2017

End Of Another Season

This report is a few weeks late but with moving to Wisconsin, I have been very busy!  We finished up the season in the Capital Region of NY with all eaglets fledgling in late June or early July.  The above two were very busy taking care of three eaglets.  Three eaglets is pretty rare and the food supply needs to be good enough to support their ever-growing appetites.  

Here are the three taking in late May.  One of three had a very eventful fledge...

I went out to the nest in late June to check on the three eaglets.  They were extremely active.  The three were flapping, jumping and taking mini-fights above the nest.  The smallest of the group(probably a male) went out on a small branch and started flapping hard.  He flapped so hard, he fell off the branch and luckily, a lower pine branch broke his fall.  Here is a poor shot of right before he fell.  He tried to hop up to the nest but there wasn't enough room to get through the branches.  Soon after that one of the adults returned to the nest with a fish.  The newly fledged eaglet missed a feeding but it appeared he was unharmed by his fall.  My guess is the other two probably fledged later in the day.  The next visit there was no eagle activity around the nest.  They had probably moved up or down river from the nest. 

 

The adults continue to feed the fledglings for at least a few weeks until the eaglets venture out on their own.  They must learn how to scavenge, hunt for themselves and master the art of flying.  

The first year for a eagle is very hard with only about 50% surviving to see their 2nd birthday.  Best of luck to all the fledglings!  

The end of season is always a little sad and exciting.  This year is even more bittersweet as I move to a new area of the country and say goodbye to the amazing Bald Eagles of the Capital Region.  The eagles of Dane County Wisconsin will have a tough act to follow but it will interesting to compare them with the eagles of Colorado and New York that I have observed previously.  

Wildlife Around The Nests

Great-blue Heron

I take a number of non-eagle pictures around the eagle nests.  All the nests are on prime real estate on the rivers and streams around the Capital Region of New York.  These areas that attract eagles to nests also attract other wildlife.  I have been trying to figure out how to post these pictures.  I guess, I will let them speak for themselves with a little commentary...

Right after, the heron took off to find a more private spot.

I have seen a lot of Beavers this season.  Off course, these guys love the water.

I almost tripped over this Snapping Turtle sunning itself in the grass.

Other birds are nesting and raising their young too during the long breeding season of the Bald Eagle.

White-tailed Deers are a common viewing at the nests.

This Northern Mockingbird was very cooperative and posed nicely on the top of a lighthouse lawn ornament.

Colorful birds like this Baltimore Oriole help to pass the time when the nesting season isn't particularly exciting.

Happy Birding!

Eagle Report for 5/4

Two Nests and Two Differing Reactions

I have always been fascinated by wildlife behavior especially in raptors.  How will they react to a certain situation is intriguing.  While monitoring Bald Eagle nests, I have seen many defenses of the nests by adult pairs.  Sub-adult Bald Eagles are a large portion of the intruders.  They have not yet reached adulthood to have a nest of their own and they are always looking for an easy meal.  They will take anything from an unguarded nest including an eaglet and any food left in the nest.    

Two nests separated by a few miles took a very different approach to the nuance of sub-adult Bald Eagle intruders.

If you have read the blog for awhile, you might have remembered this drama from last season.  The first nest seems to constantly have intruders around the nest.  The above pictures is of one of the adults chasing off one of the young eagles that got too close to the nest.  The adult hit the sub-adult 4 or 5 times while chasing it.  Obviously, the intruder had angered the pair and they wanted to make sure they proved their point.   The other member of the pair was back at the nest protecting the eaglets while this was going on.  They are a well tuned machine when it comes to defending their nest and nest territory.  No intruder goes by the nest without at least being warned to stay away.

At the second nest further downstream, the above young eagle soared and circled near the nest.  The adult perched nearby paid no attention to the intruder and it didn't even call out to warn the other eagle.  There was no sign of alarm at all.  The below picture was the reaction of the adult eagle.

Why would two nests close to each other and most likely dealing with the same group of young eagles react so vastly different?  It is hard to say for sure but it is very interesting.  We will see if the reaction from the past weekend by both nests is a consistent behavior or if they react differently in different situations. I am excited to see more... Stay tuned.

Eagle Report for 4/11

Eaglets are Here!

The eagle pairs in the Capital Region of New York are busy tending to their young eaglets.  I finally got a glimpse of a fuzzy head this weekend!  This is one of the most critical times in the nesting season.  The small hatchlings are too young to regulate their own temperature so the adults continue to incubate them similar to the what they do for the eggs.  The difference is a slightly higher position that allows the eaglets space to breathe.  While one of the adults is incubating, the other is hunting for food for the rapidly growing eaglets.  They return to the nest and rip off smaller pieces of the prey and feed them to the eaglets.  During one of the returns to the nest on Saturday, the male got a face full of eaglet poop! When they are older they poop over the side of the nest to keep the nest clean.  Oh the wonders of parenthood!

At this stage, there is an adult on the nest typically at all times.  The eaglets are too small to defend themselves and can be taken by other birds of prey, Raccoons, and other predator that can access to the nest. Here is an story of a nest defense from last season.

Quick update on the Red-shouldered Hawk pair

I have not seen much from the Red-shouldered Hawk pair lately.  I have heard some calling from the woods so I think they have eggs in the nest and the female is busy incubating.  In about a month they should have hatchlings.  More updates coming as their season continues.

Happy Birding and enjoy the more Spring-like weather!

Eagle Report for 2/8

The Eagle Pairs are Busy

Early February is an exciting time for Bald Eagle nest watchers like myself in the Northeast.   All the pairs at the nests that I watch are now busy getting ready for the season.   They are fixing their nests, reestablishing their bonds with their mate,  and removing younger eagles from their territories.  It seems that Eagles have a romantic side too.   Usually, most of the eagle pairs have eggs in the nest for Valentine's Day.  Who needs flowers when you can give little ones instead?

Eagles do have some time for some fun too!  The female in the above picture in particular was ready to take a ride.  At one point, The pair flew down on a thin ice sheet on the mostly unfrozen creek.  They loudly chattered at each other until the male flew off to perch in a nearby tree.  The female stayed on the ice sheet and like one of those "magic carpets" at airports rode the sheet up the creek.  She started out right under the nest and by the time she was done was at least a 100 yards upstream.  I guess this is public transportation for eagles.  Stay tuned for more updates throughout the nesting season.  

A male perched by one of the other nests.

Here are someone of the highlight from last season:

Drama at the Bald Eagle Nest

Hatchling are Arriving

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Could this be the same one?

I stopped by one of the Bald Eagle nests this weekend to see if there was any eagle activity.  I wasn't disappointed by what I found.  There was at least 4 juvenile/subadult eagles in the area fishing in the river and fighting with each other.   Included in the group was the above first year.   First-years Bald Eagle often get confused with Golden Eagles because of their almost all brown look.  The heavy bill of the Bald Eagle helps to identify them.  See my Which is Which? post for more and the Which is Which?-answers here.

Could this be the same eagle that I watched last season and fledged from the nearby nest?  It is tough to say(without a band) for sure but fledged Bald Eagles, even after the adults leave, often stay in the area for a time during the summer/fall.  Before reaching adulthood, young eagles are usually very nomadic.  Do you blame them?  They have this new skill of flying and they use it to travel a lot before settling down in adulthood.  I guess they have that in common with humans in their late teens and early twenties. 

Read more here and about the drama at this nest during the last breeding season.  Happy fall and birding!  Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.  

  

My First Ever....

Green Heron

It was uneventful weekend at the Bald Eagle nests this past weekend.  I guess that is a good thing for the growing eaglets.  I did see my first ever Green Heron in the wild on the way to one of the Bald Eagle nests.  What a cool looking bird! Its' coloring is subtle but also very striking. It was wading in a small pool of water near the edge of the Hudson River.  

Here is another shot that shows its' blueish head.  Happy Birding!  Read the first two post on the Bald Eagle nest season first here and second here.

Drama at the Bald Eagle Nest

Defending the Nest

The day started off pretty routinely at one of the Bald Eagle nests.  The male and female at this nest were busy finding food and feeding their two growing eaglets.  The male was doing the hunting and the female was feeding/watching over the hatchlings.  This is a shot of the female before the drama started.

Here is the female stretching her wings and taking a quick flight around before returning back to the nest.

Then another eagle flew near the nest.  At first, I thought it was the male returning with some more food for the eaglets but the female was visibly upset and was blocking the eagle from landing on the nest.  The intruder was a subadult Bald Eagle and was probably around three years old.  It takes 4-5 years for a Bald Eagle to reach adulthood and to have the distinct markings that it is known for.

The female continued to call for the male and defend her young in the nest.  She finally made a choice and flew at the subadult.  She warned the younger eagle with her massive talons and took a swipe at it.  It flew off landing in a nearby tree.

Here is a shot of the intruder perched in a nearby tree.  The female continued to call her mate back to the nest.  It felt like forever but actually was only a few minutes before he arrived.  The male quickly took up the task of chasing off the intruder.

Here is the male chasing off the intruder.

The chase continues as the male makes sure the subadult is removed from the area.  The rest of the time at the nest was routine and the threat was over.  Subadult Bald Eagles are notorious scavengers.  They are always looking for an easy meal.  They are still learning to hunt and fish.  Luckily, the nesting pair worked well together and defended the nest and the eaglets from harm.   Stay tuned for more Bad Eagle stories as the season continues.  In case you missed the first installment, you can read more here.

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Hatchlings are Arriving!

This is one of my favorite times of the year.  Spring has arrived and so have the eaglets.  Both of the Bald Eagle's nests that I visited this weekend had at least one hatchling each.  Right after I took this picture, the female flew off and I saw a little fluffy head pop up.  It is always exciting to see the next generation of hatchlings.  The activity at the nest will pick up now with the parents starting to feed their offsprings.  The eaglets will grow fast and the demand for food will grow too.

You can experience it too with the technology of nest cams.   The popularity has exploded for nest cams.  Here are some you might want check out:


Sauces Bald Eagle Nest

Decorah, IA Bald Eagle Nest

Minnesota Bound Bald Eagle Nest

Avon Lake, OH Bald Eagle Nest


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