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.  

Be Careful of What is Lurking...

Junior Practicing Hunting

The immature Red-shouldered Hawk has been busy practicing hunting in my yard since his first visit.
I have seen two unsuccessful attempts at getting, what I think was, a Chipmunk from under this feeder.  The birds and squirrels in my yard like usual are very unconcerned with his presences.  I guess you never know since Red-shouldered Hawks do take birds but so far junior has stuck to trying to master the art of hunting rodents.

Here is a shot of him from his first visit.  I have seen very little of the adult pair.  Maybe they allow their offspring to figure it out on his own?  Typically, the parents keep feeding the newly fledged hawks for a time but I'm not sure if they are still doing this or not.

Happy Birding and enjoying the new additions to the bird world!

The Newest Member Of The Family

The immature Red-Shouldered Hawk finally visited my yard.  I have seen it flying with it's parents several times but it hadn't perched in my yard till today.  I believe it's a male and fledged about three weeks ago.  He was holding up one of his legs in this shot.

 
He was rudely greeted by the songbirds in my yard.  A group of American Goldfinches, House Finches, Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches took turns mobbing the youngster.  Then the Grey Squirrels joined in.  He had to switch perches a few times to avoid the group.  In the above picture, he was trying to get a better view on one of the birds harassing him.

It looks small so I think it's male though it's hard to say for sure unless I see it with one of the adults.

Here is an older shot of the proud parents.  Happy Birding and enjoy the new fledglings in your area!