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.  

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

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.