May 18, 2005
Photos & A Fledgling Eaglet
First, we are excited to announce that we believe the oldest eaglet, Athos, has begun flying.
We saw an interesting exchange on the cam nest Tuesday morning, where the oldest eaglet suddenly appeared with a very small fish (much smaller than anything the adults normally bring), and then proceeded to eat it all himself without sharing any with the youngest, who tried to get a piece. During the meal, we didn't see an adult, but one came on the scene not long after, holding its own much larger fish, which the same parent began eating.
We've also seen shots where the parent eagle has been feeding only one eaglet and not two. In addition, there have been several nights now where the youngest eaglet has been alone in the nest for long periods. It's likely the oldest is spending some of his time roosting in the tree, possibly with the parents. So when we add it all up, we think there's a good chance Athos is airborne.
And speaking of the cam nest, we wanted to post this great photo we have showing our Eagle Cam nest from the ground. It was taken awhile back using a telephoto lens so as not to disturb the birds, and it shows one parent on the branch watching over the eaglets in the nest. You can also see our camera attached to the tree. We thought you'd enjoy this perspective as you can see the branches where the eaglets are often sitting these days. Click on the thumbnail photo for a larger version.
On a technical note: Several cam watchers have written in to ask if we could move the camera so we could see more of the eaglets flying. Our fixed lens camera is positioned in just about the only place we could put it, so we're committed to the view we have now. We could go up and try to move it higher, but we don't want to spook the youngest eaglet into jumping out of the nest prematurely. We are looking into ways that we could offer a more flexible view next season, using something like a zoom camera. We've learned a lot in our first Eagle Cam season, so we'll try to put it to good use this December when we hopefully start another year with the eagles.
Finally, we have some news and photos from Vermont. Amy Alfieri, the Hack Site Coordinator, reports that she thinks the birds from different nests are getting along well. She says that the volunteers monitor the eaglets' behavior and they haven't seen anything too troublesome; in fact, she often sees the eaglets playing.
She also reports that they'll likely wait before opening the boxes until all the birds are ready to go. She said normally the time difference between those who are ready and those who are not is only a few days.
We also want to share two new photos from Vermont. Steve Costello, the Vermont Initiative photographer, sent these beautiful close-up photos of the Maryland eaglets at the hacking tower (we're not sure if either is ours). Click on the thumbnails below for a larger version.
 |
 |
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster