April 18, 2007
Eaglet Videos Pt. 3
Before we get to our new eaglet video clips, I wanted to pass along some fantastic news that was just announced this afternoon. As many of our Blackwater Refuge supporters know, over the last year we've been fighting a large housing/commercial development that was going to be built just upstream from Blackwater Refuge. The development would have potentially had a devastating impact on the water quality at Blackwater -- water that holds the food for much of our wildlife. But today, after much effort by local citizens, the Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Maryland Board of Public Works agreed to buy 70% of the land that was to be developed. With this purchase, the land nearest the Refuge will not only be preserved but will be rehabilitated and protected for the citizens, for the health of the Refuge, and for the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Now a much smaller housing complex will be built, but away from the local river and away from Blackwater Refuge.
You can read the CBF press release on their website. We want to thank the CBF and the Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth for spearheading the campaign to stop this mega-development, and we thank the Maryland government and all those who helped by signing the CBF petition and by writing letters. If the wildlife could party, they'd be partying today!
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The other big news in the past week was the powerful nor'easter storm that moved up the East Coast and caused a lot of havoc for humans and wildlife due to the heavy rain and hurricane-strength winds. Such strong winds often bring down nests, and locally we did lose a few including an osprey nest on the local Severn River that blew down (along with the eggs it was holding) and also a well-known eagles' nest at Shorters Wharf near Blackwater Refuge. The Shorters Wharf nest held two eaglets at the time that it came down, but fortunately the eaglets survived the fall. We hear that one eaglet has a fractured wing, but he is expected to recover. The birds are now at Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research -- the local facility that does such an excellent job of helping our bird life. Much thanks to Tri-State for coming to their aid.
We were very fortunate here that our osprey platform and eagle cam nest survived the storm, and we hear that other cam nests did well too. The eaglets at the Norfolk Botanical Garden survived the storm, and on Tuesday they were banded live on their Eagle Cam. In Maine, they say that the Eagle Cam nest and family are doing fine although many humans are still without power there [Updated Note: I've just heard that there might be a problem at the Maine nest. The parents have been off the nest a lot today, indicating something might have happened to the young.] And from what we can tell at the Barton Cove, Massachusetts Eagle Cam (which is having technical problems) the two chicks are hanging in there as well.
Speaking of the Barton Cove nest, our friend Melanie Lynch from Chesapeake Bay Magazine put together a short QuickTime movie showing how the eagles there dealt with a huge snowstorm in March. After watching this, it's hard to believe they produced two healthy eaglets just three weeks later. Thanks to Melanie for this clip: Barton Cove (Quicktime video, 4MB).
Eaglet Videos Pt. 3
Our Blackwater eaglets are now around seven weeks old and are rapidly becoming impressive juvenile birds of prey, with strong talons, sharp beaks and long wings. They are getting so mature, that today we saw the eagle parent drop off a fish as a way of encouraging them to learn to feed themselves. The oldest eaglet tried to tear into the fish, but gave up and eventually moved over to a partially eaten piece of prey. He did go back though and try to eat the new fish after a while. Our babies are growing!
On Saturday, I captured eight video clips of our eaglets in action (via the live TV monitor at the Refuge Visitor Center). These clips offer an impressive look at how big our birds have become. I'll post four video clips in this web log entry and then the remaining four in the next entry. Just left-click on the links below to play or right-click and choose "Save Target As" to download to your computer.
In our first clip, we see a funny episode between our two eaglets as they lie in the nest together. Often in the gallery we see images where one of the eaglets has a wing or leg stretched out, and in this clip you see the youngest bird sticking his large wing and foot right into the face of his bigger sibling -- who doesn't seem to enjoy it all that much but doesn't get angry.
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In the second clip we see a nice wing flap from our youngest eaglet. It's interesting to note how when one eaglet flaps, the other often watches him. And flapping from one eaglet can often induce the other bird to stand up and flap as well. Apparently the activity is contagious. :-)
Both eaglets will be practicing their flapping a lot as they approach fledging time, and this exercise is necessary to build up their muscles and wing control. As they get stronger, they will be able to raise themselves above the nest and hover briefly. It's at this time that they need to be careful that a strong wind does not blow them out prematurely.
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In the third clip we see a scene that is reminescent of a video clip we saw with the adults awhile back, where one bird puts grass or pine sprays on top of the other. This clip shows the oldest placing a small piece of grass on the back of the youngest and then one on himself. Then the two eaglets play a little game of tug-of-war with the nest grass. While watching the monitor, I noticed that the eaglets often engage in nest maintenance -- practicing skills they will one day use in their own nests as adults.
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In the fourth clip we get a good look at the oldest eaglet's face, and we also see a nice wing flap from the eaglet, along with a small jump as the bird moves around the nest. We can see how strong the eaglets are getting, and it's not hard to imagine that they will soon be branching. "Branching" is when young raptors hop out to the branches of their nest tree and perch. We will lose sight of them when they do this, but it's a necessary part of preparing for that first big flight away from the nest.
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In my next web log, I'll post my final four clips. In those clips you'll see a little friendly competition between the eaglets and also a funny scene where our oldest chick swallows a bird's foot whole.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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