May 22, 2007
Final Eaglet Videos
We have some new video clips tonight, and these will be the last clips of the season, but first I wanted to make a couple announcements.
First, we have two important Refuge events coming up. On May 30 at 7pm, Blackwater Refuge will host a public meeting called Chesapeake Marshlands: Sea Level Rise and What Can Be Done About It. Chesapeake Bay author Tom Horton will be our moderator, and we will have local scientists speaking, as well as video messages from Senator Ben Cardin and Congressman Wayne Gilchrest. If you'd like to know more about the efforts being made to protect Blackwater Refuge and the Dorchester County coastline from sea level rise, be sure to attend.
Also, on June 2 is our 5th Annual Youth Fishing Derby. If you have youngsters that are 15 years old or younger, be sure to bring them to our Fishing Derby where everyone has a great time learning to fish, and entering their animals in our turtle racing and frog jumping contests.
And last but not least, May 27, 2007, is the 100th birthday of environmental pioneer Rachel Carson. Many states are planning their own celebration of this event, and here in Maryland, Governor Martin O'Malley recently named May 27 "Rachel Carson Day" due to the fact that Carson lived in Silver Spring, Maryland, at a home that is now a National Historic Landmark. Rachel Carson was the famous author of the seminal classic Silent Spring, which alerted the world to the dangers of pesticides and their affect on humans and bird populations. Because of Rachel Carson's courage and conviction, America learned that overuse of the pesticide DDT was decimating the populations of eagles, ospreys, pelicans, falcons, and other birds -- species that now owe their existence to Carson's efforts. Read our special Rachel Carson Centennial page to learn more about Carson and her ties to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Eaglet Video Clips -- the Final Chapter:
Tonight we'll post the last video clips of our beautiful and amazing eaglets -- Justice and Majesty. The eaglets are spending a lot of time out of the nest now, which makes us think that one or both are flying. On Saturday when I was at the Refuge, I did see both eaglets branching and showing their new ability to move from the nest to the branches using their wings. That was several days ago, so they have certainly made more progress since then.
Occasionally we still see the eaglets together in the nest, and it's always nice to see that they look all right. We have noticed that they're spending some time roosting in the tree at night with their parents. This is the way mature eagles sleep -- perched in a tree and not in the nest -- so we will see less and less of them at night as they mature.
We also noticed that one of the birds managed to push our camera down so it's pointing more towards the trunk. We've been incredibly pleased with the way our new camera mount has performed this year. Despite being hit by the flapping/landing eagles, and despite some mighty big storms this season (storms that brought down other eagle nests), our camera has been rock solid. So we can't complain that it's now slipped out of a position just a bit. Hopefully it will hold this position until we turn the cam off probably sometime in late June.
One other thing I did want to mention is that someone saw an eaglet with a fish in the nest and asked if the eaglet had caught it. Even if the eaglets are now flying, it will be a while before they can catch their own fish -- which is a difficult skill to master. It's likely that any fish we see in the nest right now has been dropped off by a parent. And one other word about the fish: If you see an eaglet with a fish at this stage and the other eaglet is missing during the meal, then it's likely the missing bird is flying. Otherwise it would come in for the meal.
Also, some cam watchers have wondered why the parents are still beak-feeding the chicks if the young birds can tear apart the fish by themselves. Mature eaglets seem to prefer being beak-fed at times even though they are more than capable of feeding themselves. Maybe it's just easier to let mom and dad do it since they're in the nest. :-)
In the first video clip below, we see Majesty moving out to the branch that sits under the camera, and then the video clip jumps to a shot of both eaglets flapping their wings together. We can see how much stronger Justice now looks as she flaps her big wings and flirts with the edge of the nest. To give you a sense of her size, a grown female bald eagle has a wing span of 6 - 7 feet, with some reaching almost 8 feet.
Left-click on the links below to play or right-click and choose "Save Target As" to download to your computer.
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In the second video clip, we see Majesty is trying to come in from the branch because the mother eagle has returned with a fish. The only problem is that Majesty is not quite comfortable yet with jumping from the branch to the nest. It's funny to see the way Justice is looking at him -- like "What are you going to do?" Majesty proceeds to jump in and land talons-first on Justice, who doesn't react well to almost being pushed out of the nest. Fortunately both eaglets recover and Majesty moves over to get an easy meal from mom.
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In the last clip you see a short bit of footage I took while standing in front of the Visitor Center on Saturday. In the clip, you can see that an immature bald eagle is soaring over the Refuge, and then at the end of the shot you can see that it lands in a field next to several other eagles. Sometimes eagles of various ages like to "hang out" together in the fields and marsh. These might be birds that are siblings or that are immature birds that spend time together with the hope that the group might help them find food. Note that this video clip has audio, which is the sound of marsh birds nearby.
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On the second floor of our Visitor Center, we have a new "Wild Birds Unlimited Pathways to Nature Observatory" with a large observation window and spotting scopes that let visitors look out at the Osprey Cam nest, the Blackwater River, and the marshland. While I was standing at the window Saturday, I looked down and saw 9 immature eagles standing together in the field. It was quite a sight to see so many together at one time. Some were completely brown like our youngsters, and some had a partially white head, meaning they were getting close to breeding age. Looking at the Eagle Cam, it's easy to forget that eagles can be socialable birds at times, and maybe soon our eaglets will be "hanging out" with the neighbors' kids. :-)
Our eaglets are slowly leaving us, but we'll continue to keep the Eagle Cam online probably into late June. I'll also be posting a few more entries in the web log before we wrap it up for the season.
Thanks to all those who have been watching us week in and week out, and thanks to those who have been sending in photos and questions. You all have made it a very enjoyable and rewarding season.
Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
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