Eagle Cam Web Log 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
(contact)

Eaglet Games

Our eaglets, Justice and Majesty, are now 11 weeks old, so they are at the age when fledging is possible. On Monday, one of the eaglets was gone from the nest for over an hour. The remaining eaglet spent some time looking over the nest edge, so we wondered if one of the eaglets had taken flight. But on Tuesday both eaglets seemed to spend a good amount of time in the nest, so it's possible our missing eaglet was only branching on Monday. Just to be sure, we have asked the staff at the Visitor Center (where the live monitor is located) to keep an eye out for us to see if they can tell when an eaglet has officially fledged.

To give you an idea as to what branching looks like, we have an animated GIF (975KB) that our photographer friend Woody Dawson put together showing an eaglet stepping out onto a branch. In the short clip, you can see how the eaglet uses its wings to maneuver its talons along the branch. Branching helps eaglets increase their perching skills and also helps them learn how to use the branches for a launching -- and landing -- location.

Last year at the end of the 2006 Eagle Cam season, our camera got pushed out of position by one of the eagles. The mishap gave us a wider look at the tree where the eagles are nesting and also gave us a good look at the tree's branches (note that this is the same nest as this year). In this photo from the 2006 season, you can see some of the branches that are available to our eaglets if they want to branch. We have noticed that often the eaglets seem to be "hiding" at the top of the cam image, as we sometimes catch glimpses of their tail feathers in that area, so it's possible they are doing some perching on that large branch on the right side of the 2006 image.

As an added bonus, I also want to offer a video provided by one of our cam watchers showing a flapping eaglet from the Norfolk Botanical Gardens' Eagle Cam. In the clip, the eaglet is flapping and hopping in the nest and these exercises allow the eaglet to get stronger in preparation for its first flight. This is often what our eaglets are doing when you see them with their wings spread out on the cam image.

Eaglet Games:

To top off the multimedia offerings in this web log entry, I also have four new videos of Justice and Majesty, which I took on Sunday while at the Refuge. Left-click on the links below to play the Windows Media Video files or right-click and choose "Save Target As" to download to your computer.

In the first video clip we seem an example of something I mentioned in the last web log entry. I had said that sometimes the father eagle can have a hard time interacting with the big youngsters since they can be aggressive at meal time and since a female eaglet would be bigger than her father, and Justice decided to provide an example of just such an event. In this clip, it appears that the father eagle is the parent that has just arrived with a fish. Justice promptly lunges at the fish in such an aggressive manner that she grabs the adult's foot instead of the fish, and the parent is lucky to get its talon free. Justice then mantles over the food (hides it with spread wings) to indicate it is most definitely her meal, leaving Majesty to sit there and watch. The powerless parent flies off and Majesty eventually manages to steal a few bites from under his sister's legs. It seems clear that Majesty does better at meal time if the mother eagle is there to make sure that the meal is distributed in a more democratic way. :-)

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In the second clip we see a nice sequence where Majesty uses his wings to skip along the nest edge, out toward the big branch, and then back again. It's clear from this clip that the eaglets are getting more comfortable with using their wings for mobility.

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In the third clip we see Majesty nipping at Justice's toes while she lies in the nest. Maybe Majesty found a few remaining pieces of fish on Justice's talon or he was just getting even for the earlier fish hoarding. :-)

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In the final clip we see the eaglets play a game of "toss the feather" as they lie in the nest and play with a feather that came off one of them. When you have a lot of hours to kill in the nest, even a feather can be loads of fun. :-)

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Miscellaneous News:

I wanted to offer some happy news about recent birds released by Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research. Tri-State is a local bird rescue outfit and they do a tremendous job in helping the local bird life. In the recent Tri-State Bird Rescue newsletter (PDF file) we learn that the 12 immature brown pelicans that were trapped here during the winter have now been released. The newsletter also talks about an eaglet from Blackwater Refuge that was in a nest that fell down during a recent storm, and the article, which includes a cute photo, says that the eaglet has now been re-nested. Thanks to Tri-State for all they do for our many local birds.

Bob Quinn Photos:

Local photographer Bob Quinn has just posted some new eagle photos from Blackwater Refuge. They include a funny couple of photos where an immature eagle was attracted to a "Happy Birthday" balloon that for some reason was flying over the Refuge. Bob says the eagle got bored with it after a while and left it alone, which is a good thing as popped balloons can be dangerous if an animal tries to eat them.

Also in this collection of shots, Bob has photos of an immature eagle soaring around the Refuge. This eagle is about the same age as our birds, so this gives you a good idea as to how our birds will look once they're out of the nest and exploring their Refuge home.

Technical Note:

I wanted to mention that we have noticed the thin lines that sometimes appear on the Eagle Cam image (and in these recent video clips). Our cam technician was aware of it right before he went on vacation, and he speculated that it could be a loose wire. He did not think it would be a major problem, so he'll fix it when he returns.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
(contact)

Justice and Majesty

First, I wanted to remind everyone that we posted our official announcement with the results of our Eaglet-Naming Contest. Our eaglets are now named Justice (older eaglet) and Majesty (younger eaglet), and we know that they will both live up to their inspiring names.

Our eaglets are a little over nine weeks old and it appears from the cam photos that at least one of the chicks may be spending some time out of our sight while it perches on one of the tree's branches -- a raptor behavior known as "branching." This activity will increase over time and is a precursor to the eaglet's first flight. Normally eaglets fledge at about ten to twelve weeks of age, although the younger bird might take a little longer than the older bird. Last year our first eaglet flew in mid May.

One of our cam watchers sent in a question without an email address for replying so I'll answer that question here as it relates to this topic -- she asked about parents teaching the eaglets to fly. Parents do not have to teach eaglets to fly -- they know how to fly by instinct. That is why biologists can transplant eaglets to an area that does not have a healthy breeding eagle population (known as "hacking") so they will become imprinted on the new location and return there to breed. When they go to these new locations, they do so without their parents but are still able to fly, as well as hunt and fish.

The eaglets will know how to fly on their own, but once they are flying, they will have to practice to get better at it. This is especially true regarding their landing skills. Eaglets are notorious for making poor landings in the earlier stages of their flying careers, with observers having seen eaglets hanging by one foot, upside down, from a branch because they misjudged the landing. But the eaglets will get better at landing -- and also at manipulating the wind -- as they spend more time out of the nest.

Also there is the risk that an eaglet will not survive its first flight. We have not had this happen on the Blackwater Eagle Cam, but sometimes an eaglet will leave the nest and encounter trouble, or will leave prematurely and then not be able to get back to the nest safely. Bad weather, land predators, and hazardous landings can all make the first flight a risky one.

A couple of cam watchers have also asked about the eaglets' size. Now that our eaglets are almost fully grown, I think we can safely say that Justice appears to be female and Majesty appears to be male. When the eaglets lie together in the nest, it's clear that Justice has a longer body -- indicating she is female. I had mentioned back at the beginning of the season that a study done in Canada showed that the majority of first eaglets are female, so it appears our nest is in keeping with that study.

Female bald eagles can be around three feet in length, so that gives you an idea as to how big our older eaglet is getting. Also, once the eaglets' feathers are fully grown, they will actually be a bit bigger than the adults for a period of time. The reason for this is that immature bald eagles have longer feathers than their parents; biologists speculate that the reason for this is because young birds tend to do more soaring than the adults (possibly as a means of searching for food and also possibly as a result of being inexperienced flyers) so the longer feathers are more beneficial to the young birds.

Fully grown eaglets can be a challenge for the adults since they are big and potentially aggressive, especially when it comes to mealtime. Biologists have noted that the father eagle (who is smaller) does not spend as much time on the nest as the mother eagle in the latter stages of nest life since the aggressive eaglets can be harder for him to interact with.

What To Look For:

In the next couple weeks, we'll be looking for signs that both eaglets are branching -- unfortunately this means we'll lose sight of them on the cam, but it's a good thing because it means they are doing what eaglets were meant to do. We'll also be looking for signs that the eaglets are roosting in the tree at night with their parents rather than lying in the nest; this will be another sign that the young birds are becoming much more comfortable out on the tree limbs.

Once the eaglets have taken their first flight, we'll be looking for photos showing them landing in the nest or possibly taking off from the nest edge. Justice will likely fledge first, so that means Majesty will be left behind to watch his bigger sibling flying in and out with the parents. This will undoubtedly encourage him to join in on the fun as soon as he's able.

Catching a meal will be another major skill that the eaglets will have to learn, and it's a vital skill. Most of the eaglets that perish in their first year will die of starvation since finding food is not always easy. This is the reason why eagle parents nest so early -- it gives their eaglets more time to learn how to hunt and fish before the next winter arrives. The better the eaglets are at catching or finding food, the more likely they will survive.

So after the eaglets are flying, we'll be looking for signs that the eaglets have found their own food. An eaglet might appear alone in the nest with a dead fish or a half-eaten piece of prey. Young birds will often focus on retrieving dead animals in the beginning of their hunting careers because these types of prey are easier to find and because it will take a long while for them to get skilled at catching live fish. As with flying, the eaglets' instinct will help them with hunting and fishing, but they will also likely pick up tips by watching their family members look for food. Some immature eagles have even been seen tandem hunting with a sibling.

Probably around mid July, we will be seeing very little of the family because the eaglets will be getting more and more independent. They'll be spending large amounts of time exploring the Refuge, perching in trees, watching their parents and sibling fish and hunt, and roosting in the trees at night. At that point we will turn off the Eagle Cam since very little wildlife (a rare songbird or squirrel) will be seen at the nest with the eagles gone.

The parents will watch over the eaglets for about four to six weeks after they fledge (maybe a little longer if one eaglet is a slow learner), but then the young birds will strike out on their own. In a future web log, we'll talk more about what immature eagles in the Chesapeake Bay region do and where they go when they become independent.

As a special treat, I'm posting an animated GIF file (680KB) showing an immature bald eagle catching a fish. This clip is courtesy of our good friend, photographer Woody Dawson. Note the skill required for the young eagle to see the fish from the air and also time the strike just right in order to nab the moving meal -- and doing all this while in flight. This is what young birds must learn to do regularly.

Miscellaneous News:

Some additional raptor news I wanted to pass along: Three peregrine falcon chicks have hatched in San Jose, California where they reside in a nest at City Hall. Here are two sites that are covering the exciting action:

City of San Jose
Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research

Also, one of our faithful cam watchers from Holland has provided us with an Eagle Cam link that shows a white-tailed eagle couple, which is famous in the area because last year they raised the first white-tailed eaglet seen in the Netherlands. This year the couple is back and has one chick. You can watch the family live on the Eagle Cam site.

Note: The white-tailed eagle is the largest European eagle, and is the closest relative to our American bald eagle.

And a final reminder that there are a few Bald Eagle Cams here in the US that still have chicks including ones in Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington State and Colorado.

Until next time,
Lisa - webmaster
(contact)