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Thursday, November 23, 2017

Crops & Clips: Bald Eagle nest repair

On our morning walk we were treated to a "mirrored sunrise" in the western sky. The rays of the rising sun were broken up by clouds to the east, and they converged towards a vanishing point on the opposite horizon (November 16, 2017):

Pine Bank under mirrored sunrise HDR 02-20171116

Mirrored Sunrise HDR  01-20171116

The next morning the male Bobcat again appeared, but this time only briefly and at a distance. He stalked away along the barrier fence:

Bobcat 02-20171117

Hurricane Irma spared the local Bald Eagle nest tree when she struck on September 10. The nest itself suffered minimal damage.  This how it looked on September 15, just after the winds subsided:

Bald Eagle nest damage 20170915

On October 25, upon returning to Florida after a month at our second home in NE Illinois, Mary Lou and I checked on the welfare of the eagles. We arrived at the nest at about 9:30 AM and watched for a half hour. We found the female (Jewel) rearranging sticks on the nest:

Bald Eagle female Jewel on nest 01-20171025

Bald Eagle female Jewel on nest 02-20171025

At about 9:50 the male (Pride) suddenly flew in from the left side of the nest. There was no vocalizing. I do not think he brought in any sticks but it happened so fast that I cannot be sure:

Bald Eagle male Pride arrives 03-20171025

They both got back to work on the nest for a few minutes...

Bald Eagles work on nest 04-20171025

Bald Eagles work on nest 05-20171025

Bald Eagles work on nest 06-20171025

...but Pride then flew up to the nest support branch to the right, as Jewel continued to work on the nest:

Bald Eagle male flies to roost 07-20171025

Bald Eagle male flies to roost 08-20171025

On October 31, this adult eagle flew over our local wetlands, about 1 1/2 miles SE of the nest:

Bald Eagle 03-20171028

During the first two weeks of November we saw that more material had been added to the right side of the nest to repair the storm damage:

Bald Eagle nest 20171107

This past week we found both of the adults on the nest. They were moving sticks at first, but settled down close together for a moment, The male (Pride) is in the foreground:

Bald Eagle pair on nest 01-20171111

Bald Eagle pair on nest 02-20171111

Notice the nictitating membrane of Jewel, the female. This translucent "third eyelid" extends out from the corner of the eye, lubricating and protecting it (click on image for enlarged view):
 
Bald Eagle pair on nest 03-20171111

On average, the pairs at this nest have deposited their first egg in early to mid-December. It was heartening to see Jewel resting deep in the nest for longer spells. Hopefully she is starting to feel "broody," a behavior which increases during the week or two before egg-laying. Only the top of her head was visible on November 19. Pride is roosting just to the right of the nest:

Bald Eagle female best view 20171119


= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to FENCES AROUND THE WORLD by Gosia

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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30 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving. May the fixin's come out perfect.

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  2. Eagles are such miraculous creatures. I hope they are successful with their eggs/child rearing. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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  3. The size of eagles makes it easy to watch them and see what they're doing.

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  4. The eagles are always great to see! But that sky is really unusual.

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  5. Wonderful skies and great bird shots. Very wel done.

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  6. Wonderful eagle photos! Really magnificent birds!
    Have a great week-end!

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  7. Great sunrise reflections. You are lucky to get that fine bobcat shot as they are elusive animals. Greatly enjoyed seeing your eagle pair at the nest. I wish them the best of luck.

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  8. I've never seen such a sky before. Very interesting. - Margy

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  9. Hello Ken, I was able to link up your post. Not sure why you could not find the linky. Love your Bobcat photo. The eagle's nest images are awesome. Pretty sky captures. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. I also appreciate your comment on my blog. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  10. So happy about the nest repair! Great photos of both eagles. Wow! I would love to see some nesting some time. Beautiful photos, and I loved seeing the bobcat.

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  11. What else can I say?...but AWESOME!!
    Thanks for linking in with us birders at I'd Rather B Birdin' this weekend!

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  12. Hope you had a lovely thanksgiving time! So interesting to see the process Eagles go through to repair their nest! Thank you for giving All Seasons these views that tell how much care they give to that. Many thanks for giving me some rough measurements about the bobcat. In Holland where I grew up, many of the animals you describe I only have seen in the zoo, but never in their own habitat (Because Holland is flat and was won out of the sea, immediately populated with people, so not much space that animals would feel safe!). Have a great week!

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  13. Look at those photos! Love the ones from Jewel, the bald eagle.

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  14. Amazing eagle shots and such a beautiful sunrise!

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  15. That sunrise is remarkable - but I think my had would explode if I saw a Bobcat!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  16. Those skies are just incredible! Nicely captured! And the eagle images are so great to see. Thanks for the info about the pair, too.

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  17. I like those rays in the top two images, sort of the inverse of crepuscular rays. I wish I could, but I never get excited about wild-life photography...'that's what makes horse races'. Still, I can appreciate what you do.

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  18. What wonderful photos... and beautiful skies!

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  19. Great photos. I love the series with the eagles - they are marvelous!
    Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2017/11/very-zen.html

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  20. Such amazing photos of the eagles! Must be so fun to watch. The sky photos are also beautiful.

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  21. what a great set of wildlife photos you have there.

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  22. Fabulous captures. I loved the sky pictures so much :D

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  23. Wonderful shots of the Bald Eagles. Glad they were able to repair their nest. Hopefully there'll be some youngsters this winter.

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  24. Very beautiful sunrise photos and the eagles are amazing!

    I think you were right about the lamps in my reflection last week. Good eye! :-)

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