Rosyfinch Ramblings: nest

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Bald Eaglets have arrived

Lots of action at the eagle nest the morning of March 12. I could hear eaglets calling and see that they were being fed, but so far had not seen a fuzzy bobble-head. The male (Pride) took over tending the nest early, probably after the female (Jewel) had spent all night covering them.

At about 7:30 AM Jewel was roosting, cleaning her beak and preening:

Jewel took flight and disappeared to the northeast:

She returned in a few minutes. A grackle harassed her and even landed on her back:

The grackle was persistent and followed her almost to the nest:

The pursuing grackle seemed to imitate the eagle's wing positions:

Jewel was carrying a small stick which she dropped at the nest and kept flying:

She roosted out in the open and provided some nice portraits. Although eagles' expressions are fixed they sometimes seemed to convey an attitude:

Jewel displaced Pride at the nest and he flew off:

Jewel tended to the unseen eaglet(s) which called out quite loudly. So far no one had gotten any photos of the brood which started hatching on March 6th or 7th:

BULLETIN: Thursday morning, March 18: I photographed two eaglets in the nest this morning!

This is the first-hatched, the 26th eaglet known to have been hatched at this nest (P Piney 26). She is probably a female as the odds in favor are 3:1--

The younger sibling is P Piney 27:

A Snowy Egret forages before sunrise at the Wet Prairie:

View from one of my favorite wildlife-watching "sit spots" at the edge of the prairie:

This week I noticed that trees are being removed along the north edge of the prairie, in an area which is zoned for residential development. It harbored an Osprey nest until a few years back when the area was treated with herbicides. The trunks of the dead trees are still standing, but the live growth, mostly exotic Mealaeuca trees, has been cut back, exposing them like skeletons:

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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Thursday, January 21, 2021

Bald Eagle balancing act

After arriving to monitor the local Bald Eagle nest, I was getting out of my car when the female of the pair flew over my head and landed on top of a tree just across the street. I quickly grabbed the camera and captured a burst of images as the magnificent bird steadied herself on a slender branch:

Jewel, as she is known, soon took flight and headed straight to the new nest under construction:

Pride, her mate, was roosting nearby:

The pair has established a new, alternate nest only about 109 yards (100 meters) to the east of the old one. The latter has been used continuously for at least 14 years. It is not uncommon for Bald Eagles to change or create alternate nest sites, although some have been known to occupy the same nest continuously for over 30 years.

They presently have a new use for their old one-- it has become a cafeteria of sorts. On December 27, Pride was there, eating a fish:

The next day, Jewel was doing the same thing:

Eagles have been known to cache uneaten prey remains in a nearby location which they can watch and defend.

On January 2, both eagles got an early start on adding branches to the new nest. When I arrived at about 9:00 AM, the male (Pride) was on the nest. Several watchers had been observing for over an hour. The sky was overcast and visibility was limited, poor for photography:

The structure has grown and now almost fills the gap between the two main support branches. The nest platform is slanted at an odd angle. Normally it would be horizontal, so it will be interesting to see how they will accomplish this:

The female (Jewel) had just flown out searching for sticks. She flew up into the tallest Australian Pine along the road to the east:

Jewel disappeared into the foliage of the tree and flapped wildly as she tried to break off a large living branch. She was really struggling with the branch. She worked to pick it from the tree by using her weight, actually flying upside down, but the limber branch held fast to the tree:

I had never seen anything like this before. She finally gave up the struggle and returned to the nest with a smaller prize:

The Full Cold Moon was to set about 20 minutes before sunrise on December 29. I hurried out towards the lake...

...but only about 10 minutes before it was to touch the horizon just to the left (south) of the Pine Bank, clouds moved in and spoiled the show:

I gave up hope of seeing the Moon again and continued walking to the north. To my surprise, the Moon appeared on the other (right) end of the Pine Bank, below the clouds for an enchanting minute or two:

A Great Egret posed against the pre-dawn sky:

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