Illinois Bald Eagle nest photos by John D. Steffen Jr.
1:39:22pm John Steffen who took the photos got the impression that the larger eaglet in the Illinois eagles nest, might have been feeding the smaller one and in the photos it does rather look that way.
There are confirmed sightings of certain species of parrot siblings that regurgitate food fed to them by regurgitation by their parrots into the beaks of smaller siblings. But I haven't found any observations so far of eaglets feeding their younger siblings. Red-tail nest mates sometimes tug on the same piece of prey but in their case they look like they are tugging. These bodies don't seem to be tensed for tug.
1:39:39pm Though has the smaller eaglet just pulled the tidbit away from the larger? And the larger is wondering what happened to it?
1:42:15pm Look at this. There is now another chuck of food between their beaks. If the bigger eaglet was being snitched from, wouldn't she just turn the other direction to eat? Thereby avoiding the bother of her smaller sibling?
1:46:15pm Parent eagle makes a crash landing with extremely large fish and knocks the eaglets over like a star member of the Wednesday Night Bowling League. See the fish tail?
1:46:28PM Parent catches her breath after hauling the fish. Eaglets recover from being bowling pins.
Will New Hawk Watchers in the Field Blossom in Tulsa? An Update via R. of Illinois
(R. of Illinois and I had been hoping against hope that some local folks who have been watching the KJRH Cam would get out there in the field and have the grand experience of watching the hawks in person. D.B.)
From R.,
Another local behind the scenes observer has popped up!
She wrote: "Couldn't stand the suspense so I drove down to Brookside with my binoculars and camera this afternoon to see what I could see. Thunder was perched on the third concrete ledge, about 75 feet above the ground, about 1/3the way up the tower. Both Kay & Jay were circling about 1/2 a mile away. They know Thunder is there.... one of them flew over and called her with a high pitched squeal, then flew off. I watched for about an hour .... feel a lot better now."
(This has lightened many a worried heart!)
Another on the forum said she was going to go tomorrow and watch.
This is soooo cool. They are starting to emerge and blossom into watchers!
R.
(Indeed it is! The Tulsa Hawk Watchers look to be starting their own version of the Central Park Hawk Bench. We'll try to get photos of Thunder's new position as soon as they are available.)
R.
(Indeed it is! The Tulsa Hawk Watchers look to be starting their own version of the Central Park Hawk Bench. We'll try to get photos of Thunder's new position as soon as they are available.)
Images courtesy of Rochester Falconcam
Good evening Donna-
I left off with Mariah and Kaver in Rochester having 3 hatches and 2 eggs to go. The final 2 eggs did hatch on May 10th & 11th. I've attached a picture of the first clear view of all 5 eyases on May 11th.
The second picture is from yesterday. It's astounding how fast they grow! The younger 2 are in front and will catch up to their siblings in short order. You can see the wing feathers starting to emerge on the elder 3 as well as the dark mask around their eyes. They spend most of their time right now sleeping in an large fluffy lump. This is Mariah & Kaver's 4th brood of 5 eyases, so they are well able to hunt and care for a brood this large, though the nest box will be getting very crowd very soon.
All the best,
Eileen
Will wonders never cease Intrepid and Builder have built another nest since the death of their three eyasses and then their nest falling out of it's tree a few days after the deaths.
Though come to think of it we are dealing with Builder here who just can't stop with the nest building. Here's an alert and explanation from raptor expert John Blakeman about this young pair's activities--
Donna,
Well, the Riverside Pair has learned its lesson, and is applying it sooner than expected.
Palemale.com photos show that it's building a new nest, this time in the solid crotch of a plane tree. This is now a typical, normal Red-tail nest -- except for its construction time. Normally, the pair would have just terminated nesting activities this late in the season. But these birds still have some breeding hormones flowing.
Will the nest be used now? Will eggs be laid in a "double-clutching" event? Seems possible. Notice the speed with which this nest was put up. That's typical for Red-tails. Once a site has been selected, sticks are brought up and the nest appears in only a few days. Nice work.
Now, it has to be lined, which should be no problem. Copulation has to resume, and the female has to have the physiological resources to produce another egg or two. Can she do it? Probably, but it may take several weeks for all of this to come together.
Don't be discouraged if the new nest is eggless. Even without eggs, this really sets things up for next year. This rebuilding of the nest, in a so much better location, shows as much commitment to reproduction as a Red-tailed Hawk pair can have. Very, very positive.
Now, for the "blood-thinned" rats....
Sincerely,
Well, the Riverside Pair has learned its lesson, and is applying it sooner than expected.
Palemale.com photos show that it's building a new nest, this time in the solid crotch of a plane tree. This is now a typical, normal Red-tail nest -- except for its construction time. Normally, the pair would have just terminated nesting activities this late in the season. But these birds still have some breeding hormones flowing.
Will the nest be used now? Will eggs be laid in a "double-clutching" event? Seems possible. Notice the speed with which this nest was put up. That's typical for Red-tails. Once a site has been selected, sticks are brought up and the nest appears in only a few days. Nice work.
Now, it has to be lined, which should be no problem. Copulation has to resume, and the female has to have the physiological resources to produce another egg or two. Can she do it? Probably, but it may take several weeks for all of this to come together.
Don't be discouraged if the new nest is eggless. Even without eggs, this really sets things up for next year. This rebuilding of the nest, in a so much better location, shows as much commitment to reproduction as a Red-tailed Hawk pair can have. Very, very positive.
Now, for the "blood-thinned" rats....
Sincerely,
John A. Blakeman
I do hope they've learned a second lesson and somehow figured out which rats to stay away from.
Charlotte on the nest, by Brett Odom.
Just what are Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte up to? Here's the latest from Brett Odom--
Hey Donna.
I just wanted to let you know that I saw both C & J at the nest together on both the 19th and the 21st. On the 19th they flew in and rearranged the already existing twigs on the nest. On the 21st they did the same thing.
I just wanted to let you know that I saw both C & J at the nest together on both the 19th and the 21st. On the 19th they flew in and rearranged the already existing twigs on the nest. On the 21st they did the same thing.
Both days they flew off the nest at the same time but went off in different directions so there is definitely still no incubation going on. Very strange behavior.
I just wish I knew that they visit the site because they instinctively know that its breeding season and that they are supposed to be at the nest as parents, or if Charlotte is aware that she is definitely gravid and just waiting to lay her eggs. However, the latter seems unlikely since it's getting to be late in the season.
I will be gone for the holiday until Wednesday so I won't be seeing any activity at the nest until then.
Brett B. Odom
Well, Junior and Charlotte have done a late successful nest before but the question still remains. why, as they have been copulating, building a nest, and doing all the other activities which are the prelude to eggs, have there been no eggs?
An update from Ellie on the Norfolk Eagle's nest with a video link--
Hi Donna,
Hi Donna,
Thought I would pass this along in case you weren't aware of it. The eaglet had to be removed from the nest. Hopefully, the little eaglet will be okay and able to fly free in the future. What an unfortunate year this has been for this Norfolk eagle pair.
DONEGAL BROWNE
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