Palemaleirregulars: Riverside Nest NYC Feeding and the Norfolk Eaglets Get Their Bands

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Riverside Nest NYC Feeding and the Norfolk Eaglets Get Their Bands

Red-tailed Hawk Photos by D. Browne

When I arrived it looked like Riverside Mom was well into feeding the eyasses. Now this was my first trip to this nest and so I hadn't figured out all the ins and outs of this particular site. From this angle if the eyasses stand you can see them but the light is awful. So forgive the "experimentation".

Note, there are two eyasses, which could be seen briefly and intermittantly. The third I saw fed, as in Mom dipping her head down but I didn't "see" him.

Mom gives the bite to the other guy so this one stares off into the middle distance.

Now both are likely down on their haunches.

Mom watches with intensity. Likely to make sure, one, that the bite goes down, and two, who swallows it in the end.

Riverside Mom vocalizes down into the bowl. Someone may be doing something that they shouldn't be doing or she is attempting to attract someone's attention. Though when there is feeding going on the feeder usually has the undivided attention of the population of the bowl.

Another bite is given.

And a little head, beak extended up, goes for a morsel.
Food for the smallest eyass.

Mom watches closely again.

More?

Here you go.

And more still...

Now to the part of the bowl where the two bigger eyasses were last seen.

The parent looking at eyasses (or eggs) look. The "egg look" is shorter. In fact I'd like to time the looks, at eggs and at eyasses, to see if it could be a reasonably accurate way to know there has been a hatch in a nest where, like the Ms, the hawks won't feed in front of a watcher. The Ms finally did feed it in front of me but the eyasses were reasonably old by the time I was positive by sight that they were there for sure.

Finally a photo of Riverside Mom in which she isn't in shadow. She is a strawberry blonde beauty.

Photograph by Christina Murphy of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens Eagle Forum

http://www.norfolkeagles.com/norfolkeagles/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=356&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

(It's a long one so you may have to type it in as the blog may split it.DB.)

Bucket lift used to reach just below the nest

THE NORFOLK EAGLES--BANDING DAY
(A thank you to Christina for use of her photos and to Jackie Dover for finding it all and getting the needed permissions.)

Jackie wrote--
The eaglets were banded on April 22, in an event lasting about one hour. They were taken down from their nest after an approach from a bucket lift and an additional climb by rope.

All three were examined, measured, and banded.

Measurements suggested there were two males and one undetermined gender.Eaglets are referred to by the days of their hatching, and banded as HH, HK, and HE.

Here are all of her photos of the banding. Comments in blue are from Chris7.

Photograph by Christina Murphy
"And the crowd goes wild."

Photograph by Christina Murphy
"The money shot: L-R Dr Bryan Watt with Sunday (HH), Reese Lukei with Saturday (HK), and Stephen Living with Wednesday (HE)"

Photograph by Christina Murphy
One of the larger eaglets
(When it comes to bird expressions, I get the impression that Eagles often look rather annoyed. But my surmise is the reason for my skewered perception is that when there are closeups of Eagles in photos they're usually being held by someone, or have someone looking at them through a lens , and so are likely actually quite annoyed. D.B.)