Over the past few months the bald eagles at the Norfolk Botanical Garden have been working on a new nest site within the Garden. Although the eagles were concentrating on the new nest site, sticks were occasionally added to the original nest. It is not at all unusual for bald eagles to maintain multiple nest sites within a breeding territory and to periodically switch nests.
The new site is approximately 125 feet Northwest of the previously established nest. In early December, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) biologists visited the Garden to lay out an exclusion area around the new nest site. The purpose of this area is to ensure the integrity of the eagle territory and prevent disturbance to the eagles. Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) personnel put a system of barriers in place to inform their visitors which areas are off limits to general visitation. The barriers are put in place from Dec. 15 - July 15th and offer protection to the core of the nesting territory during the breeding season.
To provide web cam coverage of the new nest, the camera and associated equipment had to be moved. To be certain the eagles had settled on the new site, the camera move was delayed until yesterday (Dec. 29th). Climbers from Nuckols Tree Care removed the camera and moved it to provide coverage of this year’s nest. The camera was placed in the nest tree - approximately 15 feet away from the nest itself, and provides an excellent view into the nest bowl. Staff from the Norfolk Botanical Garden moved the support equipment. A VDGIF biologist and a research asscoiate from the Center for Conservation Biology were on hand to direct camera placement, perform camera maintenance, and ensure that the work didn’t negatively impact the eagles. In the light of early morning today both eagles visited the new nest site.
For the next couple of weeks the camera and networks that support the live eagle cam will be tested and we’ll get ready to go live for 2011. This will allow us to see the completion of the nest building as well as mating and of course the first egg laying. Join us as we follow this eagle pair. These eagles are emblematic of the successful recovery of the Bald Eagle - as well as the ongoing challenges that the species face.
New nest
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