Norfolk Eagles in their new nest

[Dumpsterkitty]

On Sunday, May 1,  Four Rivers Native American Drum performed a concert at the base of the nest tree to honor Mom Eagle and send prayers for strength to Dad Eagle and the eaglets.  Chris7 from the Norfolk forum recorded it...it's in 6 parts.  The links are in the forum post.  The drumming begins in earnest in part 3.



Norfolk Forum post

I'm pretty sure you can view the topic without being a member.  If anyone has trouble let me know & I'll post the individual youtube links.

[Donna]

http://www.wildlifecenter.org/wp/2011/05/nbg-tuesday-may3/ yesterdays fun with the eaglets.

[Kris G.]

http://www.wildlifecenter.org/wp/2011/05/nbg-tuesday-may3/ yesterdays fun with the eaglets.

Great care and all 3 looking good! 

[margaret]

http://www.wildlifecenter.org/wp/2011/05/nbg-tuesday-may3/ yesterdays fun with the eaglets.

Great care and all 3 looking good! 

That is so impressive.  The care and feeding of three eaglets.   Kudos to the caretakers!   

[MAK]

  Donna       So happy for the care these eaglets are getting. 

[Donna]

Severe Weather Damages Wildlife Enclosure

A flurry of severe thunderstorms in the Shenandoah Valley, many accompanied with wind gusts reportedly approaching 70 mph, caused damage to a newly renovated flight cage at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.  The limb of a tree outside the enclosure apparently damaged the specialized fabric used for the walls of the 85-foot-long cage which was specifically designed as an exercise space for large raptors, such as eagles and hawks.  

There was only one bird in the cage at the time, an adult Bald Eagle, #11-0207, that was admitted to the Center in late March with puncture wounds.  Taking advantage of the tear in the side wall, the eagle squeezed through the hole in the fabric and performed what the Center calls a “self-releaseâ€�.

According to Wildlife Center President Ed Clark, the incident is more frustrating than anything else.  â€œWith more than 50 outdoor enclosures, it just figures that the one damaged was the one holding a Bald Eagle.  The bird was recovering from her wounds and was flying extremely well — too well, apparently.  I guess she just had things to do.â€� WCV staff think that the bird may well return to her home territory in Gloucester

The damaged cage is adjacent to the enclosure in which three young eaglets hatched at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens are being held.   The adult eagle that escaped was being housed next to the eaglets, primarily to serve as a role model for them.   Clark said he wants to assure everyone that the enclosure in which the young birds are being housed is more than secure, since the fabric walls of that space have been reinforced with welded wire fencing. “At no time were the eaglets in any danger, nor were they especially bothered by the storm,â€� Clark said.  â€œWe’re just going to have to find them a new friendâ€�.

The Center says repairs to the large enclosure are underway.  In addition to replacing the torn wall panel, all branches and saplings within five feet of the outside of the cage will be cut back.  While this was done at the time the cage was constructed, the 15-foot-tall maple tree that caused the damage has grown up since the cage was built. Said Clark, “It just never occurred to us that this three- inch diameter tree could damage the side of the cage, but then it is hard to anticipate weather events like we have recently experience.

Wildlife Center of Virginia
NBG eaglet cam viewers: unless we get more stormy weather here in Waynesboro, there will be a scheduled cam outage tomorrow (Thursday, May 5) from 8:00 am to 9:30 am while we have an electrician here to do some work in our outdoor area. Please spread the news!

[Donna]

http://www.wildlifecenter.org/wp/2011/05/nbg-eaglet-mail/ The NBG eaglets are so popular, they've already started to get their own mail!

[MAK]

http://www.wildlifecenter.org/wp/2011/05/nbg-eaglet-mail/ The NBG eaglets are so popular, they've already started to get their own mail!

That's so sweet. Gotta love the innocence of kids! 

[Donna]

Web celebrity eaglets relocate to Wildlife Center

WAYNESBORO --

Ed Clark denies any notion he's been taken hostage.

Instead, the president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia said he's accepted that 150,000 people watch his every interaction with three eaglets recently rescued and moved to Waynesboro.

Through a continuous online video feed, a global group has taken interest in the well-being of the fuzz-ball birds and raised thousands of dollars for their care.

For months, the Norfolk Botanical Garden used a camera to broadcast the hatching of the eaglets. The birds, including mother and father, became Web celebrities. At any given hour, at least 2,000 people watched the eagles and typed live comments into a chat room.

So when the wheels of a U.S. Airways jet struck and killed the mother, the online fans "erupted," Clark said.

The outpouring of grief and support led to a memorial service for the female bird in Norfolk. More than 100 people attended, including a Native American drum group.

With the fan base mobilized, attention turned to the eaglets, which naturalists determined should be moved.

"We have come to understand that they are a true force of nature, or for nature, whichever way you want to look at it," Clark said from his office this week.

The eaglets moved to the center in Waynesboro. With them came the masses, demanding a camera and constant access.

The move also sparked a fundraiser through the Chase Community of Giving project. Within a week, the eagle fund got enough votes to reach the national top-10 list for the project, earning $25,000.

On May 19, another round of voting begins with a top award of $500,000.

Anna Davis, 60, of Staunton, said she started following the birds online in March.

"Usually when I come in (to work) I'll bring up the eagle cam and make it a smaller window on the screen," Davis said. "It is very addictive."

Debbi Skluzak of Norfolk helps moderate the Wildlife Center of Virginia's online chat room. She said many people consider the online birds to be pets.

"I might have 10 cameras that are small that are all over the place on the (computer) screen," she said. "I think a lot of people would rather watch this live cam, and watch these eagles as they grow up, than watch television."

Skluzak said she's in the process of printing more than 6,000 calendars to memorialize the eaglets' killed mother.

Clark said the arrival of the eaglets to the Wildlife Center caused so much attention the organization's website crashed. Employee email accounts overloaded.

"It's a truly sincere commitment to these birds," Clark said. "It may be over the top, but it's an investment."

Clark said the online chat room and increased attention connects more people to nature in a month than the facility's traditional education programs do in a year.

"We feel an enormous amount of responsibility to keep these people," Clark said, "who are so genuinely … connected to these birds."

[Donna]

http://www.dailypress.com/features/family/home-garden/dp-nws-eaglets-0520-20110519,0,5710748.story 3 eaglets doing well

[Donna]

http://www.wvec.com/news/Support-For-Eagles-122363264.html Read here

And the donations, eagle sculptures and even pizza rolls in!!

[Donna]

WAYNESBORO, Va. — “To baby eaglets: I hope you grow big and strong. Hope you get set free. P.S. Do not eat the paper.�

The message, written in pencil on a brown and white paper cutout of a bald eagle, came from a first-grader in Madisonville, La. It was among stacks of letters from well-wishers, children and adults alike, who’ve been tuning in to Eagle Cam at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

Three 10-week-old eaglets, rescued from a nest at the Norfolk Botanical Garden after their mother was killed by an airplane, are the stars who have attracted thousands of viewers to the Wildlife Center’s website since they arrived four weeks ago.

On their first day at the center, about 30,000 visitors crashed the Wildlife Center’s Website, said Ed Clark, Wildlife Center president.

“About 175,000 people buried us with emails right after the birds got here,� he said.

The concerned eagle fans inundated the center with questions and complaints, some angry at first about the removal of the birds from the nest at the garden, a decision made by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to save the babies.

The attention was a little overwhelming at first, said Clark, but he and his staff decided to go with it. They set up a live feed from the eaglet’s new nest out in the woods and the babies were back on webcam in two days. Clark began doing live chats online with fans.

“I did a 90-minute chat interview online, and just laid it all out for them,� he said. “I explained that if we didn’t take the babies, they would see at least one die, because the male (parent) wouldn’t be able to care for all of them by himself.�

The center’s recent plans to do more educational outreach online by upgrading software and hardware could not have been timed better. The devoted eagle watchers from around the world have “validated and reinforced� the efforts to have a stronger online presence, Clark said.

The eaglets’ parents were the first to hit the Big Time when they set up house in a pine tree at the garden six years ago. A web cam was set up, and wildlife lovers obsessively followed their adventures in babymaking.

Their most recent batch of eggs hatched successfully, but mom, with a fish in her mouth, was struck at the airport by an Air Wisconsin plane. The company donated a “significant contribution� toward the care of the eaglets.

Fans also have been generous. And they entered the Wildlife Center in the Chase Community Giving vote and the center won a $25,000 grant in Round 1. Round 2 continued until midnight last night - the center was in the running for $100,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.

“In five days we’ve increased our active donors by 25 percent,� Clark said. “That would be unrealistically ambitious goal for one year in a normal development program.�

Meanwhile, the eaglets are thriving in their caged nest in the woods. “In the morning, they’re like kids jumping up and down on the bed,� Clark said.

[Donna]

The 3 eaglets were moved while their flight pen is being built!!

WVEC won 200k and Northfolk won 100k in round 2 of the chase giveaway.

[Donna]

WVEC.com

Posted on June 1, 2011 at 8:41 AM

Updated Wednesday, Jun 1 at 8:51 AM

WAYNESBORO, NC -- A Norfolk eaglet is on the mend after veterinarians found a chip fracture to her left leg.

The injury was discovered Tuesday during their check-up at The Wildlife Center of Virginia, where they’ve been since the death of their mother in mid-April.

The eagle, NZ, was holding her left foot up and when center workers went to get her, she tried to hop away without putting weight on her leg, officials said.

Radiographs confirmed the injury on the inside of her left leg, right above her band. Officials say the injury is considered “fairly minor.�

Vets believe NZ ran into something Tuesday morning because the fracture is typically caused by a blunt force rather than becoming entangled or from interaction with a sibling.

NZ is being kept in a separate enclosure through the week to keep her quiet so healing can begin.

Vets gave NZ anti-inflammatory medication and pain medication. They say her leg won’t need a cast or bandages.

Once additional radiographs confirm that her fracture is well calloused, she will return back to the pen with her siblings, officials stressed.

 You can watch the eaglets as they grow up at the Wildlife Center of Virginia with the WVEC.com EagleCam.

On Wednesday, contractors were beginning to build the flight pen the three eaglets will eventually use.

 

Kjellstrom & Lee workers are donating their time, center officials said.

The eaglets were moved out of Eaglecam view Tuesday because material for the build was arriving and there would be lots of activity and noise around their pen.

[Donna]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsppFAeuFPg# Video of their new flight cage being constructed