Blackwater Eagles are back

[Donna]

Eaglets now feed themselves. They got huge!

[Donna]

1st eggs for Osprey. April 18th.

[MAK]

  Those eagles sure changed since the last time I saw them!  YAY for the Osprey egg! Thanks Donna! 

[Dumpsterkitty]

Eaglets now feed themselves. They got huge!

While browsing for other pics, found this one from February 25...

[Kris G.]

The Friends of Blackwater are proud to announce that Barbara Burr from Oneonta, New York is our contest winner. Barbara is a retired elementary school teacher and she was the first person to enter the names Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour as names for our chicks.

As many of our cam watchers might know, the three remaining U.S. space shuttles will be retired this year to museums around the country, so we thought it was fitting to name our three soon-to-be-flying chicks after these vehicles which have served an important role in the U.S. space program. As Barbara put it, "I selected the names of space shuttles for the eaglets as they both represent flight at its best."

Our cam technician has decided how the names will be applied: Discovery has to be the first chick born, first out and always open to its new world. Its shuttle namesake is already retired, but our Discovery will be the first to fledge and lead this year's chicks from the nest. Atlantis, the second chick in the middle but never lost its zest for life. Its shuttle has one more flight but our chick is well prepared to follow Discovery. And lastly Endeavour our third chick, it never gave up, was nurtured by its parents and pressed ahead to make it when we were anxious about its survival. The shuttle Endeavour will fly one last time with a special pilot before our own Endeavour will fly for the first time shortly after the real Endeavor completes its shuttle mission.

We want to thank all those who submitted names for our 2011 Eaglet-Naming Contest. If your names didn't win, hang on to them and maybe they'll have a shot in a future contest. And congratulations to Barbara our winner!

[Donna]

3 eggs now for the Osprey and they think 1 more to come!! YIKES!

[Donna]

The Friends of Blackwater are proud to announce the winner in our 2011 Osprey Chick-Naming Contest.

Winner:

The winning names of "Harry, Ron and Hermione" were submitted by Joan from New Jersey. Joan enjoys hiking and nature in her spare time, and also following our young chicks on the Osprey Cam.

As all Harry Potter fans know, the final Harry Potter film was released just a couple weeks ago, and that brings an end to the saga of the Harry Potter books and movies, which millions of people around the world have enjoyed. Earlier this year, we paid tribute to the American space shuttles by naming our three eaglets after the three shuttles that were recently retired, so we decided to name our three osprey chicks after the Harry Potter characters that are retiring this year as well.

As for which chick gets which name, it's been very hard to tell the gender and identity of our chicks. They all seem close in size, and because the food has been flowing freely this year, one chick wasn't behind in its development, so it was hard to spot the youngest. But for the record, we'll name the oldest Harry, the middle chick Ron, and the youngest Hermione -- because the youngest usually needs to be smart and spunky. :-)

Thanks to everyone who participated in our contest. If your entries didn't win this year, hang on to them and you can use them again in a future chick-naming contest -- they might just win next time.




Nest Update

07/27/11:
All the chicks have now fledged and returned safely to the nest. We caught the last one taking off earlier today. We expect the chicks to be hanging around the nest through early September.

[Donna]

Friends of Blackwater NWR

Glenn Lawrence just posted this to our wall and I had to republish it here so everyone would be sure to see it. He took it yesterday, and it makes me really homesick for the return of the Osprey Cam feed. This could very well be our Eagle Cam couple perching on the Osprey Cam nest.

[MAK]

  Nice pic!   

[Donna]

http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html  Up and running!!! 

Nest Update

01/03/12:
We're back up with our new PC. Thanks again for your patience.

We've seen our eagle couple rubbing each other and touching up the nest, so we think they're in good form for a new season. You might see some occasional static on the cam caused by wind and local traffic, but it should come and go.

[Annette]

http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html  Up and running!!! 

Nest Update

01/03/12:
We're back up with our new PC. Thanks again for your patience.

We've seen our eagle couple rubbing each other and touching up the nest, so we think they're in good form for a new season. You might see some occasional static on the cam caused by wind and local traffic, but it should come and go.

Finally!   

[Dumpsterkitty]

They've been spending quite a bit of time in the nest!

[Donna]

1st egg of 2012

Friends of Blackwater NWR

As our quick-fingered fans have noticed, we just got our first egg of the 2012 season! The earliest we've ever had an egg on the Blackwater Eagle Cam. We think the egg was laid earlier this afternoon, and we hope to see a second egg in two to three days.

[Dumpsterkitty]

1st egg of 2012

Friends of Blackwater NWR

As our quick-fingered fans have noticed, we just got our first egg of the 2012 season! The earliest we've ever had an egg on the Blackwater Eagle Cam. We think the egg was laid earlier this afternoon, and we hope to see a second egg in two to three days.

I thought something was up-I just tuned in a little while ago & she was stuck right tight to the nest! 

[Kris G.]

1st egg of 2012

Friends of Blackwater NWR

As our quick-fingered fans have noticed, we just got our first egg of the 2012 season! The earliest we've ever had an egg on the Blackwater Eagle Cam. We think the egg was laid earlier this afternoon, and we hope to see a second egg in two to three days.

I thought something was up-I just tuned in a little while ago & she was stuck right tight to the nest! 

Just read the good news on FB!