Blackwater Eagles are back

[MAK]

  I thought it looked like she was scooching down like there was an egg under her! 

[Donna]

2 eggs!!

[MAK]

2 eggs!!

They look so tiny in that big nest! 

[Dumpsterkitty]

Mom-brella

[Dumpsterkitty]

Dad had been sitting for a while, but Mom's back now!

[Dumpsterkitty]

Nest Update

01/25/12:
On Wednesday, we saw one of the parents perform the old trick where they dump grass on the seated parent to get that adult to stand up so they can switch positions. And as we see, it usually works.


I love when they do this...I always think of Mariah trying to get Kaver to move.  I wonder if she ever dropped pebbles on his back? 

[Donna]

Friends of Blackwater NWR
We're excited to announce the sighting of a relatively new bald eagle nest right near the end of the Wildlife Drive at Blackwater Refuge. We conferred with our supervisory biologist and our ranger, and they believe it is a new nest. What's great about the nest is it's just to the left of the road and in full view of any photographers who happen to be on the Drive. On Sunday, we saw a female eating on the nest and a male in a nearby tree, so we hope they'll be on eggs soon.

[Donna]

Eagle Eggs
Posted by Lisa in Eagle Cam, eggs
We’re about ten days away from the possible hatching of our first egg. As we mentioned on the cam page, our parents went through a brief period where they seemed agitated by something outside the nest (maybe another eagle). They spent some time off the eggs, and we have to assume that it was not long enough to hurt the eggs’ development.

Then on January 31, the male brought in a meal to the nest (almost all meals to this point had been eaten away from the nest that contained eggs), but rather than hand it off to the female, he mantled over it and then gave her some when he was done. This is the kind of behavior we’ve seen on the Osprey Cam nest when a new male was at the nest or when the couple — which had spent the winter apart — we’re just beginning to bond again for the breeding season. It isn’t the kind of behavior we expected to see with a male eagle that had already helped bring about two eggs with our female. So we’re not sure what was going on, but we haven’t seen this behavior again.

Cam watchers have asked about the size and color of the eggs. The blog from the Center for Conservation Biology reports that the eggs are oval (about the size of a tennis ball) and 4.3-4.5 ounces.

[Dumpsterkitty]

Hatch date is approaching! Earliest estimate is 02/15.

Meanwhile, Dad arrived & tried to convince Mom he needed a turn on the eggs. 
She wasn't budging.  She knew snow was coming!

     

[Dumpsterkitty]

Nest Update

02/17/12:
We've seen a dark spot on one of the eggs that definitely looks like a small hole.

[Dumpsterkitty]

Nest Update

02/18/12:
Chick Alert!
One egg is definitely hatching. The other might have some minor activity as well.

[Dumpsterkitty]

[Kris G.]

           

[Dumpsterkitty]

Second hatch!    This one was captured by Bob Geary on FB...

[Donna]

Wow, those eggs don't mess around!