Blackwater Eagles are back

[Wing Goose]

Wow, I am so touched by both eagles taking care of each other.  I think I read the times correctly, - -  one eagle knocked the snow off of the one laying on the eggs and then lays down beside her/him to help stay warm.
Lola
 

[valhalla]

Good News!  Snow stopped after midnight and it was very light by that time anyway.  Bright moonlight and no blowing snow, so the parents should be fine!   

[Donna]

Eggs are looking good and toasty.

Just now momma left for a break.

[valhalla]

Blackwater and Norfolk are going to go under snow late Friday morning/early afternoon.  Governor McDonnell of VA has already declared an emergancy (more for SW Virginia).  12 to 30 inches of snow is predicted (and the weather people have been horrible so far).  Both nests are going to be probably experiencing NE winds, as the snow is going to pick up wet from the Atlantic.  Nor'easters are the bad boys.  Fingers crossed, as both sets of parents are going to have about 36 hours of a very full nest of heavy wet snow.   

[Donna]

Blackwater and Norfolk are going to go under snow late Friday morning/early afternoon.  Governor McDonnell of VA has already declared an emergancy (more for SW Virginia).  12 to 30 inches of snow is predicted (and the weather people have been horrible so far).  Both nests are going to be probably experiencing NE winds, as the snow is going to pick up wet from the Atlantic.  Nor'easters are the bad boys.  Fingers crossed, as both sets of parents are going to have about 36 hours of a very full nest of heavy wet snow.   

Yeah, this is gonna be the BIG one. Poor Eagles, hope they can handle all that snow. 6 to 12 predicted here but most accumulations in the South. I wanted snow but this is ridiculous. The stores are going to be crazy!!!

[Donna]

Nest Tree
Posted by Lisa in Blackwater NWR, Eagle Cam, Nesting

two bald eagle eggsWhile we’re patiently waiting for our eaglets to hatch, I thought folks might be interested in learning a bit more about our Eagle Cam tree. The tree that has hosted our camera for six seasons is a loblolly pine tree. Loblolly pines are beautiful, tall trees that are common at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and they’re a favorite of our eagle population.

In Brooke Meanley’s excellent book Blackwater, he writes:

    Though there are some big hardwood trees in southern Dorchester County — oaks, gums, and others — loblolly pines are invariably selected for nest sites. The pines are probably chosen not only because they are the predominant trees and the best life-form for a nest site, but also because pines usually grow closer to the marshes and open water, principal hunting grounds of the eagle.

    Nest are constructed mostly of sticks, with a few clumps of sod, cornstalks (occasionally with ears attached), and if near a marsh, a few cattail stalks. In the Blackwater country, nests are usually lined with marsh grass. As material is added year after year, the core of the nest comes to form a sodden mass of vegetable mold. Sticks up to six feet in length have been noted in eagle nests.

Meanley goes on to describe a Blackwater nest that fell down and noted it contained some odd items, such as acorns and periwinkle snails (neither used for food), furnace clinkers, and muskrat traps.

    Through the years fragments of nonedible food, the bones of muskrats, feet of ducks, heads of fish, skulls of birds, and other items, filter down into the interstices of a nest.

One fallen nest contained the remains of 35 muskrat, 8 waterfowl, several fish, 1 spotted turtle, 1 blue crab, and part of what appeared to be the skull of a red-tailed hawk.

Several years ago, Craig Koppie — an endangered species and raptor specialist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — came to Blackwater NWR to collect a few bald eaglets that were being relocated to Vermont, where they’re trying to establish a breeding population. During his visit, photos were taken of Craig climbing loblolly pine trees where eagle nests with young were located. If you click on the links below, you can see Craig climbing the trees and you can also get an idea of how big an eagle nest is compared to a human male.

And as a final treat, here is a photo of our actual Eagle Cam tree. We happened to find this in our archives not long ago, and we knew our cam watchers would enjoy seeing the actual tree. The nest is bigger now, for sure, but it gives you a good look at the tree location. As a side note: Our camera is about 80 feet up in the air, which gives you an idea why we have to use a professional tree climber in order to do cam maintenance.

Weather

We hear that more snow is headed our way this weekend — it’s been one tough winter — so we hope our parents will continue doing their excellent job in keeping the eggs safe. And be sure to check in on the Norfolk Eagle Cam in Virginia, where their couple is also protecting two eggs at the moment.

Thanks to all those who have sent in photos. We’ll get the gallery updated this weekend.

[Dumpsterkitty]

Poor Momma Blackwater looks like she's gonna be buried again...

[AlisonL]

The eagles are now going through a snowstorm, and conditions seemed to get worse quickly. I hope they will be able to protect the eggs.

      
      

[Dumpsterkitty]

I have faith in this pair, Alison.  They rode out a similar storm last year just as the eggs were hatching...



Both eaglets hatched surrounded by snow...

[Donna]

I have faith in this pair, Alison.  They rode out a similar storm last year just as the eggs were hatching...



Both eaglets hatched surrounded by snow...

I remember that Ei and we were all saying name it SNOWFLAKE or SNOWBALL!!!

[AlisonL]

I have faith in this pair, Alison.  They rode out a similar storm last year just as the eggs were hatching...

Both eaglets hatched surrounded by snow...

I remember that too from last year -- I know the eagles can deal with these conditions. I hope the storm doesn't continue for too long.

[Donna]

Pic from just now....poor gal. She'll do fine. Snow just started here, 1 to 3 is all we expect. Janet and others in that area.....Good luck.

[valhalla]

I have faith in this pair, Alison.  They rode out a similar storm last year just as the eggs were hatching...

Both eaglets hatched surrounded by snow...

I remember that too from last year -- I know the eagles can deal with these conditions. I hope the storm doesn't continue for too long.

We are and have been under Blizzard conditions since about 10 last night through lunch today.  If you look at the weather images, Blackwater is in the heavy Chesapeake Snow zone.  Temp in Ownings is 33 right now, which is helping to make the snow VERY Heavy (trust me on that, as my back hurts from moving the stuff coming down at about 1 inch per hour last night BEFORE the winds). 

[valhalla]

Rich just asked about Blackwater (such a guy  ).  He just got some of my heavy pans and will fill them for the birds and put them in some semi-sheltered places.  The winds are brutal - the poor little guys are blowing around, so he's going to try to help them 

[Dumpsterkitty]

Up to her wings, but not buried this morning...