APR 7: Two eaglets and Jewel in flight

[NewMexiKen]

I arrived at the nest at about 9:45 AM and had just missed lots of action, according to the several wathcers already present. The female (Jewel) was roosting quietly in the tall tree at the corner of Pines 7 208th, and the two eaglets were quite active in the nest.



They are just about one month old and there is still a noticeable difference between the first-hatched eaglet (P Piney 26) and the smaller and still downy younger sibling (P Piney 27).





After more than an hour I decided to call it quits, though Luis and Lazaro were still on watch. I was walking to my car when a couple of families with young children stopped and asked about the eagles. I returned to the nest area and helped them see the roosting female as well as the eaglets. Then, just as I was leaving, my good deed went unpunished, as Jewel suddenly propelled from her perch and flew out to pluck some fresh leaves from an Australian Pine (remember they do not have needles-- they are twigs covered by tiny leaves, but also are aromatic and oily). As she flew over my head to return to the nest I captured a series which made me happy to be an eagle lover. The sky was magnificently blue with puffy white clouds.

[Sally]

Fantastic Ken!