Eagle nest in Melbourne, FL 12/31/12

[Jill W]

Happy New Year!

I have been visiting a nest in Melbourne for a couple of months, mostly on weekends.

Yesterday, we saw two adults on the nest.  We had just arrived and I did not have the camera set up yet.  The male flew away, so I was not able to get a picture of the two.  While waiting for him to return, we noticed a fuzzy head pop up.

 

Here are a few of the adult only:

[Jill W]

Here are a few of the adult only:






Jill

[NewMexiKen]

Beautiful shot of the baby eagle, Jill!  Maybe we will be seeing a fuzzy top in the next week or so!

[Jill W]

Thanks, Ken.

Any idea how old the chick is?

Also, do you know what kind of pine tree that is?

Jill

[NewMexiKen]

I don't know my pine trees-- someone else may. I knew how to ID all the evergreens when I lived in New Mexico. This one does appear to be a native pine, unlike our Australian Pines.

Older native pines tend to have strong lateral branches that often create a platform top rather than a central leader that ends in a peak, which is the case with the exotic Australian. Of course this means that relatively few Australian Pines have crotches that will support a heavy nest. (This is a concern with our local eagle nest-- if it comes down in a storm there may not be any suitable nest trees within their territory).

The eaglet is probably between 1 and 2 weeks old. This is based merely upon the observations recorded at the Pembroke Pines nest over the past 3 seasons. The little fuzzy head appeared within a space of 7 - 18 days after hatching (mean 12.5, average 14 days). Of course there are many variables, including how often and for how long the nests were observed, visibility of the nest and width and height of the nest rim, not to mention the behavior of the chick.

[Jill W]

Thanks, Ken.

I'm pretty sure the pine tree the nest is on in Melbourne is a  Slash Pine.

http://www.google.com/search?q=slash+pine+tree&hl=en&tbo=u&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4TSNA_en___US360&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xNvqUKyoMMrU0gGU0ICAAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CFcQsAQ&biw=1957&bih=792

http://mobilebotanicalgardens.org/2012/08/30/a-short-guide-to-landscape-trees/slash-pine/

Jill