Friday Afternoon 02-17-12

[Mike Fossler]

I visited the nest around 3:00pm to 4:00pm today and found Ken, James and Brian(?) watching the nest. James is with a company planning a solar-powered nest cam installation at the nest site (very exciting, move over Iowa!)

Soon after my arrival, an adult arrived with what appeared to be a fish. Ken and I spent the half hour or so watching intently as the eaglet was fed. We had a clear view of the entire event and as Ken had concluded earlier this week - it was evident there is only one eaglet :-(

Below are several photos: The initial landing of the adult; several photos of eaglet and parent as the feeding took place.

[NewMexiKen]

Meet "P. Piney Nine!"



As Mike mentioned, I met at the eagle nest with Barry, representating South Florida Audubon, and James, a camera specialist, at 2:30 PM on Friday (February 17), to review some of the technical aspects of installing the proposed nest camera. When I arrived, the female was roosting on the horizontal limb above the nest, and the eaglet was low in the nest. Soon the male dramatically swooped in to join the female on the perch.







They briefly vocalized to each other, and then the female departed.



The male then flew down to the nest, where he tore at prey and spent a few minutes feeding the single eaglet. The male then flew off, leaving the nest unattended for about an hour before arriving with an unidentified prey item. He then fed the eaglet for twenty minutes, and was still feeding it until I left just after 4:00 PM.  Mike had arrived and was still shooting, and has shared some excellent images. At risk of "gilding the lily," here are some of my shots of the male feeding the eaglet.