Friday, Feb 5 - nest open 15 minutes

[NewMexiKen]

We arrived at about 9:50 AM. No other observers were there upon arrival, and there was a light intermittent drizzle. The female was standing watch in the usual roost in Australian Pine to east of nest tree. Note that all her tail feathers are completely white.



The female had some feathers stuck on her bill as if she possibly had just been eating or feeding the young. She cleaned her beak, as we commonly see the eagles do just after eating.



The male was not on nest or roosting elsewhere that we could see. After about 15 minutes it started raining quite hard. We looked up and the male had suddenly arrived on the nest, unseen. He appeared to be feeding the chick(s), but we did not actually see a prey item. Sorry about the quality of the photos, but the light was very poor.



We ran to the shelter of the car, and about 5 minutes later the female flew in over our car to the nest, from the north, joining the male on the nest for about 5 minutes. It looked as if both were engaged in feeding or tending to the young. The female, on the right, appeared to have something in her mouth, but possibly it was the same or another feather plastered on her beak.



The male then flew off to roost in the melaleucas. When we departed at about 10:30 the rain had let up and the female remained on the nest, mostly standing on the rim to the west and preening.  Jay and Marilyn joined us and stayed on after we left.

The male's brown outer right tail feather tip is clearly seen in this photo.

[Jill W]

Well, that (the feeding) sounds encouraging.  I hope Kelly is not as worried now.  Thanks, Ken.

It always tickles me when you, Victor and some of the others apologize for the quality of your photos when most of them are so good, I'd be thrilled to pieces if I had taken them.

I was at the nest area from about 3:40 PM until a little after 6:00.  Most of the time, the female was standing on the nest moving nest material and just looking around the area.  At 5:20, she left the nest unattended and then returned at 5:40.  I did not see her fly in, so I don't know if she brought prey.  After a few minutes rearranging some sticks on the far left side of the nest, she went to the center and I think began to feed the young.  She was definitely pulling on something and then dipping her head low in the nest.  It did not appear she was eating any of it.

I never saw the male, but he could have been at the meleleucas.  I walked down there once only and did not see him, but I was uncomfortable leaving my "stuff" unattended on the median.

I hope those high winds in the area last night did not disturb the eagles or their nest.  I hope someone reports something soon, or I may have to go check it out.
Jill

[Kelly Smith]

I stopped by the nest today, Saturday, from about 11:45 to 1:30.  All seems fine - an eagle that turned out to be the male was on the nest for most of the time.  The female flew in around 1:00 with some prey, but I couldn't tell what it was.  It was hard to see much clearly, with all of the wind. The female was quite busy feeding herself large pieces of meat and also offering food to the bottom of the nest.  The male flew around the area, disappeared for about 10 minutes and then was seen circling the area again before flying off again. As I was leaving a red truck pulled up to the apron on the north side of Pines, in front of the maleluecas.  He had a backpack on, and was walking along the grassy area on the south side of the road.  I was concerned that he had plans to enter the woods, but after watching him settle in to picture taking from the closed area, I decided he was probably not a danger, so I left.

[Phil]

Kelly,

Thanks for your concerns, I'm the gentleman of the red truck you observed earlier today.  I have been observing those eagles for the las two years and have also been monitoring this website for upate almost daily.  Thanks for your concerns, but I do follow the rules and wouldn't enter the restricted area.

[Kelly Smith]

Hello Phil,

It's great that we have so many eyes out there watching over these eagles.  Thanks for your help. Last year I did see photographers returning from the wooded area, so I am a bit paranoid about it.  FYI - the entire south side of Pines Blvd has been closed, thanks to FDOT.  So far, it seems that the "crowds" have been successfully handled, but we'll see what happens once the little ones pop their heads above the edge of the nest.

[vdelauz]

"FYI - the entire south side of Pines Blvd has been closed, thanks to FDOT."

Uh-oh! I guess it's time for a longer lens!