Monday March 17 Glory was flapping his wings 11:00 AM

[NewMexiKen]

I am letting my 9 year old granddaughter, who is visiting us from Illinois, write her observations. Ken

Today my Grandfather took me out to see the eagles. First I had trouble adjusting the binoculars but Grandpa helped me and I could see the eagles plain as day.

 

I saw two eaglets. One was standing up and the other was sitting down.

 

The one that was standing up did not have any white on its chest whatsoever and was also exercising its wings.

 

When the other one stood up it had a white V on its chest. Grandpa said that the one with the white was Honor, the oldest one, and the other was Glory.

 

We went over to some dead trees to see if we could spot the parents but they were not there, so we went back. Then Grandpa heard and saw a Pileated Woodpecker. I didn't see it but heard it nice and clear. Then one of the parents flew in. Grandpa was pretty sure it was Pride (the Dad) but wasn't so sure. It could have been Joy (the Mom). Whichever parent it was, it brought a fish. Honor picked up the fish in her beak but Glory just waited nicely.

 

The eaglets mobbed the parent and he flew to a branch just over the nest and stayed there for a few minutes. During that time they were calling to him.

 

Then Pride flew over to some dead trees along the road.

 
 
We darted over and Grandpa wanted the bird to look straight out so that he could see whether it was the male or the female by the shape of its head. Its feathers were all ruffled up and it had its back to us so he did not get a good glance so he checked the pictures as soon as he got home. It was the male (Pride).



When we got home he asked me if he could take a picture of the Mediterranean Gecko we caught. I told him where to look for it because I saw one there the last time I was visiting. At that time I found a baby Gecko. This time when Grampa caught it he scared his tail off! He thought it was a worm of some kind because it was wiggling, but I knew it was the tail. I was laughing so hard! When a gecko sees one of its most feared predators, it will drop its tail so the predator will go after it, which allows the gecko to sneak off and regrow its tail.

 
</body> </html>

[Lisa G]

  Great job From your Granddaughter Ken .. I Love the pictures also :)

[tczig]

BEST grandfather EVER for teaching your granddaughter about these eagles!

[smithk6303]

Wonderful, detailed observations!  She is well on her way to being a great scientist.  But she also tells a wonderful story, so she will have many options open to her!