Nestwatch - Saturday, 1-23-10, 8am to 9am

[Mike Fossler]

I arrived at 8am from the west. One of the eagles was perched in the west dead tree strand and the other was very low in the nest (barely visible.) The eagle to the west left immediately. The one in the nest stayed barely visible the whole hour except for a brief moment around 8:30 when it raised slightly.

Below are photos of both scenarios. MF

[NewMexiKen]

Mary Lou and I arrived a little after 9:30 AM. Humberto was there. He had been watching about a half hour and had only seen one eagle, on the nest. It was still sitting there and stayed on the nest for the next 40 minutes or so, until we departed. No other adult was seen.

We were looking for signs of behavior change, but if there were any changes, they were subtle. To us, the bird appeared a bit higher in the nest-- we could see all of its white head much of the time, along with some of its back, even when it was facing left, when it usually appears more obscured by the height of the nest rim. It was definitely more active-- yesterday morning it barely moved except when it got up and briefly flapped its wings. Now it often looked down under its body. It changed position only once. For 5 minutes or so it sat very low, facing to the right, with only the top of its head visible. It also was possibly bothered by flies, as it shook its head several times.

All in all, we thought this was a change in behavior since yesterday morning, but we do not know its significance. Because of the frequency of looking under its body, this may be an indicator that the egg is hatching or has hatched, but there is no way to know for sure.

We sent our observation form to Kelly-- it is so easy to do-- all watchers, please contribute to the students' study by filling out one form for every 30 minutes you spend watching the nest.

[Kelly Smith]

I stopped by the nest at noon today.  My observations were very similar to Ken's, with the exception that the eagle spent most of its time with its head and most of its neck visible.  It did seem more alert than I have seen before.  It looked down into the nest several times, and sometimes seemed to poke around at the bottom.  Fortunately Jill arrived to carry on the watch before I had to leave.  We are all waiting for the sure sign that a chick has arrived - delivery of food to the nest! Don't forget to download a checklist to take with you to the nest site.  We could use all of the data we can get, and it will also give us a good reference for next years events!

[Jill W]

When I arrived from the west a little after 1 PM, I drove very slowly by the dead trees and did not see an eagle.

About 10 minutes after Kelly left, an adult flew to the nest (I think around 1:15 PM) and landed on the west rim.  I could not tell if it brought nest materials with it, but it started moving large stick branches around at the top part of the nest.  The eagle on the nest did not move.  It was only there for about 2 minutes and then it flew off to the west.  I could not see where it ended up.

At about 1:25, it returned to the west rim of the nest.  This time, the other eagle stood up and they had a little "conversation."  They looked down into the nest twice.  They were together about 4 minutes and then the eagle that flew in flew away to the west but then circled around and went east.  I lost sight of it because I was watching from my car and the trees in the median blocked my view.  I got out of the car and went to the median, but I couldn't find it.

The eagle flew to the nest again at about 1:50.  The one on the nest did not stand up this time.  It stayed for about 2 minutes and flew to the east where my view was blocked again.

I left at about 2:20.

I agree that the incubating eagle was higher in the nest than the last time I watched.

Just a little paranoid here ---I'm starting to think that I'd better take some pictures and show them, even if they are lousy, because maybe it appears a lot of things happen when I'm there alone.  Just kidding.

Jill

[Kelly Smith]

I think we are all a bit anxious here - even the eagles.  Maybe the increased activity is due to the anticipation.  Could the frequent trips back to the nest "empty taloned" mean that there is yet to be a hatching?