Thur 5/28/09 6-7:30PM

[Carolyn J]

Trisha and I arrived at 6; Tom, Fernando and Smith were already there,and had seen a kid in the back of the dead trees. At about 6:50 Fernando saw movement in the pines just east of the dead trees, which is apparently when ?Justice? flew to the nest tree. He landed above the nest and sat there for about a half hour, calling out. Trisha and I were just leaving (everyone else had gone already), when he flew to the dead trees and landed in a very sloppy fashion very close to where we were parked. This was about 7:20. He kind of see-sawed, trying to steady himself, then flew much further back. Yes, Trisha again missed the shot of a lifetime! No camera ready, as we were all set to leave. Anyway, the poor boy sat there all alone, crying for someone to join him. It's sad to see him left behind so much now, after the 2 kids were so close. I really feel he's insecure and not ready to do it on his own yet. I sure hope the planned clearing gets postponed until ALL of the activity has stopped. All we need to do now is to further upset an already upset eagle chick. Any input/info on that subject?

[Kelly Smith]

It is my understanding that the parties involved have been informed that several wildlife specialists advise that clearing should not be performed at all due to the multiple known and particularly unknown variables that could affect the health and safety of the nest site, as well as the desirability of the nest to this pair of eagles.  As far as I know, permission has NOT been granted to enter the nest site, so any observation of people doing so should be reported to the authorities.  The steering committee will convene this Monday and I'm sure the topic of clearing under the nest will be discussed.  Decisions regarding this matter are still open.

[Lisa baumbach Reardon,]

when do we think the Eagles will be leaving?? it seeoms like they are there less and less.....

[NewMexiKen]

It's been almost 2 months since they fledged, so they should not be
expected to linger much longer. It is interesting that they are still
being fed at the nest, though apparently in smaller quantities and less
frequently.

Ken Schneider
Miramar, Florida & North Aurora, Illinois

Web site: http://www.rosyfinch.com
Eagle Nest: http://www.rosyfinch.com/BaldEagleNest.html
Blog: http://blog.rosyfinch.com
Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/rosyfinch 

"Openness to the natural world and our response to it lie at the core of what we do and why we do it." (Fr. Tom Pincelli)

[Trisha]

When Carolyn and I rescued a Cattle Egret with a broken wing and took it to Flamingo Gardens we had a long conversation with Mike, who I believe is involved with the birds of prey there. We were asking him many questions about our eagle family. He had a wealth of knowledge on the subject, both professionally and from growing up on a lake in central FL where there were multiple bald eagle nests visible from his home.

He said that his experience is that juveniles can remain in a nest area for over a year...based on the levels of their food sources and their ability to hunt. He described how the juveniles have to master the skill of using a tendon in their feet to "lock" their talons to catch and hold their prey. Tom had described seeing a juvenile on the nest doing exactly that as the watchers thought that something was stuck to its foot. He also described how some juveniles didn't take to hunting as quickly as others. The adults had to bring "not quite dead prey" and try to get the juveniles to finish the job by pushing them very aggressively. Needless to say...it was very interesting to hear him talk about eagle behavior in such detail.

I guess that as it relates to nature it is hard to assume anything with absolute certainty. We are fortunate in having such caring experts like Brian Mealey, Lynda White, of course, you Ken, and others to advise and educate us about the best paths to follow to protect the eagles and their habitat.

As for our rescued Cattle Egret, "Lenny" is now a resident of Flamingo Gardens free flight aviary as his wing had calcified to the point that trying to set it wasn't the best option.