Thursday morning nest watch

[Trisha]

I arrived at 8:30 and as I crossed the road and looked at the nest it seemed as though there were wings everywhere! Lou was there already and it took the 2 of us to piece together the action. One youngster was on or near the nest, flapping and calling as the adult flew in with food. The sibling was very close behind and barreled into the 2 birds on the nest. The adult made a hasty exit and flew to the pine above the wire to the right of the nest. It all happened very fast and their large wings seemed to fill the woods around the nest! Hope and Justice did the usual....Hope eating first while Justice watched. Justice must have been hungry as he was vocalizing loudly and trying forcefully to get himself within reach of the prey. He was somewhat successful as they both were eating within a few minutes. By 8:45 they both were down in the nest resting.

At 9:25 I knew something was up as the juveniles began calling loudly and stood up in the nest. An adult made a quick drop of food and then flew back to the same perch in the pine as before and preened for about 10 minutes. It took off and flew straight northeast, crossing the highway. During this feeding, both siblings ate together and then Hope took off through the woods to the west and Justice picked at the food for a while and then settled back down on the nest.

At 10:05 another food drop occurred with both siblings eating together (getting full maybe?) The adult returned to its previous preening location, where it remained until 10:35 when it took off in a straight NW direction. The siblings stood up side by side on the front of the nest after their snack and as I watched with the binoculars they were both looking up and moving their heads all around, always with exactly the same movements. When I tried to find what they were looking at I discovered it was 2 black vultures flying very low around the nest area just above the woods. They looked like spectators at a tennis match....it would have been an awesome video.  

Smith arrived at 11 am and said that an adult was perched in the dead trees so I went down to check it out. As I walked that way at 11:05, one of the youngsters left the nest and flew by, going my direction. The adult called to its young as it flew past towards the west. At 11:15 the adult flew from the dead tree, heading east and began a slow spiral as it climbed higher and higher. The other sibling remained on the back rim looking out so I couldn't tell which one it was. I hope Smith might know as I had to leave. It's hard to decide whether to stay at the nest or move to other roosting spots as there is a lot more action lately!

[NewMexiKen]

Mary Lou and I got there about 11:30 AM, so we must have just missed both Trisha and Smith. One adult was on the nest, but it flew away to the west almost immediately. We could not find it in the melaleuca stand. None of the chicks showed up, and we did not see the other adult. Lisa joined us, but was about 5 minutes late to see the adult. We had a consolation prize-- a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a very bright Gulf Fritillary butterfly. We stayed a little over a half hour before going to lunch with Lisa.

Adult alone in nest this morning. Luckily, I took it from the median, as it flew just as we got to the observation area:



Woody Woodpecker in the roost tree to the west of eagle nest:



Gulf Fritillary in the grass in front of observation area:

[AquaLou]

A very comprehensive recap of the morning's activities.  Good job.
Lou

[Trisha]

Thanks  Lou...I enjoyed our great conversation while nest watching and Ken, you are so amazing....you can find and capture one of nature's beauties anywhere, anytime! Thanks so much for that!

[Carolyn]

Boy, it sounds like quite a lot was happening with our eagle family these last couple of days! I was only there Tues for a little while; have been working a lot of hours this week. Plan on going Sat sometime, and hopefully Sun, too, if I'm able.
I guess we all feel like we miss them when we're not there; I know I do. Too soon we won't be able to be sharing in this wonderful experience. Gotta get it while we can!
Carolyn