Tuesday, March 3rd - Swallow-tailed Kite over nest

[NewMexiKen]

Mary Lou and I observed the nest from about 8:00 to 8:45 AM this morning.  The female was feeding the eaglets when we arrived:



She flew off the nest after about 10 minutes and roosted in the melaleucas for the rest of the time we observed them. The chicks were up and alert for a minute or so, then rested down low in the nest. It's getting hard to tell the two largest apart-- I thought they were arranged (left to right) from oldest to youngest, but now I'm not sure. The middle appears taller, but the left one seems to have less down on its head. If the second is a female, she will be larger than an older male before fledging. I will use this photo on the name poll page unless someone comes up with a better one and will give me permission to post it there:



Only about 5 minute later, the male adult (his brown feather tail tip was better seen on another photo) flew to the nest. Upon arriving,  he either dropped the prey as he began to land, or saw that there was no food in the nest, as he never entered the nest and quickly dropped down and away. He returned only about 5 minutes later with prey:



The youngest of the three eaglets, in foreground took quite a bit of food, while the other two appeared to have already eaten their fill:


For the first time in over two years of watching this nest, we were delighted to have a Swallow-tailed Kite circle around the nest tree and then pass directly overhead before disappearing to the north:

[NewMexiKen]

The three new signs on the south side of Pines are a bit ambiguous. They imply that there is a restricted area, but the area is not defined. I hope people do not take it to mean that they must stand on the shoulder of the road, between the signs and the pavement. It will help if traffic cones are set up as was done last year, about 1/3 of the way down the grassy swale, to show the limits that observers may approach.

Better still, if some party might donate a few big orange water-filled barrels, and a plastic fence that could be strung along the edge of the shoulder of the road, this would separate the pedestrians from the roadway as well as from the eagles.

To do this, the City would still need to obtain approval from their own traffic engineers as well as FDOT, which has jurisdiction over the right-of-way.



The police were there briefly (down near the traffic light, but no one was standing on the south side of the road:

[Trisha]

Very interesting reporting Ken, and the pictures are super!  I love the one of the adult grabbing the nest side as the 2 eaglets watch! It is amazing to see the differences between the 3 siblings....size, color, feathers...everything!

I'd say you had a perfect visit to the nest topped by seeing the STK....couldn't have been any better! There are quite a few reports of STK sightings in ENP from the weekend. You got to see one close to home right over the nest...amazing!

[vdelauz]

As always, GREAT shots, Ken! Shot #3, with dad on the approach to the nest, is EXCELLENT!!! Way to capture the action. The pic of the STK is very special, as well. As for shot #2, showing Moe, Larry and Curly facing in the same direction, is my personal favorite of the eaglets so far. Thank you for sharing and keep them coming!