Tuesday morning, February 15 chicks feeding

[NewMexiKen]

This morning when we arrived at the nest at 8:40 AM, both adults were roosting in the Melaleuca snags to the west. Mary Lou watched the nest for nearly a half hour and was concerned because she saw no sign of the eaglets. Suddenly the older chick stood up and exercised her wings, then the other popped its head up, much to our relief. There was fresh prey in the nest, as the meat was bright red. It appeared to be a white bird.

The older chick fed for a prolonged period, or appeared to just stand on the prey, guarding it, as the smaller sibling just looked on. We captured one apparently hostile interaction on video (screen shot below). Around 10:00 AM the male flew off to the south, and the female flew to roost in the Australian Pine just east of the nest. We thought the male had gone hunting, but we found him roosting in the Melaleucas when we departed at about 10:30 AM.

In a few minutes I will also post a video of the two chicks eating.

This appeared to be a mild squabble as the older eaglet (on right) hoarded the food (screen shot from video):



Older chick is now about 5 1/2 weeks old:



Male eagle roosting in the melaleucas:



Female roosting nearby: