Upgrading the nest

[serrah46]

Look at the difference on the nest, the first picture was taken on Sunday 10/4/09, the second picture was taken on Tuesday 10/6/09, and the third picture was taken today 10/8/2009

[Trisha]

Awesome documentation of the nest rebuilding progress Humberto. All the new sticks are so much lighter in color, it's easy to differentiate them. I can't believe the diameter of some of the new sticks. I would love to see the eagles flying with them!

[Kelly Smith]

These are wonderful pictures to share with my students!  Thanks so much!

[Linda]

I find it interesting that they are reusing last year's nest although I understand they are rebuilding it.   I imagine the nest by the time the eaglettes left was disgusting, with discarded food pieces and bird droppings.   Do they brush all that out, or just rebuild on top?

[NewMexiKen]

Good question, Linda. Has anyone seen the eagles removing anything? We saw the young birds tossing sticks out of the nest. Replacement of nest material, especially grass and vines, continued throughout the nesting season.

While the eaglets were in the nest, there were often lots of leftover carcasses. Vultures often circled around the nest, as if their acute sense of smell lured them to the "carrion." Never saw a vulture land on the nest at any time, though an Osprey was once seen on the nest.

[Trisha]

I haven't seen anything being removed by the eagles in their recent return. I do remember frequently observing smaller birds (like grackles) spending a lot of time in the nest picking around last season during the period when Hope and Justice were no longer spotted and the adults only occasionally flew in. I assumed with the nest all but abandoned, the smaller birds were taking care of any scraps.

We all also got pictures of the huge swarm of flies over the nest at the end of the season. Perhaps over the course of the summer, with the hard rains, eventually the material decays or is removed by other birds or insects. Also.....it appears as if the eagles are making a whole new layer of sticks on top of the old nest. You can tell that by the lightness in color of the newer sticks. I have only seen them bringing sticks in from the south and they look like they are dead maleleuca wood due to that bleached, light color. As they build up the new layer, at least they will have "fresh bedding" right under them!

We also observed during the last days of Hope and Justice using the nest, their tossing sticks over the side and moving them around in the nest. Perhaps some sort of instinctual practice or behavior as they readied to leave the nest? I assume they really don't come into contact with another nest until they are around 5 and have found a mate and are building their own nest. That's a long time to remember what a nest looks like!

[Mike Fossler]

I would think our terential rains over the summer would have cleaned the nest through-and-through together with the small bird visits Trish mentioned. I noticed the rains had taken a toll on the shape of the nest over the Summer - but I believe the eagles expect this and rebuild accordingly as they seem to be doing now. As long as there something to rebuild, the parents should keep using this site - right?
MF

[Linda954]

thanks for the explanation, I'm glad they found it to their liking again and we can start the whole process again soon.

[serrah46]

This morning (10/24/09) the eagles made several flights to the nest. They brought big pieces of sticks from the back of the malelucas every time they returned, they also spent some time rearanging the sticks in the nest.