Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 5:10pm to 5:40pm

[vdelauz]

Today's observation was one of hope. I was hoping to see little fuzzy heads, but it didn't happen for me. From 5:10 to 5:16, the male eagle was low in the nest. At 5:16, he got up and stood on the edge of the nest. He was visibly feeding his chicks with whatever prey he had cached in the nest. This lasted until 5:24. At 5:24, he unexpectedly left the nest and flew westbound towards a tree branch near the nest area. He stayed there until 5:30, but before he left there, a single Black Vulture flew overhead in a southeasterly direction, but flew very close to the tree tops. Apparently, the male eagle did not like this because he cried out loudly just as the vulture passed. At 5:30, the male eagle flew further west and perched atop one of the melaleuca trees they typically roost on. He stayed there until 5:40, which is when I was going to leave. Before leaving, though, I walked back to the nest to see if the female eagle had shown up, but she hadn't, which means that the nest was left unattended from 5:24 until after 5:40.

The only things I can add to this observation is that during this 30-minute period, a flock of White Ibis flew high over the nest area from southeast to northwest and a trio of Monk Parakeets flew into their nest across the street from the southeast. Lastly, I guess I should note that there was a moderate amount of very cold wind blowing in from the northwest. It's going to be cold out there tonight, so I hope our fuzzy little chicks get the warmth they need from their parents!

The male eagle feeding his chicks...


The male eagle left the nest and perched on a branch in a tree near the nest...