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Sunday, May 3, 2009

Eaglets

We're pretty sure our local pair of bald eagles has gone north for the summer. We never saw a baby, but we hope he went along. We looked for their nest, but you can't see it unless you're on the balcony of a nearby condo. We saw them bringing in sticks and vines, so we know where it is.

I discovered a great webcam, at http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html where we can watch another eagle family raise triplets. Much of the time it's like watching paint dry, but I keep it running while I'm doing other things, like playing my dulcimer. They are just over a month old, but they grow up pretty fast. It gives us hope that our eagle chick was able to fly north with it's parents.

Today both parents were in the nest at the same time, and you can see how much bigger the female is. They were both feeding the kids. They would pull off a hunk of roadkill or whatever, and a chick would pull it from the big yellow beak. After lunch, the grownups left and the kids took a nap. They woke up and one by one started flapping their wings and jumping a little, taking turns, showing off. A big shadow appears, and Momma swoops in and sits on them. You could almost hear her saying "Don't jump on the bed." I guess she knows they're not quite ready to fly.