Petruchio is dropping off a fish to Kate.
Look carefully: you can see her head directly below his breast.
You can also get a feeling for how much bigger Kate is than Petruchio by comparing the two heads.
Petruchio was at the nest for 43 seconds by my time stamps on the photos.
The immature 3 year old returned after being chased off by Petruchio.
It lazily circled the nest and then drifted off to the east out of my sight.
Kate’s screams eventually brought Petruchio barreling across the nest and off in the same direction as the immature eagle.
I watched where the two eagles had gone, figuring a fight would ensue.
I had about given up when Petruchio appeared being chased by the 3 year old.
Petruchio had apparently stolen a catfish from the immature eagle and the youngster wanted it back.
Petruchio won: he zipped over the nest, dropped the food to Kate, turned on his tail and chased the younger bird out towards the dam.
There was an intruder at the New Hope nest.
This 3 year old eagle (looks like a ratty hawk) had been circling just above the nest causing Kate (the mother) to scream.
Then the intruder dropped out of sight to reappear zooming directly across the nest about 5 feet up.
You can barely see a white sliver of Kate’s white head below the intruder and to the left at the rim of the nest.
Petruchio (the father) soon showed up and chased the 3 year old out of sight.
Petruchio, the male, is leaving the nest after having dropped off a fish for his mate Kate. She finished the fish in less than 2 minutes.
For those of you new to my Journey, I watch a nest of bald eagles on Jordan Lake every year. I try hard to get the best photos I can at the long distances needed to not disturb the parents. I call the eagle pair Kate and Petruchio. They are starting their 4th year of raising eaglets. In this photo Kate has begun brooding / incubating her egg(s)! All you can see of her is the upper half of her head, beak facing to the right, bright eye on alert. I watched Petruchio, her mate, bring her a fish yesterday but it was too dark to get a photo.
doc ellen's journey 