Jordan Lake. First Nest. The chicks this morning were doing a lot of wing wapping and trampolining. The biggest of the chicks was certainly hogging most of the space much to the annoyance of the other two chicks. The big chick was getting a lot of vertical air between its feet and the nest!
raptors
CategoryNest Repair
Jordan Lake. First Nest. With 3 rapidly growing chicks bouncing around in the nest, the parents have to bring in sticks and repair the nest. Dad Bard went dashing out and grabbed the top of a small pine tree and headed back to the nest. That’s him piling into the nest from the left-hand side while mom Kate is on the right hand side with fish to feed the chicks. Crowded!
First Nest Triplets update
Jordan Lake. All three of the TRIPLETS are alive and doing well! Captain Doug and I managed to get out today to monitor our nests after the big rain, high lake levels and wind. Dad Bard is feeding his chicks. Second photo with arrows so that y’all can see where all three chicks were in the nest. I hope all of you are smiling as big as I am.
First Nest update
Jordan Lake. First Nest. The lake level is at 219.75 ft which is 3.75 ft above normal. I am still not able to see First Nest. However, I did watch Mom Kate take a fish in past the tree line – headed for the nest. Dad Bard came by on a thermal. Every day I hope the lake is down enough so I can get in and see the chicks. I bet all of you are hoping that too!
Dad Bard Defends First Nest
Jordan Lake. First Nest. More than 2500 feet away from me I watched Dad Bard really get into the case of a yearling bald eagle that had the audacity to try to trespass upon First Nest territory. I converted the shots to black-and-white to try to give you as much detail as possible – almost 1/2 mile is a long stretch for my lens. I hope you enjoy the video.
Wing Wapping
Jordan Lake. First Nest. Bald eagle chicks soon begin to exercise their wings and chest muscles in anticipation of eventual flight. I call this exercise “wing wapping”. As you can see the exercise can get quite vigorous. At one point the chick that is wing wapping is annoying the other two chicks.
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