raptors

Category

By How Many Bald Eagle Fledglings?

Jordan Lake: the Count is in … 33 … FLEDGED BALD EAGLE chicks for the 2020-2021 Bald Eagle Nesting Season! Out of 24 nests there were 20 nests that produced fledglings. That is an increase of 3 fledglings from 2020. Way to go parent bald eagles … especially the Captain Nest that had triplets!

By Mom Osprey Has Decorating Decisions to Make…

Jordan Lake: Mom Osprey sets about finding the right place in the nest for the new pinecone that Dad Osprey delivered. All ospreys really enjoy bringing all kinds of trinkets, pinecones, bark pieces, bright colored papers to their nests. Mom Osprey has to get the new pinecone placed just right and, as is true with all decorating decisions, different placements of furnishings have to be tried…

By Osprey Chick Sways

Jordan Lake: All over the lake, the osprey chicks are growing fast. They readily interact with the environment. Here two chicks, one on each side of Mom Osprey, are doing a typical osprey neck/head maneuver as they sway while trying to watch the humans who are watching them. An osprey will often do the same head/neck sway as the bird sights in on fish just before they launch to go after their prey. Did you see the chick peeking out from under mom?

By Triplet Bald Eagles Food Fight!

Jordan Lake: Food Fight! Triplet Bald Eagle Fledglings update: Dad tried to get a fish for the triplets to the nest, drop it and run, but he got caught in the middle of the fight. At one point there were 4 full-sized bald eagles in the nest! Eventually Dad was able to flee the nest, was exhausted, but appeared to have survived – it can be a rough life to be a raptor parent. The biggest fledgling, a female, won the fish. What a melee!

By Osprey Feud!

Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River. Ospreys don’t often really get angry with each other and actually go after each other with talons and beaks at the ready. This morning 2 male ospreys got very angry. I don’t know what started the argument because there were no osprey nests nearby to cause a territory dispute (those kind of disputes are almost always a lot of screaming and mild threats). I wondered if the osprey being chased was an immature bird, from last year, and had some how gotten on the wrong side of the other bird. I couldn’t see enough the plumage or eye color to know that. I was just glad to see the threatened bird fly out of the mouth of the tailrace and safely away. PS: the smudges and soft focus are the result of my determined efforts to shoot through the trees on the riprap…life in the photographer’s lane…