Quiz meets his mom when she flies in. He aggressively checks out her talons – hoping she has a fish. Mom Kate does not. There are several short clips of Quiz “trampolining” – strengthing his wings and legs. Notice that he is getting air under his feet!
video is at https://flic.kr/p/FJyNwU
In the photo below: Mom Kate is on the perch limb to the right.
Quiz has his back to us and is to the far left of the nest.
Quiz is bored and itchy. He scratches at an itch on his face. Note how bright yellow his feet are. I sometimes spot juvenile bald eagles by seeing their feet before seeing their head and body.
Quizzical was intently watching his mom Kate.
I heard an osprey scream the “eagle alert”.
I looked across the cove to see a male osprey, flying with a fish in his talons.
Then I saw Kate heading across the cove, I thought to take the fish from the osprey.
No, Kate had other thoughts in mind.
As she dove towards the osprey nest, the female osprey came up out of the nest and dove at Kate.
To no avail. Kate hurtled past both ospreys and into the trees where the nest was, hidden from my sight.
Both ospreys circled a couple of times. The female eventually headed further up the cove.
The male osprey, still carrying his fish, followed his mate.
Some 4 minutes later Kate reappeared. Beak all wet and shiny. She had feasted on the osprey eggs.
UPDATE for conditions at 2nd eagle burn site;
QUICK UPDATE: there will not be a burn tomorrow Thursday. Gives us and the eagle family another day undisturbed. I don’t know yet when the next possible burn date is, Friday is a possible “good weather date”, but will let you all know as soon as I do.
There is a second nest on the burn schedule. At this nest, more than at the first of the burn nests, one of my concerns has been the age of the chicks. The Wildlife Resources Commission has stated that their “safe” chick age parameters for prescribed burns is 2 weeks to 10 weeks old. I cannot find peer-reviewed journal papers that say this is true. By 10 weeks in age, in a panic because of the prescribed burn, chicks of a certain maturity will try to fly and they fledge too early. They try to fly out before they can actually fly and fall instead 70-90 feet to the ground. I have been saying for more than 2 weeks that the chicks are older than WRC says they are. The valid papers that I have seen (research done before the eagle was taken off the endangered list) say that a bald eagle chick at 8 weeks of age (not 10) will try to “pre-fledge”. My best guess and it is only a guess (because no one knows when the mother started incubation) is that the chicks are between 9-10 weeks of age.
I am greatly concerned that 1 or both of these chicks might try to fledge early if they panic. The video below was taken this morning.
doc ellen's journey 