bald eagle chick

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By Jordan Lake, Bald Eagle Nest report: H&G Nest

Looking left to right: Mom Godiva getting a piece of fish ready to feed to her rapidly growing chicks, a chick right against the main trunk of the tree and then the second chick to the right of the main trunk.

The whole family! That is Dad Hershey perched way to the left, then in the nest it is Mom Godiva, a chick trying to push in and get a bite of food and then the other chick still to the right of the trunk. Great getting to see the whole family all at once. And, it is easy to see in this photo how light brown Dad is … that is how he got his name … after the chocolate bar.

By Jordan Lake, Bald Eagle Nest report: First Nest

One of the chicks has branched. This is a very important exercise for the chick as the next step is to fledge. The chick is standing almost directly behind the big branch at the right edge of the nest. You can see some flickers as the chick decides if it is going to take that next step … up … This is called branching and the eaglets use these small upward flights, above the nest, to get muscled up for flight. Doing these first little leaps, using the nest as a safety net, are very, very important.

By First Nest Mom and Chick

Jordan Lake Bald Eagle Nest report: First Nest

This is the other chick in the nest. Like its sibling from yesterday, it is pouting … Mom Kate (in the second photo) came zooming in from the main lake and passed right by the nest to go and harass some ospreys. The chick is centered in the nest and it is looking to the right. You can see it has a lot of white feathers across its upper chest. I don’t know yet if this is what is known as a “white belly”. Kate and Petruchio have had other white belly chicks.