bald eagle flight

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By Jordan Lake Bald Eagle 06/16/2018
An Unplanned Gift!
 
At the end of today’s lecture at the Jordan Lake State Park Visitor Center, all of us went out to the ramp behind the center.
We looked and looked for bald eagles, but the only ones were tiny little dots across the lake and over the causeway.
The heat and humidity was fierce and we all finally turned to go back inside.
The flash of a white head caught my eye and I sang out.
A beautiful bald eagle soared over the tree line and right over our heads.
Oh my, what a sight and jubilation as some of the attendees got to see their first ever bald eagle, wild and free.
 
I captured her passage and am glad I can share it here.

By JL Eagle Nest report: Ranger Nest 1 photo, 1 video 06-10-2018
Ranger Nest
The 2nd chick had watched its sibling fledge a couple of days before.
The now emptier nest seemed to spur it to more vigorous wing-wapping and branching.
I watched as it hopped up to the same branch that its smaller sibling had used as a launch point for its first flight.
Suddenly the chick was in the air and I fought to catch up with it way down east of the nest.
Apparently it wasn’t as brave as the other fledgling … it quickly turned around.
With an escort of eastern kingbirds (not happy to find another eagle loose in the air) it returned to the nest.
The fledgling’s landing carried it across the nest.  It jumped to the left perch limb, took a breath and left again.
Took me a  while to find it way, way down the cove.

By JL Bald Eagle Nest: Ranger Nest report 1 photo, 1 video 05-08-2018

Ranger Nest:  Fledgling Landing

Landing are the difficult part of flight – whether you are bird or pilot. The fledgling came back in from his first flight.  Dad Ranger had brought a fish to the nest.  No way was the fledgling going to let his sibling, who hadn’t fledged yet, have a single bite of the fish.  Only, oops, the fledgling misjudged his landing by several feet and ended up on a branch below the nest.  Even an adult eagle would have trouble launching from underneath the nest and flying upwards.  So, what to do?  Well, if your wings aren’t going to get you out of the fix, climb…yep, climb back up to the nest.

 

By JL bald eagle nest report 06-04-2018
Ranger Nest
 
The feud continued this morning, bright and early.
Dad osprey decided to buzz the bald eagle nest, again.
When Dad osprey launched from his perch I could’t see either parent eagle.
As you can see, mom Ranger showed up ready to fully engage with the much smaller bird.
The eagle chicks watched intently.
Dad osprey danced a side-ways jig and dove into the trees with Mom Ranger right behind him.
No birds got hurt, but the feathers continue to stay ruffled.

By JL Eagle Nest report: Ranger nest, 3 photos 06-01-2018
Ranger Nest
This morning I had gotten down the path and put my folding chair in place.
Went to pick up my camera … an eagle screamed in the tree right over my head.
My heart just stopped, thinking that one of the chicks had fledged and crossed the cove to my side.
I didn’t want to spook it so I bent over to pick up my chair to back out of the area when a shadow exploded over me.
It wasn’t a chick at all, oh, no, it was Mom Ranger and she was angry. Yikes!
But it wasn’t me she wanted to take on … it was dad osprey.
The ospreys have been in an uproar since their chicks hatched and are now a good size for eagle snacks.
The ospreys have been almost constantly chasing the adult eagles away from the osprey nest.
The eagle chicks watched Mom flash by above them.
You can see in the last photo that Mom Ranger had had enough of the harassment and meant business.
Both adult birds flew into the sun and I lost them.
Several minutes later I got my breath back and marveled at the surprises Jordan Lake shows me.