What a beautiful day at Jordan Lake! Both Granola and Raisin have fledged!
I didn’t get to see the chicks fledge from the nest, but I did get to watch some of the first flights.
See Granola and Raisin fly!
flight
TagJL Eagle Nest report: Sibling Chase 04-27-2017
The lake continues to flood its shoreline. But the sibling bald eagle fledglings Coffee and HC don’t mind. They were having too much fun first harrassing an osprey and when the smaller bird left the playing field, the two eaglets started chasing each other. Coffee is the bigger of the two fledglings and is already much more agile in flight than HC – note that it is her flying sideways and almost upside down. In flight the easiest way to know who is whom, Coffee has the ragged tail!
JL Eagle Nest report: First Nest, 5 photos 04-24-2017
Today there has been rain and rain and rain and lots of wind.
The 2 fledglings at First Nest loved the weather and so did dad Petruchio
Coffee in upper right, HC in lower left
HC upper and Coffee lower eaglet
Coffee upper left, HC lower right
Coffee upper left diving on HC in the lower right
dad Petruchio upper right, Coffee lower left
JL Eagle Nest report: HC has Fledged! 4-14-2017
First Nest
HC has fledged!!
He took has first flight sometime between Wednesday and today.
In the video clip you can see his indecision:
food or the lure of flight.
JL Eagle Nest Report: First Nest needed help, 6 photos, 04/03/2017
I want to thank the Army Corps of Engineers for helping First Nest today.
Some materials had been left on the shore very close to the nest and needed to be moved before the rains of the coming week.
Jon Bannerman and Blake Johnson of ACE called me and we talked through a quiet, slow approach and pickup.
The eagle chick HC had begun branching today and this is a very critical time for a chick.
If a branching chick gets startled he thinks he can fly, but the chick doesn’t yet have the needed wing strength.
At this point the chick has only been hopping from branch to branch and if he spooks and tries to fly he will often fall instead.
As you can see in the 1st photo, Coffee on the left and H C on the right, watched ACE approach, 2nd photo.
The chicks stayed attentive and inquisitive, but because ACE was quiet and slow, the chicks stayed in the nest.
As ACE left, H C went back to branching, photos 3-6. Watch for his orange feet to follow his movements.
bald eagle families, Jordan Lake, 2 photos
Eagle Nest / First Nest of Jordan Lake
BTW I am changing this nest name to First Nest to help us all keep the nests straight.
This is the very first nest I started monitoring for the Army Corps of Engineers (thank you, A.C.E.!).
Here is Kate leaving the nest after she and Petruchio had spent some time working on it.
Kate should start laying eggs the end of this month.
H&G nest
A little hard to see with the glare of the bright afternoon sun yesterday!
That is Hershey flying up to the nest.
Godiva is sitting on her usual perch on a branch in front of the nest,
Yes, she is hollering – maybe because Hershey isn’t bringing a repair branch?
doc ellen's journey 