Godiva Bald Eagle

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By H&G Bald Eagle Nest update

Jordan Lake. This morning Hershey and Godiva were mating. So it’s not long now before eggs are laid. It is a very delicate dance as Hershey stands on Godiva and balances himself. He is standing on his balled up feet so he will not hurt her with his talons. There was a whole lot of chattering between the two of them.

By H&G Bald Eagle Nest update 10/31/2021

Jordan Lake: One of the reasons for keeping field notes is to make sure that the researcher’s memory doesn’t confuse facts… I had thought that Godiva and Hershey were early this year in their nest repair. Hmmm. My notes say they started repair work in mid-October 2019 too!

Mom Godiva piles into the nest with a big branch and Hershey, who had been sitting on the brim of the nest piles out.
Hershey is moving out of the way in a hurry.
You can see the new stick … it is a horizontal branch still in Godiva’s feet.
Only 29 minutes later Godiva was returning with another huge branch for the repair work.

By Spectacular Fail!

Jordan Lake: Spectacular Fail! You are seeing the second of three attempts that Mom Godiva the bald eagle made early this morning on a huge striped bass. She had snagged it the first pass and had to drop it. This is her second attempt. Godiva came around, set her talons, and the impact apparently was so great – her weight of about 12 pounds against the approximate 2 pounds of the fish – that the interaction flipped the fish out behind her. Do not feel too badly for Mom Godiva. She came back around the third time and actually got a very good grip on the huge bass and took it back to the shoreline. There she ate her hard earned breakfast.

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: H&G Nest

Jordan Lake: Bald Eagle Nest Report: H&G NestI watched Dad Hershey go past with a large, rather branched repair stick for his nest. Not more than 200 feet behind him came Mom Godiva. More often than not it is the dad bald eagle that carries the branches and mom who does the reconstruction work. But, I have seen moms carrying sticks and dads hard at work patching the nest. Good to see the work going forward for the breeding season.