Jordan Lake. First Nest. Dad Bard landed in the nest with a small fish. All 3 chicks were watching his feet. They knew where the fish was. Then there was a shoving match to see who would end up with the fish. It was Big Chick that won the fish. All three chicks are doing well. Arrows in first photo point to the 3 chicks.
Jordan Lake. First Nest. The chicks this morning were doing a lot of wing wapping and trampolining. The biggest of the chicks was certainly hogging most of the space much to the annoyance of the other two chicks. The big chick was getting a lot of vertical air between its feet and the nest!
Jordan Lake. All three of the TRIPLETS are alive and doing well! Captain Doug and I managed to get out today to monitor our nests after the big rain, high lake levels and wind. Dad Bard is feeding his chicks. Second photo with arrows so that y’all can see where all three chicks were in the nest. I hope all of you are smiling as big as I am.
Jordan Lake. First Nest. Bald eagle chicks soon begin to exercise their wings and chest muscles in anticipation of eventual flight. I call this exercise “wing wapping”. As you can see the exercise can get quite vigorous. At one point the chick that is wing wapping is annoying the other two chicks.
Jordan Lake. Watching the triplets. The three chicks are doing a lot of preening as they molt feathers. The big chick actually does a little bit of wing stretches! The smallest chick is behind the biggest chick but you can still see it occasionally. The middle chick is to the right hand side of the nest.
Jordan Lake. First Nest. All birds keep their nests extremely clean. Kate is gathering up new nest lining to replace the soiled material that she and Bard carried out and dropped far away from the nest. Video starts with a few slides to show you how Mom Kate is gathering up the materials and then I caught her flying off with a whole bundle and landing in the nest where you can see both parents and the chicks.
doc ellen's journey 