Jordan Lake. First Nest. Kate and Bard have a chick or chicks that have hatched. 1) Kate is very proud to be a parent. 2) Mom Kate had been feeding chick(s) below my line of sight then stopped and looked very hard at her youngsters. It will be a while before we actually see the chicks.
Jordan Lake. Bald eagles relish the challenge of cold turbulent wind. Mom Kate at First Nest was certainly enjoying herself. She danced while I braced against the same wind.
Jordan Lake. Today I was out with Captain Doug and friends and we came across Mom Kate from First Nest. Seeing her pant really brought home just how hot and humid it has been. Birds do not have sweat glands so they keep cool by perching in the shade, panting and hunting food in the early morning and late afternoon.
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.
Sometimes, it takes a “not-seeing” moment for me to realize in the next blink, that I am “seeing” something. For instance, that is Kate standing in her nest. In the 1st photo, look between Kate’s left shoulder and the tree branch and note the empty space there. In the second photo, a small darkness has appeared in that same gap. In the 3rd photo the darkness has become one of her chicks! In the 4th photo, the chick has disappeared again. Neat sequence of Kate’s approximately 5-6 week old chick peeking past her shoulder.
doc ellen's journey 