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By How Many Eaglets?
It was cold at Jordan Lake this morning.
Really cold.  Wind chill of 13 F.  And then it got really exciting.
A 2-year-old bald eagle zipped through the trees carrying a fish.
Right behind it was an 1-year-old eagle wanting to steal the 2-year-old’s fish.
And then, well, see if you can keep up with the fish and the number of eaglets!
You may need to go full screen to see them all.

By JL Eagle Nest reports January 09, 2018
First Nest
No photo today, but wanted you to know that Kate is on the nest and Petruchio is helping.
They got through all the wind chill and ice just fine.
 
H&G Nest
Both Hershey and Godiva got through the frozen weather without any problems.
This is Godiva as she flew past carrying a large clump of pine straw and other soft materials for the lining of her nest.
She and Hershey had been in the nest together earlier in the morning.

By BIGGEST and SMALLEST (for the season) birds at Jordan Lake
First Nest
In the photo below Petruchio is eyeing another stick for the nest.
The stick was actually a good sized branch (about 4 feet long) that he snagged but dropped.
The branch was so big I could hear it crashing through the trees below it; but I couldn’t follow the fall with my camera.
 
 
 
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Is smaller than a chickadee and barely bigger than a hummingbird.
The kinglets (golden-crowned and ruby-crowned) are only here for the winter.
The bright yellow streak is an alert patch that all kinglets have,
When they are excited they flip the patch upwards – the cold air helped make the patch really noticeable!

By First Nest has Eggs!!
Kate is sitting on egg(s)!
I believe she laid them yesterday, Christmas Day.
In the slide show you see her make a 90 second flight of 2 round trips.
She cannot leave the eggs without her body heat for more than about 2 minutes in this kind of weather.
I don’t know if she was looking for Petruchio to see if he was bringing food or she just needed some wing time.
That little white sliver in 2 of the 3 last photos
is what we will most often get to see of Kate while she is incubating.
Stay tuned:  hatching in about 35 days.