There is a second nest on the burn schedule. At this nest, more than at the first of the burn nests, one of my concerns has been the age of the chicks. The Wildlife Resources Commission has stated that their “safe” chick age parameters for prescribed burns is 2 weeks to 10 weeks old. I cannot find peer-reviewed journal papers that say this is true. By 10 weeks in age, in a panic because of the prescribed burn, chicks of a certain maturity will try to fly and they fledge too early. They try to fly out before they can actually fly and fall instead 70-90 feet to the ground.  I have been saying for more than 2 weeks that the chicks are older than WRC says they are. The valid papers that I have seen (research done before the eagle was taken off the endangered list) say that a bald eagle chick at 8 weeks of age (not 10) will try to “pre-fledge”. My best guess and it is only a guess (because no one knows when the mother started incubation) is that the chicks are between 9-10 weeks of age.
I am greatly concerned that 1 or both of these chicks might try to fledge early if they panic. The video below was taken this morning.