Feeding baby eagles

My favorite eagle pair have a routine to assure the safety of their youngsters. When we arrived at the nest, papa was watching from mid-tree to the right of the nest. One of the babies was scanning the area outside the nest wondering where dinner was.

Mama flew in to help the babies, cutting up dinner in smaller chunks. I didn't see the second baby but he or she may have been deeper in the nest.

When mama was confident that her youngsters could feed themselves the rest of their dinner, she flew off. Papa was right behind her. What's happening? They wouldn't both leave the youngsters? Then mama circled back past the nest and landed in the same tree that papa had left but in a different position.

Baby checked to see where mama was, then settled back into the nest to finish dinner.

Hummingbird vigil

Hummingbirds have been visiting the feeders less in the past couple of weeks. Probably a combination of lots of food choices and nesting somewhere in the woods. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed a female rufous leisurely making the rounds of the flowers in my front yard. She made a quick stop at one of the feeders, and then flew off to the birdie spa tree to guard the flowers and feeders from other hummers.

Staying on the tree was quite a challenge though. She picked a lightweight outside branch where the wind was sending her up and down like a rollercoaster. It was so much fun watching her act like nothing was wrong while she was going up and down a foot or more. She hung on, though, because there was something that caught her interest on one of the leaves. I still don't know if it was a tiny insect (contrary to popular belief, insects make up anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of their diet) or a water droplet. I've been photographing hummingbirds for several years. Take a look at some of my favorites in the Hummer Gallery.

Two eagle babies

Baby on the right is ducking down for some eats.

We got to the nest right after papa dropped off dinner for the family tonight. This time there were clearly two baby eagles. The only shot I managed to get with both faces showing has mama's face hidden behind a branch. But definitely two babies in the nest!

Two eagle baby faces. They really blend into the nest – nature's protection.

Hey Ma! I'm up here!

Now where'd that youngster go?

More eagle baby pics

This is pretty exciting: we think there are two babies this year. I haven't managed to see two little faces poking up at the same time but these photos were taken 30 seconds apart.In the top photo, there's a eaglet that you can barely see to the left of the little eagle face. Then the little eagle face on the right ducks down and there a new eagle face on the left. A couple of minutes later, I saw an eaglet face to the right of the "Y" branches. A third maybe? Tough to say right now in this well-camouflaged aerie. We met a couple last night who have lived across from the nest for four years and didn't know there was a nest, although they had certainly seen the eagle pair.

More than one eaglet would account for mama eagle spending more time outside the nest than she did last year with one youngster. I often see her in the nest for a short time, usually tearing up what papa brings for dinner into eaglet-sized chunks. Then she retires to the family room and watches out for intruders.

 

Often, it looks like a jumble of wings and a face, which means there are at least two. This one's from earlier this week. Looks a little like mothman!

 

Protecting the eaglet

Padme the wonderdog was grateful that we didn't take the eagle route on our walk yesterday. On Thursday, we walked by the nest and saw no activity. I was a little concerned that the baby was ok. There were no sounds or movements in the nest on Thursday. No white head popping up above the nest. The baby's too young to leave by itself. Usually there's always a parent close by or in the nest.

The new youngster is already losing his gray down. His face is to the right of mama.

It looks like there's only one youngster again this year. I wonder if eagles tend to have the same number of young each time. The Decorah, Iowa, eagles had three youngsters this year and last. I've read that there seems to be a relationship between food availability and nesting. Eagles don't always nest every year either.

So when I steered Padme toward the street where the eagle's nest is, she first resisted, then relented. We were at the nest for quite awhile tonight. Two young girls wanted to pet Padme. I pointed out the nest to them, and showed them some of the photos I took tonight and last year about this time.

After they left, things started to get interesting. The baby was testing out his wings and mama was very vigilant. Then she started a call I haven't heard her use before, like she sensed an intruder. It wasn't a scream but certainly a protest. She must've seen another eagle that wasn't her mate. Even if the eagle was kin, her youngster could be threatened.

An eagle came into view but was backlit, so I couldn't tell if it was an adult or a juvenile. After he rounded a tree next to the nest tree I could see it was a juvenile, probably about two years old. Mama followed him as he circled wide around the nest, then flew off. She never let up her calls though. I watched her for a few more minutes, then started slowly down the street. I could still hear her a block away but didn't see any eagles in the sky.

 

First eagle baby pic

On our evening walk in the eagle neighborhood, we spotted papa eagle in the trainer tree high above the nest tree. As we got closer to the nest, we could see that mama eagle was perched on a small branch a few inches above the nest. Both of them seemed to be a little irritated about all the tree swallows getting too close to the nest.

We could see some activity in the nest and, finally, a first glimpse at an eaglet in gray down. Just spotted the top of his or her head. The nest is well-protected and well camouflaged. Still...my first baby picture! See if you can spot him.

Young eagle flight practice

We often see juvenile bald eagles – sometimes as many as six or seven – soaring on the thermals along the ridge above the Nisqually River delta and Puget Sound. For the past few evenings, we've seen three or four juveniles flying in formation, practicing air dances. They seem to really enjoy themselves and each other's company.

I believe these birds are all earlier offspring of my favorite nesting pair a few blocks away. Bald eagles generally keep all raptors at least a mile away from the nest. Last year, I saw papa eagle soaring with two juveniles just a block from the nest. Check out my post from last May of flight practice.