BALD EAGLES NESTING ON MY PROPERTY

[scratch'n'peck]

I am utterly enthralled with your thread...I have been watching the berry.edu link...seen it ten times over and it is incredible..thanks for sharing! I am going to call my cousin in Wauwatosa and ask if she has seen any Bald Eagles nesting in her area...W. Michigan is so beautiful...!

I had to Google your cousins home town. It looks like she is in Wisconsin just as far north as I am in Michigan. I must admit that I have been rather eagle obsessed lately, so I am glad you find them interesting, too. Some of the posts on the Raptor Resource facebook page sound like some people are so transfixed that they will watch the live cam for hours waiting for the eagle to lay an egg. I can't quite devote that kind of time since I have to tend to my own birds, and then spy on my resident bald eagle acquaintances at roosting time.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

So just yesterday I wrote that I hadn't seen the third bald eagle in a while. Well, last evening I heard quite a bit of eagle calling while I was out at the chicken coop. Vocalizations before roosting are not that unusual but they were louder and more extended than usual. I didn't run to see what all the ruckus was about, but once I was finished with the chickens, I went inside to watch the eagles with binoculars through the window. I was surprised to see three eagles roosting below the nest. I guess that is what the extra eagle vocalizations were about. I took a photo to document it. I couldn't get a really good photo considering the distance and the dwindling light. The two eagles on the right are likely the pair. They have the white heads of adults eagles and the female is the larger one. On the opposite lower branch you can see the other eagle. I thought I might have seen a white head on the third eagle when I was looking through the binoculars, but the photo doesn't make it look that way, so I'm not sure. They stayed on those roosts as the light faded...

 

[RogerTheChicken]

I love the color pattern of bald eagles, wish you could make a chicken that color

 

[Outpost JWB]

WOW! Thanks for sharing

You should enlarge some of those photos and use them for wall art. They are absolutely gorgeous.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I finally saw the third eagle during the day as I was going down the drive way. She was perching nearby with the pair perching on their favorite far roost. She was pretty large, so I am guessing a female (female raptors are larger than males), and her head was clearly white (juvenile bald eagles have a brown head or modeled brown and white). I just had my iphone3 with me, so I have a really bad photo to document it. The pair doesn't really try to scare the third eagle off, it seems. All three BEs have been in the nest at the same time for at least a short duration. I have also seen the pair mate while the third eagle was on the same roost.

My view of the third eagle was much clearer than this photo suggests. The dark mark near the bottom right is the big eagle girl and the pair is in the background.


To make up for the bad photo, I'll post some better ones.

One of the eagles perching above my living room window again.

The eagle can really rotate the head.


Here is the pair with the male preening.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I think the female may have laid eggs. I wish I had a nest camera to know for sure. But the roosting patterns have changed for the last several days. I see one Bald Eagle roosting in the nest tree in the evening now. One eagle tends to visit the nest at dusk and stay for longer and then roost alone. I have heard some vocalizations from the nest, but they don't seem to be as loud and prolonged as before. I wonder if that third eagle was contributing a lot to the vocalizations and perhaps has gotten the idea that she is not so welcome and backed off, but that is mostly speculation on my part. Based on the behavior patterns, I'll estimate that the first egg was laid on March 16.

Here is another photo from last week.

 

[Suzie]

Amazing photography...can't wait to see when the young appear...how long does it take for them to hatch?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Amazing photography...can't wait to see when the young appear...how long does it take for them to hatch?

Incubation is 35-38 days usually. By the time any eaglets are mature enough to peek over the edge of the nest, there will be leaves on the trees, so I will need to figure out where I will have a decent vantage point for watching the nest. There are lots of taller deciduous trees around the nest tree.

 

[Suzie]

Incubation is 35-38 days usually. By the time any eaglets are mature enough to peek over the edge of the nest, there will be leaves on the trees, so I will need to figure out where I will have a decent vantage point for watching the nest. There are lots of taller deciduous trees around the nest tree.

So much the same period for a gosling to hatch...this is so interesting...I would have thought the incubation period would have been for a longer duration for the eaglets...

Fascinating...!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

The eagles here have maintained their behavior patterns over the last week. It is fairly quiet; I don't tend to hear much eagle calling when I am outside. At night fall, I see one eagle visit the nest and then roost alone for the night.

To get more eagle watching excitement, I have been keeping up with the Decorah, Iowa eagle cam, and they had their first hatch.

To get a round up or Decorah nest developments visit: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Raptor-Resource-Project/103786266324668