Tag: baby bald eagle

Watching the National bird grow up

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Sunrise at the eagle’s nest in my neighborhood. I was trying to get there early every few days since the baby was the most active in the mornings.

The lone baby was sitting in the nest waiting for a parent to bring food. Mom was sitting up in the same tower and she was probably wondering where Dad was with the squirrel or fish.

A few days later I was able to see him flapping his wings in place, building up his strength for that first big flight.

A few days later he was getting some air and made it over to the edge of the railing. It makes me nervous to see them first flying up to the edge. It would be easy for him to flap too hard and end up on the ground and not be able to get back up on the tower. That happened 2 years ago with one of the babies. Luckily some early morning dog walkers saw it and let me know it was on the ground. You can read more about the rescue in that post here.

This was taken with my phone and you can see how high up the towers are. The nest is in the right tower (on the top left side). That baby looks like a pin dot without binoculars or a long camera lens. I was using my 400mm lens for the up-close shots.

SkyWatch Friday

Empty nester

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was almost the end of April and the lone baby eagle in my neighborhood was all grown up. I stopped by the nest early one morning and found a couple of does wandering around under the nest tower.

The baby eagle was climbing up the tower to reach Mom. I think he was screaming at her to go get breakfast.

The other parent flew in and started eating a fish on the utility pole right next to the nest tower. I was waiting a while to see if he would bring the rest of the fish to the nest like he usually did after a few bites but this time I think the parents are trying to get Baby to go get his own food. Or at least follow them to hunt.

Baby was circling around the parent that was eating, screaming.

Mom flew over to the other tower and Baby followed her. They sat for a few minutes and then both took off.

Several times at the end of April I stopped by and the nest tower was empty. I guess Baby finally started following his parents to learn how to hunt. A few times I caught Baby flying back to the nest. The above were the last few shots I got at the end of April. By early May I didn’t see them anymore. I’m hoping I’ll see the parents again in September.

Fly free Baby and I hope you see your sister that fell off the nest in your travels. She was released in central Florida.

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🎵 “Fly like an eagle” 🎵

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

And he’s off, flying like the eagle that he is. 48 days from the first time I saw the baby eagle sitting up in the nest to the day I saw him flying. He was probably flying a few days before and I just missed it but it was great to see him taking those first flights.

He flew down the field to the next set of utility towers. One of the parents was sitting in the tower next to him. He landed on a the tower briefly and then flew over to the parent.

I could hear him screaming and I think he was telling his parent to go get him some food. The parent may have been trying to get him to follow him to hunt but I don’t think Junior was ready at this point. When the parent took off Junior flew back to the nest tower.

He came back and landed on the top of the tower.

I saw one of the parents flying by through the trees.

Junior landed back on the nest and waiting for his breakfast. He must have been hungry because it looked like he was chewing on a stick or maybe playing with it.

Someone was watching me from the field.

There are always a lot of red bellied woodpeckers in the trees at the eagle’s nest and this morning I got a brief glimpse of a great crested flycatcher.

I was looking for little critters while I waited for the eagle parent to bring Junior his breakfast but it got late and I had to run some errands so I left.

Intruder alert

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

It was the beginning of April and I was checking on the lone eaglet in my neighborhood almost every day. At least driving by the nest to see if it was still up there. He was busy flapping every morning and I was hoping he didn’t end up falling off the nest too early like his sibling.

I stopped by right before sunset one afternoon and saw a juvenile on the other tower. At first I thought the baby had flown over but I saw him sitting on the nest so I called Louise to check if the baby that had fallen off the nest the week before had been returned to the area and she said it was still in Orlando at the eagle rehab. I think this was a juvenile from the nest on the other side of the neighborhood. He had flown by a few days before but one of the parents chased him off before he landed.

Mom flew overhead several times and landed on the other side of the nest tower. She didn’t seem to mind the new juvenile on the other tower and didn’t chase him away this time.

After a while the intruder flew over to the nest tower and landed near the nest.

Baby was yelling and flapping. I don’t think Baby wanted this intruder to come near the nest. Eventually the intruder flew off and headed back to his side of the neighborhood.

A few other birds stopping by before sunset. I could see a roseate spoonbill flying far across the utility field. There are always a lot of woodpeckers around and these two doves were keeping an eye on me.

A quick shot of the sun going down at the eagle nest.

BLUE MONDAY BADGEan image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup