Reflecting on an eagle nesting season

M15 looking pretty in the sunset light over at SWFL eagle cam. It seems it's just Harriet and him at the nest now, with E15 having finally left home.

Out of the nest cameras I've been watching this year, theirs is the nest I've paid the most attention to (as the nestcam tag on this blog probably shows). They're probably also the first nest I got introduced to the pastime of observing bird nesting with, making good use of especially Lady Hawk's video archive from previous seasons, and their eventful season this year has been interesting to follow.

Season 8 at the SWFL nest has finally come to an end, and the next one is starting with barely any pause inbetween. The parents have been building a second nest in the next pasture over, and it's not unusual for eagles to have several nests in their territory. So far no indication as far as I know of which one they intend to use the following season. Hopefully the old one, for closeup purposes.

My very first view of E15, with mom Harriet taking a break from incubating the new egg.

Harriet feeding days-old E15 and newly hatched little sibling E16.

 Fledgling E15 two and a half months later.

Siblings at the pasture pond, a week and a half before E16 left to begin his life as a self-sufficient juvenile eagle, like E15 has now done, too.

Got to admit, I'm so proud of these babies, and they're not even my babies. Safe travels to you both, and many eaglets of your own in a few years!

I'm also glad I got to see their brother E14 grow, even though there wasn't a happy ending for him. He was the first eagle I've watched hatch in real time, and like probably is the case with many who followed his life, he has a special place in my heart.

I witnessed his last moments in real time, too. I both don't blame anyone who didn't want to do so, and am sure I also wasn't alone in wanting to stay with and say goodbye in this way to this little animal, who never knew we existed, but whose existence had brought us so much joy. And despite the heartbreak, there's still a lot to learn from his life, and from his death, too - like how much responsibility we humans have to take care of the nature around us and watch what we leave lying around in it, because the consequences can and often do reach much further than intended. The person who used poison to get rid of wild rodents where they didn't want them surely didn't plan for an eagle to unknowingly feed those poisoned rodents to its chick, but that and many other possible scenarios are something to keep in mind when deciding how to interact with wildlife.

Though I ended up not taking many screenshots of them, I know the Trio Eagles' two bobbleheads also eventually grew into healthy fledglings and strong juveniles, who are now exploring the world on their own like E15 and E16 are.

The next season for these three parents is uncertain, as their nest has since been destroyed in a storm. Luckily this was after the eaglets had left, and no eagles were hurt. No idea whether they'll rebuild the nest in the same location or elsewhere, but I hope everything goes well for them.

Jackie and Shadow at Big Bear have also been refurbishing their nest, and hopefully will have a successful future season. How much effort they put into protecting eggs that we knew weren't going to hatch anymore, shielding them from snowstorms and scavengers for over two months, was both sad and impressive, showing how dedicated these birds are to looking after their offspring. It's not the easiest environment to nest in, but over the years Jackie has managed to raise two chicks to fledging regardless (one with Shadow, and the other with her first mate).

At the Sydney White-bellied Sea-eagle nest, both eaglets have also fledged already. SE25 was last seen at the nest August 17th, and SE26 has stayed longer but was recently taken into the care of wildlife rehabilitation. That SE26 fledged despite a leg injury shows what a tough eaglet they are, and they're in good hands now to be hopefully eventually released back into the wild.

I don't have recent screenshots of the sea-eaglets, but I don't think I ever posted these three from when they were downy nestlings. SE25 at the back, SE26 at the front.

SE25 preening SE26.

And little SE26 preening SE25.

The Booted Eagle chicks Lasai and Lucky also both fledged. As suspenseful as their first weeks were to follow, knowing how likely siblicide is within those weeks for the species (which I'm sure is a factor in the younger chick being named Lucky after it started seeming more and more likely they'll both survive), they ended up being quite adorable together with how well they got along, and I'm glad I kept checking in. A few more screenshots from after the ones I posted previously:

Lucky pecking at a stick while Lasai observes.

Sleeping arrangement negotiations. The nest is getting small for them both.

A visit by a fledgling. As I recall this one was identified as Lucky.

Waiting for dad to bring food, probably.

I like to think I've learned a lot over these months, about birds, their behavior and biology, about various avian raptors, and I've gained a lot of respect and appreciation for these modern dinosaurs among the learning about their Mesozoic relatives. They're easy to take for granted and not see as cool because we still have them around (though many species of them need our help now to stay around), but honestly, deinonychosaurs should consider being called by the same colloquial term as these guys a compliment.

I didn't really expect to become so fond of Bald Eagles in particular, but I think it's a beautiful, fascinating animal, well worth a chance to get to know in this way mostly stripped of the baggage of political symbolism that, for better or for worse, humans have attached to it. I say mostly, because a lot of the birds that get named are still likely to end up being called Freedom or Liberty or something similar, but, the birds don't know what we call them, whether it's projected patriotism, human names, or letter and number codes. Also movies need to stop dubbing over them with Red-tailed Hawk calls. Actual Bald Eagle chirps are delightful!