Checking in on eaglets again

It's how I have fun.

Screenshots from the West End Bald eagle nest, and later in the post the other two nests I've been keeping an eye on. Warning for views of prey, though not in focus.

Triplets napping under dad Akecheta's watchful eye in the morning two days ago.

And closeup. The youngest eaglet WE3 is at the front on the right, but again I can't tell the older two apart. All three have been growing well, though.

WE3 returns to the pile after a quick trip to the bathroom, and gets greeted with sleepy beak nips.

Now where's WE3?

You called?

So tall.

They are very cute.

Lumps.

Mom Thunder arrives after a change of nest duty shift between parents. The weather is hot and everyone is panting.

Thunder settles in a corner of the nest, and the chicks waddle after her to get to her shadow.

A feeding.

And chicks staying cool in the sunshine under mom's skirts.

A feeding with dad.

And mom, with both parents at the nest. WE3 is getting fed in both of the above two feeding screenshots, as I just pay particular attention to that the little one gets its share, but sibling rivalry has been mild, and the parents, too, have been attentive to getting food in every little beak. How much beak bonking there is among the chicks depends on a bunch of things, but one of those can be simply temperament inherited from parents. As I recall seeing one nestcam viewer put it about the SWFL nest, where fights between just two chicks and the firstborn enforcing a strict pecking order even when food is abundant is very common, "all of Harriet's chicks have been 'bonkers'."

I haven't looked into what Thunder's past clutches with her first mate were like much, but she did raise another clutch of triplets to fledging the year before bonding with Akecheta. Also peeks into her family tree are pretty accessible, considering her natal nest is still active and also equipped with a camera, on  the very same island as this nest. Her parents Cholyn and Chase are currently incubating Thunder's latest sibling (just one egg, the other broke but it's unknown which one) at Two Harbors, and hatching is expected for early April.

Some closeups from yesterday. A chick looking around amidst dozing off.

The chicks are about two weeks old now, with the youngest turning two weeks tomorrow. Bald eagle chicks can thermoregulate independently at about 15 days old, though they need shielding from things like wind and rain until their juvenile plumage grows in.

Both Thunder and Akecheta sleeping at the nest with their chicks. Usually the male perches elsewhere overnight and just the female broods the chicks, but apparently sometimes not. Akecheta flew back in at about 8pm after having already handed the chicks over to Thunder for the night, and left shortly after midnight.

 

Also a couple of screenshots from the aforementioned SWFL nest, where both of this year's chicks have recently fledged. Here's the younger of the two, E20, taking off on his second and third flights around the pasture.

And a couple of Big Bear nest screenshots, too. Chick alone in the nest for a while, with the parents guarding from farther away, and then cuddling with mom Jackie. The chick is three weeks old, and will get a name soon as I've understood.