E21 fledges!

The older one of the two eaglets at SouthWest Florida Bald Eagle nestcam just had its first flight! I didn't get a good screenshot of the takeoff, but here's the return to the nest tree half an hour later, as seen from the camera at the pasture pond:

E21 seen flying towards the nest tree from the right.

Over the tree, aiming to land on a branch on the other side...

Oops! Well, it's a landing. :D I've seen less graceful ones, and the hardest part of flying for the first time tends to be how to stop flying. E21 flapped for a few seconds and got itself right side up.

Younger sibling E22 at the nest, welcoming E21 home. Well, screaming "if you're not bringing me a fish, go away!", probably, but that's the standard eaglet greeting.

And here's the new fledgling! Congratulations, E21!

E21 already had an eventful morning before this, as it slept the night perched on the attic branch, and got to experience another standard eagle thing at this nest - owl strike. A family of Great horned owls nests nearby, currently at the second nest E21 and E22's parents Harriet and M15 built, actually, as owls don't build nests, and instead use ones built by other birds if they're not cavity nesters. For several years now, an owl knocking an eagle off its perch during the night has been a pretty frequent occurrence. Usually it's dad M15, but E22 has also been a target once when sleeping perched at the edge of the nest (and fell into the nest on top of E21). E21 fell off the attic in the impact, and to a branch below the nest, but considering E21 fledged from there, it seems to be okay.

The owls and eagles both see this area as their territory, and sharing is not a word found in an avian raptor's vocabulary. The owls' own chicks of this season are currently already flying, and could very well be behind some of the strikes. Hopefully they stay out of each other's way.