Pavement sparkles

+ a wall

Awake way too early but there was this

Pink and gold clouds

Eaglet sunrise

Screenshots from the SouthWest Florida Bald Eagle nestcam. Fledglings E21 (now 15 weeks old) and E22 (turns 15 weeks on Saturday) perching together in the morning after sleeping on a branch of the nest tree.

Glowy lumps

Misty sunrise with Masu

Siblings at sunrise

Bald eagle fledglings E20 (closer to camera) and E19 this morning at the Southwest Florida nest.

Wing stretch.

And a hop.

E19's first visit to the attic

Didn't I say it won't be long that the SWFL eaglets reach the higher branches of the nest tree. E19 knows how to start the day.

E19 perching on the lower veranda branch, with a beautiful sunrise backdrop, and considering the attic branch on the other side of the nest.

The big leap!

End of a season

Empty nest #3 at Satakunta osprey cam this morning, with some prettily reflecting raindrops.

It seems migration has started for both of the remaining residents, Ahti and his fledgling Myy. Ahti was last seen on August 31st bringing Myy a fish, and Myy was seen yesterday by herself, but she hasn't shown up today. Safe travels to both, hoping to see Ahti and Nuppu again in the spring, and I hope Myy, and SRS from nest #1, fare well at figuring out life on ther own, on the way to and during their juvenile years in Africa.

Here are some screenshots I took of Ahti and Myy before they left, and of some other birds that have stopped by at both nests.

Sleeping and eating arrangements

Satakunnan sääkset nest #3. Beautiful sunrise wing stretches by Myy this morning, after her second night spent outside the nest.

Misty morning Myys

 

Wing practice and fish-waiting with the pretty backdrop of morning mist at the swamp, at Satakunta Ospreys nest #3.

A triptych

Sunrise trees

Hello, day

Pretty sunrise clouds.

Some ridiculous-looking feathered dinosaurs

The legends are true, they exist. [Warning for raptor prey visible in screenshots]

For the somewhat less ridiculous end of the spectrum, the Cornell Redtail chicks. They're starting to have their juvenile plumage grown in, even little K-3, who is in the foreground in the above screenshot. They still have those fluffy white pants under their smooth big bird feathers, though.

Synchronized tracking headtilt.

Meanwhile the nest #1 Satakunta osplets have their "plucked Velociraptor" phase in full swing.

Frost and smoke

Backyard palettes

Purples and oranges

A sunrise sky.

Another thing Masucat woke me up to look at way too early in the morning

Well, she woke me up to feed her, but this sunrise at 4:45 AM was nice, too.

Valentine's Day at dino nests

The big news is Starr of the Trio Eagles nest laid her first egg of this season yesterday afternoon! Amidst some enthusiastic nest decorating help from her mates Valor 1 and Valor 2, lol. Congrats to the mom and dads!

At the Big Bear Eagles nest, Jackie and Shadow's first egg is expected to hatch any day now, and the livestream viewers and camera operators are carefully watching and zooming for a glimpse of a pip on the shell every time one of the parents gets up. A pip is the first little hole a hatching baby bird pecks into the egg shell, after which it varies by species how long it usually takes for the baby to completely break out of the egg. For bald eagles it can take a day (or less, in any case it's pretty quick compared to albatrosses, who apparently can take six whole days to finish hatching!).

Currently both Starr and Jackie are brooding in their nests for the night, beak nuzzled in back feathers as they sleep.

Also, they both got a fish! Valor 2 brought one for Starr (and Valor 1 brought her a stick) a bit before she laid the egg, and Shadow brought one for Jackie. (Warning for both fishes not being quite dead yet, though.)

(edit later to add this pretty shot of Shadow brooding at sunrise:)

 (No pip confirmed yet.)

The Southwest Florida Eagles nest has camera problems right now, it seems, but a fish gift M15 brought Harriet the day before counts. I mean, animals don't care about human holidays, of course, but it's a fun excuse to share observations of cute interactions.

At the Royal Albatross nest, the family had a reunion as mom albatross returned for her brooding shift after foraging for food at sea. Both parents have been quick to get back to their now two-week-old chick recently (their shifts can usually last several days), so there's been preening cuddles more frequently than usual.

Mom and baby about an hour ago (around 6 PM today, time zones are confusing, it's still morning here).