Now E18 fledges!

...And I missed it, lol. The streams at SWFL eagle cam have a 12 hour backlog, but I didn't check in time to get screenshots of the occasion. But here's video: Lady Hawk's compilation from the streams, as well as from a different angle by wskrsnwings, who films the nest on location: E18 fledging, and return to the nest. In this post are screenshots from later the same day, of the now two fledglings.

(warning for some screenshots showing prey, but not very clearly)

E17 (front) and E18 (back) perching together at the attic. Looking around surveying their domain, and waiting for snack deliveries.

E17 has fledged!

Time flies, and so do eaglets. E17 from the SWFL Bald Eagle Cam nest fledged yesterday. Feels like they just hatched, but that was almost three months ago!

Minutes before the big moment. Both eaglets loafing in the nest, E17 preening their little sibling E18.

How babies are made, apparently

I made a little (3cm tall!) baby JP raptor toy figure. This post is about the sculpting process, and more photos of the finished figure can be found
here at my site and here at deviantart (ETA: and here at cara).

Materials:

• polymer clay + liquid polymer clay
• aluminum wire and foil
• acrylic paint
• glue and one of the epoxy putty pebbles left over from making Swiftdive and Treeclimber's bases

Starting point: three bits of wire, bent into spine and legs for the figure.

Part-time cat elevator and bridge

Unless they figure out how to open doors

Latest Indoraptor thought: Though it was entertaining to watch him fool a human into opening the door of his cage for him (or not, your mileage may understandably vary), had he been left unattended in that display cage for long enough, could... he perhaps have been able to open it himself?

The door seems to lock with a simple latch, not needing a key or similar, only dexterous hands like humans tend to have and the animals intended to be kept in those cages tend to lack. It's just. You know.

You gave that damn dinosaur opposable thumbs.

(Pictured: not a dinosaur, but you get the idea)

 

A week and a half of eaglet growth

The SWFL eaglets are getting their juvenile plumage of pennaceous feathers, and are still growing in size, too. Warning again for messy carnivore nest that has various prey leftovers lying around, and a closeup of one such leftover in a few screenshots.

Starting with a screenshot from the morning of February 22nd. Both chicks (E17 behind E18) are looking up at... the camera? No, dad was on a higher branch of the nest tree, so I'm pretty sure they're looking at him. Such cute faces, though.

And here's how they looked last night! E17 on the right has gone from a few black feathers dotting the grey down to looking almost completely covered, in a week and a half. There's still big patches of down showing especially everywhere that's obscured when they have their wings tucked in like that, and even some natal down wisps still clinging to their heads, but won't be long now that they start looking like proper birds.

Bright!

Well, ma'am, who told you to nap in a sunbeam? I understand it's warm, though.