Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:36 pm Post subject: 2012 Bald Eagle Nesting Season, several nests
December 24, 2011 by Reese Lukei
2012 EAGLE NESTING SEASON begins at Norfolk Botanical Garden ( NBG ) VIRGINIA
Page 3, 4 I added the Richmond and Decorah nests also
September 24, 2011 Saturday
NBG photographer saw 'Dad' in the 2008 nest tree
Some other photogs also think they have seen Dad with another eagle the past couple weeks.
If anyone will give me a photo of the new 2012 nesting pair I will credit you.
Email it to shep@chatministries.org
I suspect Dad will NOT build in the 2011 nest. MOST likely because it needs a year to become free of parasites.
2012 NESTING SEASON may soon begin at Norfolk Botanical Garden ( NBG ) VIRGINIA
American Bald Eagle Nesting
Some eagles do not breed every year.
Bald eagles are capable of breeding annually from the age of 4, but some of the adults, though paired, seem to choose not to breed.
It might be an instinctive decision, based on the weather, availability of nesting sites, or food.
Pairs of bald eagles have been seen whirling through the air with talons locked together.
This could be a form of courtship or a ritualized battle between an intruding eagle and one defending its territory.
Whichever it is, eagles do not actually copulate in the air. Copulation usually takes place on a branch near the nest or on the ground.
The Wildlife Center of Virginia are very into saving wildlife that might be better off not saved. They do wonderful work tho.
I enjoy their critter cam and blog. Ed Clark runs the center.
http://wildone.org/eaglecam/wildlife-center-web-cam/
2011 NBG NEST SEASON in photos
The mating, the eggs, the hatchlings, grow, death of female.
Here is a beautiful link from Rhoda, God bless her, of the 2011 NBG year.
Keep hitting the arrow key when your done with the video to see the others
https://picasaweb.google.com/1060...NorfolkEagles#5633452518479851730
CREDITS
Norfolk Botanical Garden ( NBG )
These gardens in Norfolk Virginia are beautiful
September 25, 2011 Sunday - Photographers are everywhere at NBG today.
The NBG male is showing interest in the 2009/2010 nest.
That is the first nest they built at the Garden and have used it each year except 2008 and last year.
The 2010 nest is not in good repair. The male hangs out on that nest tree at times.
Whether that one is actually used this year remains to be seen. All 3 nests are close together though.
The WVEC live cam will be set up once they know which nest the pair will use.
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Eagles at Norfolk Botanical Garden - Exciting News!
September 29, 2011 Thursday
2 eagles were seen together at the 2011 nest this morning.
One was actually sitting in the nest, the other was perched on a branch nearby.
In the photos it appears both are in the nest together.
http://www.norfolkeagles.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5535
Male bald eagles faithful to ONE mate? No!
Eagles and humans both exhibit bad behavior
Dr. Mitchell A. Byrd, retired Chancellor Professor of Biology
RTD Correspondent Ron Melancon compares feeding the eagle chicks shown on the eagle cam with the government food stamp program,
suggesting both promote dependency. One is free to make his own assessments of the federal food stamp program,
but his facts regarding the eagles are incorrect.
The Center for Conservation Biology placed numerous cameras around eagle nests as part of various scientific studies.
We felt that it was reasonable to use one of the cameras to allow the public to learn something about the eagles.
We were fortunate to be able to partner with The Times-Dispatch to bring this to fruition.
The fact that a million and a half people viewed the site would suggest this goal was achieved.
Unfortunately and inexplicably, the two adults abandoned the nest.
After 2 days biologists decided that supplemental feeding was required.
They were fed twice before the adults returned.
If one really wants to make comparisons between eagle behavior and human behavior, there are many parallels.
We have observed fratricide, cannibalism, starvation and nest abandonment, all traits in our human societies.
We know of at least one case where a male eagle had a female at each of two nests at which
he was providing all the services required to promote successful reproductive activity.
This sounds remarkably akin to bigamy in humans. (Does that make the NBG male a trigamist - with 3 females?)
The public has long viewed eagles as well as most pairs of other birds, turkeys and others being exceptions,
as being monogamous and altruistic in their behavior. Nothing could be further from the truth.
DNA studies of young in nests and the attendant male of the pair have shown that in some cases as many as
80% of the young do not belong to the male of the pair at the nest.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/new...-letters-to-the-editor-ar-1874861 http://ccb-wm.org/byrdchair/byrdchair_byrd.htm
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Last edited by CJ on Sat Apr 28, 2012 4:36 pm; edited 5 times in total
EAGLE NATION is all a-twitter over 'Dad Norfolk' finding a new mate, a big mama.
October 04, 2011
Thanks to Joe Foreman at Norfolk Botanical Garden we have the first photos of two adult bald eagles sitting together Sept 29, 2011
They are perched in a tree at what is referred to as “the dump”.
In the first photo the male is already sitting in the tree and the female is flying in about to land beside him.
Shortly after these photos were taken both eagles flew off and were next seen by Scott at the 2011 season nest tree with one of the eagles in the nest.
This seems to confirm several sightings over the past two weeks by several others that the NBG male had found a girl friend.
These photos are also posted by Joe Foreman at www.norfolkeagles.com http://eaglenest.blogs.wm.edu/ http://eaglenest.blogs.wm.edu/201...s-of-nbg-male-bald-eagle-9302011/
This is the Norfolk Botanical Gardens 2012 nesting pair.
The male took a new mate after his mate was killed last year.
Took photo from Reese blog. I had emailed him for permission twice with no reply. Hopefully his blog link will suffice for the OK!
He is such a sweet gentle man I cant imagine him refusing me displaying his beautiful eagles!
http://eaglenest.blogs.wm.edu/
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Last edited by CJ on Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:34 am; edited 1 time in total
NBG Eagle Pair First Observed Mating January 9, 2012
The NBG pair were observed mating.
The male's mate he took in the fall of 2011 was evidently killed by an electric powerline running thru NBG, so this is another female. She is about age 5.
This morning WVEC began letting the public view the nest.
At first it was empty. About 10.30 am they both showed up.
It is very exciting!
MUCH has happened since my last post.
Dad eagle has his 3rd - THIRD!- known female. We suspect the first one was the one found dead. Story here - Jan 21 synopsis of nest http://norfolkeagles.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6250
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Last edited by CJ on Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:09 am; edited 1 time in total
Nest - For some reason I thot it'd be good to take this photo - BEFORE tonite's nestorations
5.40 pm Just flew in 17.40
RIGHT above - female just before dawn January 31
UGH! Now if I can just mooooooooooove this biigggggggg brannnnnchhhhhhhhhh.....
5.48 pm How are you doin Honey? 17.48
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 06:39pm
3.2 earthquake near Mineral, Virginia
January 31, 2012 Tuesday
3.00 am She perched outside nest all night for the first time. Is she in labor?
The female roosted on a branch near nest last nite for the first time.
Jan. 30th late evening the WVEC blog mods said she'd visited the nest after roosting Jan. 30th,
now before dawn today she is on branch near nest right smack dab in front of the cameria!
WHAT a SHOWOFF!
3.30 am WVEC BLOG - the female eagle is lying down again, but NOT sleeping . . .
4;55 est sitting in nest - WVEC BLOG Comment From rose
5.34 am poo shoot .. lets hope only poo, not egg .. *splat*
I never watched an eagle roost the night before
6.00 am a bit of preening ....
6.38 am Female - then Male fly into nest and begin nuzzling at the nest bowl grass
Then she laid down in nest and male flew to very near branch.
6.51 am - Well nuts .. I waited for the color to take another screen shot, but the moment the cam switched to color, both left!
NBC magnificent male at dawn
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Last edited by CJ on Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:10 am; edited 4 times in total
7.21 am The nest looks so fresh and clean after the rain!
It just begs for eggs! The bowl grass would be too cold after the rain for her to lay eggs until the warm sun dried it out
7:35 am - the eagles have landed
7.37 he left
7.38 am - and then there was one
7.41 she left
7.45 she (he) came back, examined nest ..
8.33 he is still there
OK I thought this was the female - the WVEC blog is saying its the MALE
Some of the questions on the WVEC blog drive me batty .. but .. a year ago they were my questions! So ....
http://www.wvec.com/eaglecam
8.07 shoebutton♥: 4378 are in the WVEC moderated blog right now
8.44 she returns and both are in nest
8.47 one left, one stayed
8.49 both gone
8:52 he's back and brought a stick then left
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Last edited by CJ on Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:11 am; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:17 pm Post subject: Dad has 2 females!?
February 3, 2012
The nest was empty all afteroon, then and eagle showed up and began vocalizing on the branch.
Then the male and female were in the nest.
Now there is doubt it was the same female.
Photos from this morning and this evening.
Per Reese Lukei
This is not the female the male has been with for the past few weeks (the one with the dark tip on the tail and dark feathers on the head).
Reese is going to look carefully at the screen captures he just took and the previous captures he took to compare.
However, he thinks there is a possibility that this is the female he was seen earlier with in the season.
He also thinks the other female may have tried to approach the nest (this is just a guess - as no one saw it) which is why we saw the vocalizations.
As soon as he has more information he will let us know.
The male was the one in the submissive posture - which is normal.
The females are the more dominant.
Left - January 31 female ... Right - February 2 female
February 3 about 5.30 pm - A NEW female, which would be #3 in 6 months??
Eaglecam nest at Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG)
Screen captures property of NBG & WVEC
This female #2 (some call bump beek) has a clear feather notch in her RIGHT wing
February 4, 2012
Notes pulled from overnight WVEC blog. Who says nature is boring?
Apparantly Dad has 3 wives!
Reese Lukei's findings
Eagle #1 would be the Fall Eagle (She had bright orange feet, beak, seen up to the first week of January )
Eagle #2 is January 8-19 female
Eagle #3 is most recent Dirty Tail (age 4yrs 10mo)
WHO's WHOoooooooo??
Do YOU want to guess which female is which?
Photographer photos, videos copy righted, do not use without their permission
Did #2 refuse to mate so he found #3 ?
9:52pm Feb. 3 WVEC - Rhoda
I’ve put together some video for comparison.
After going back and looking I think that the female with the dirty tail wasn’t there on Jan. 30
but the one that is there tonight has been there for several days. Judge for yourself, here’s the link
https://picasaweb.google.com/1060...36243/NBG2012#5705105047750385794
OWL
11:26 MVK: Looks like we have an owl in the nest now.
Great horned owls are a danger to the eaglets and eggs. They are a predator to just about anything their size or smaller
As if 'Dad has 3 mates' isnt exciting enough, the late evening of February 3,
a mouse and an owl visited the nest - with one of the 4 eagles of this nest roosting in a branch next to the nest!
And a cute squirrel has her home in the lower part of the nest.
7:22 am Shoebutton WVEC blog
I believe we are looking at female 2 from before January 20th but after December
1:58 pm WVEC Congowings
Reese Lukei (CCB) states:
After reviewing photos from the past few days I have determined that female #2 was in the NBG nest with the male on February 2.
Photos taken on February 1 are inconclusive.
I took no photos of a female at the nest on January 31.
Female #3 was in the nest on January 30.
3.00 pm WVEC Congowings
Jim Deal - one of the photographers was at the Garden today said the male was in the 'lumber yard' this morning a little after 8am.
Then he flew to the 2004 nest tree and perched on the 'love branch'. Later the female (#2) joined him on the branch - about five feet away.
She was vocalizing for quite a while, but he didn't seem too bothered. She flew off eventually and about 30 minutes ago the male took off too.
He said there were 3 adult eagles flying overhead today - so quite a bit of activity.
3.11 / 15.11 pm both eagles just flew into nest, one left right away
3.18 / 15.18 both gone
Feb 4 evening
5.30 pm 17.30 eagle arrives, cam switched to nite black n white before I could get the screen shot
Eagle flew to love branch and began singing or shouting, I cant tell which.
Eagle hopping from branch to branch
Sometime late evening WVEC eaglecam went offline all night
CONCLUSIONS Feb. 4 .. continued ....
Female #1 was the one in the Fall eagle with very orange feet and beak,
#2 was the large female with a faded orange beak,
#3 was the one with the dark feathers on her head and tail.
#2 is the one the male has been seen with the last couple of days.
We do not know where #3 is at this time.
3.30 pm Mike I heard that DT (#3) was seen flying high at the gardens today
February 5, 2012 Sunday Rainy day
Everyone is still trying to find ways to identify all NBG male's ladies
At least 2 have been part of his nest building
To make matters WORSE, the eaglecam went offline in the rain at NBG overnite Feb. 4 - 5
9.52 am cam back up
10.14 am eagle at nest, sat on branch awhile, gone
17.36 female #2 laying in nest. She laid there until 3.15 am Feb. 7 then left
This female has a clear feather notch in her RIGHT wing
The photographers are calling #2 female - NL or NW - notch lady, notched wing This female has a clear feather notch in her RIGHT wing
This appears to be correct so far, as of Sunday morning Feb. 5
Feb 5 Reese Lukei's findings - combining with what photographers call the eagles
Eagle #1 would be the Fall Eagle seen up to the first week of January bright orange feet, beak
vanished, photographs believe the one killed at NBG by powerline
Eagle #2 is NL, January 8-19 female Notch Lady, NL, notch wing, a bit older than 5 years (Reese - the large female with a faded orange beak)
Reese - #2 is the one the male has been seen with Feb 3, 4
Eagle #3 is DT, most recent Dirty Tail (age 4yrs 10mo) with the dark feathers on her head and tail.
Feb 4 only #2 NL, Reese told the chat on Feb 5 early Sunday
3.30 pm report from NGB today
Female attacking male, we think it was #2 NL and she sat on branch outside nest - we saw her on wvec cam too but didnt know which f she was
Feb 6 Congowings
She (current female 2) does seem to be more assertive - which is needed when defending the territory.
The previous mate was very assertive. The male needs an agressive female in order to defend his territory successfully.
While they both defended the territory, it was his previous mate that escorted most away.
Some are upset with the female that has been pushing her weight around - but that is exactly the type of mate that is needed.
Sunday I saw a dark brown blob in the nest. Today I have a theory about that.
It was rainy so the nest was wet. There was plenty of eagle activity which disrupted the nest,
churning the material so the dark was shadow, a hole.
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Last edited by CJ on Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:51 am; edited 4 times in total
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December 24, 2011 by Reese Lukei
