Good Evening, Fellow DryingBranchers!!
As predicted the morning was a foggy one. The eaglets were up fairly early to stretch and await a breakfish that failed to appear. Since nothing but some old nestovers was forthcoming early there wasn’t anything to do but stock up on more shuteye. Around mid-morning Dad came home with what appeared to be a fish head and Mom fed the kids their snack. The sun broke through around 11am and Arky and Dakota finally started to get some exercise. They continued their game of Scare The Chatters, wing flapped, waddled around the nest and of course, napped some more. Dakota in particular has mastered the technique of falling asleep sitting up on his haunches. His beak still ends up in the grass when he does this but is fun to watch him do it.
Mid-afternoon saw a turtle with pond scum garnish served for the tea time repast. As usual with small turtles it was a lot of work for very little reward. I think they burned more calories eating it then they got from the meat of the turtle. The rest of the day was spent watching the geese, the lovely sunset and Mom sitting on the low branch under the cam. As darkness finally fell all was quiet in the nesterhood.
As of now civil twilight lasts until about 9:45pm. By the middle of next month it will be lasting until around 10:30pm as we get to the longest day of the year. It will stay like that for a couple of weeks into July and around the time these two fledge the days will begin to get shorter again. This also means that it will be getting light earlier in the same time frame. I guess what I am trying to say here is for the next 6-8 weeks we will have that much more time to watch these eaglets as they grow to fledge. 🙂
This next part was published as a comment on Facebook and touched me deeply as I feel much the same as Dave does. The writer is David Lynch AKA Pharmerdave of the Decorah nest and other places. Thank you, Dave! Eloquently put and expresses my thoughts better than I ever could!
✰✰✰ Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus): On Sunday, Ann and I were able to spend the afternoon with our Bald Eagles once again. Alone, in total silence except for the occasional Loon call, we watched as the adults came and went and witnessed a very long feeding for the approximately 4-6 week old eaglet in the nest. Beautiful day in a beautiful place…..
Note from the day: Ann and I witnessed the male bring in a female Mallard for the eaglet, which resulted in a long feeding, for the eaglets and the adults. What happened after reminded me why I am in complete awe of nature…
We witnessed the male mate of the female Mallard (they had been in the cove the previous day) frantically searching for her. Back and forth, quacking, searching the shore to no avail. This went on for hours…
Nature , in its essence, is a cruel business. A self sustaining machine that needs all of the parts to be in perfect working order to operate at maximum efficiency. It saddened us to watch the male Mallard in distress, and knowing that part of HIS life purpose would be unfulfilled until he can find a new mate. But, the female gave her life to help the machine of nature keep running, and to help retain the fine balance, thus fulfilling part of HER life purpose. As a volunteer for Raptor Resource Project, it is easy to cheer on the Bald Eagle in their quest to reproduce and have success in their nests. But let’s always remember that the creatures that give to this top of the food chain raptor deserve praise, and recognition for the roles they play, and empathy for their positions in the middle of the chain.
Picture nature as a box with many compartments. In each compartment resides a separate species, and all of the compartments are dependent on the one next to them to survive. If one of those compartments becomes empty, every other compartment suffers, leading to more and more empty compartments.
With that thought, please help to preserve and protect all wildlife. They ALL play a role in the nature machine. If the machine stops running, humans will suffer. Even the smallest efforts can have far reaching effects. I have mentioned that in 1985, my friend Diane Davis helped repopulate this state with Bald Eagles by “hacking” 8 eaglets at Quabbin Reservoir. 30 years later, I am watching a successful pair nesting, virtually in my own backyard….
Thanks for listening
~Dave~
On to the vids and pics of the day!
MNBound Eagles ~ A Foggy Morning ~ Stretches
http://youtu.be/rAKlgZtxwfk
MNBound Eagles ~ Eating and Antics
http://youtu.be/QU-564_qa9M
MNBound Eagles ~ Arky and The Tree ~ Panning
http://youtu.be/hevYPVGMR4s
MNBound Eagles ~ Time Lapse For Fun ~ Mossy Turtle Soup
http://youtu.be/5AXnWx2E1IA
MNBound Eagles ~ Dakota Says That Bite Is MINE ~ Close Ups
http://youtu.be/Sx-5DM2uJpg
MNBound Eagles ~ Sunset ~ Panning ~ Frost Looking Dusk
http://youtu.be/f_LX-qKJCAU
And a selection of pics!
Jeepers, they are big! No wonder it sounds like dinosaurs are walking on the roof!
There he goes with the acrobatics again!
As Atlantis sinks slowly into the pond…..
Think Mom can catch one of them big things down there??
Is that your boss behind you?? (Thanks, JR!)
Hmmm, they eat RAW fish???
Tuesday was a wonderful day on the nest and I hope yours was just as good! We’ll see you on the nest tomorrow.
TalonStrike
If you have been wondering where the mods went we are here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/for-the-love-of-nests-critters If you tire of the arguing, lack of answers, trolls, and bad information in the unmoderated chat at the cam page please come visit us and we will welcome you with open arms. We set up the new chat to be a safe haven for discussion and information after MN Bound unwisely decided to go without mods for the rest of the season. Also click to join the MN Bound Chatters group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MNBoundEagleViewers/. It is a closed group so just click and one of the admins will add you toot-suite. Thanks!
TalonStrike's Hideout 