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Joined: 12/9/2011
Posts: 13690
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Just saw this. Alz+ had shared a link with the live action camera on the eaglet nest of American Bald Eagles in Washington DC. The male eagle is, Mr. President, and the female is, The First Lady. The eagle hatchlings are a male, Liberty; and a female, Freedom.
It is awesome to watch the parenting of the two adult eagles inside the nest. Frankly, the care is amazing by both female and male. They mate for life and if healthy can live 30 to 40 years in the wild.
The cameras were unobtrusive above the nest and were infrared so no extra light shown at night. Here is the video; the music a bit sappy, but the clarity of the film is great and it is a good watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEmxmPO3lLk
J.
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Joined: 12/5/2011
Posts: 795
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Thanks so much for sharing. It was wonderful!
Peace and Hope,
Lisa
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Joined: 9/30/2015
Posts: 1155
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That was a pleasure to watch.
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Joined: 12/4/2011
Posts: 21306
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I missed the birth/hatch and early days ... thanks for this.
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Joined: 12/9/2011
Posts: 13690
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Here is video of the eaglet, Freedom's first flight. As she flys from the nest, keep watching her at the bottom left of the screen and you will see her full flight into another distant tree:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw-E5BuJc8I
Freedom was able to be seen the first two days, but they cannot find her now. I so hope she is alright and able to be fed as she can not yet hunt for food. Liberty is staying close to the nest tree on limbs above or adjacent to the nest and had some yummy fish for breakfast. He is not quite ready to go too far.
JJ.
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Joined: 12/9/2011
Posts: 13690
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Here I go again, but omigosh, this one is beautiful to watch; do turn on the sound on the video, it is Freedom and Liberty "dancing in the rain," with wings outstretched. Beautiful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cURjLtBGeOw
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Joined: 5/20/2014
Posts: 4408
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Oh my what did I miss? I just read the chat and Freedom came back today.
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Joined: 5/20/2014
Posts: 4408
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Ahh....so beautiful!
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Joined: 12/9/2011
Posts: 13690
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Amazing aren't they? That video link is of a different Eagle family; the parents of that family are Romeo and Juliet and the eaglets are Justice and Liberty, a different Liberty than the one in Washington DC that we have been watching. I am always touched by the way the parent eagles, both female and male stay nearby until their offspring fly away on their own forever.
I never knew the first thing about eagles before this; just that they were so beautiful. I am delighted to have been able to experience this and hate to admit it, (blush, blush), but I am going to start to screen in October through the Spring as that is when Mr. President and The First Lady will will come back and re-make their nest and lay one or two eggs and begin the cycle all over again.
According to the Eagle Foundation worker, this is the second time they have used the same nest and as long as there is adequate food hunting nearby and reasonable safety, they will continue to use the same nest for their reproducing and raising of their eaglets. Fortunately, they have a river nearby.
Yesterday, it turns out that Freedom and Liberty both came back to the nest; I missed that as I only watch for a short while in the a.m. Evidently Mr. President brought back a duck for dinner! Yikes! Liberty fed twice and then when his sister, Freedom flew in, he went up to a higher branch and let her eat with The First Lady.
One of the workers mentioned that Freedom got aggressive just a bit with her mother, but that was caused by the extreme hunger she was feeling as she had been away from the nest.
An eagle soap opera! Looks like I got a bit fond of them all. Never would have thought that would happen, but here I am anyway.
J.
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Joined: 5/20/2014
Posts: 4408
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Jo,
Yes, they are amazing. Have you ever seen one close up taking off in flight? One flew onto the hot tub cover where I used to live and sat there for about 2-3 minutes. I caught site of he/she out of the corner of my eye and didn't twitch a muscle so I could get a good look. I'll never forget the shadow cast by the wingspread as it took off in flight.
Thanks for clarifying that I was looking at the wrong eaglettes. I thought how the white feathers had come in so quickly. Do you think they are the size of a pigeon at this point? Are they both females and is it the firstborn Freedom, that is larger?
I hope we get to see more of them before they leave the nest all together. I feel like they are our pets!
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Joined: 12/9/2011
Posts: 13690
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I've never seen one close up, only high up in trees and not that often. I have seen them in film and am astounded by their wing span and grace.
I recently saw a news report; Holland is using them to capture drones that are violating laws. I saw it in action; the drone was flying, the eagle released and it flew like the dickens, caught up, captured it in it's talons and brought it back to the handler. I was gobsmacked at that one. They work on a reward system.
"Our" eaglets are bigger than pigeons now, they are just about the size of their parents. Females are larger than males and this holds true with these two eaglets; Freedom is larger than her brother.
Freedom is in the nest tonight; I went and took a peek. I read the chat space and it appears that after Liberty flew off yesterday he has not been seen since. Heavens I get a bit concerned for them.
I am like a proud Auntie; may they have long and healthy lives and be as happy as a free eagle can be!
I was about to ask how things are going with you llee, but I realize I would be going off-topic in my off-topic; at least I am consistent.
Off to bed; it is 10:30 Pacific Standard Time.
J.
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Joined: 5/20/2014
Posts: 4408
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I have not seen the eaglettes with the parents for some time. I should visit the facebook page for some recent pics. The cameras are not on this morning. Thank you for the information about our niece and nephew 
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Joined: 12/9/2011
Posts: 13690
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I just learned some new things about "our" eaglets by going back in the Chat History for the Eagle Cam and reading the Moderator's input:
- The eaglets are now 36 inches long; wing span is about 6 feet! They do not look that big, but they are.
- The Tulip Poplar Tree the nest is in is about 100 feet tall and the nest is about 95 feet up. The nest is 5 to 6 feet wide.
- The eagles we have been watching in this tree are in the Washington DC Arboretum. There is a road one can see to the left of the screen; it has been closed to any visitor traffic to protect the eagles and their nest. Once in awhile one can see a tiny car slowly driving down the road, that is the staff car.
- The eagles sense of smell, their vision including night vision and ability to hear is about the same as ours.
- Eagles do not fly much at night as their night vision is not good.
- Eagles do not need to drink water; they get all they need from metabolizing their food.
- The human hand has the strength of about 20 pounds per square inch (psi); eagles talons have 400 psi !!!!
- The eagle can lift and carry about four to six pounds.
- When fully grown the eagles will weigh 12 to 16 pounds; the eaglets are pretty at that weight now.
- Eagles can turn their heads 270 degrees.
- There are 60 different kinds of eagles in the world; Harpy's are the largest. American Bald eagles are found only in North America.
- Alaskan American Bald Eagles are larger than those that are in the other areas. (Better fishing?)
- Male eagles help to build nests, lie on eggs to incubate them and keep them warm, they feed the babies and protect them; but some brooding females can get in a bit of a snit and will insist the male get off their eggs and want to lie on them herself; and rather humorously, when both males and females are bringing sticks and twigs to build their nests, the male will weave and place his sticks and some females feel they are not doing it right, so she will take those sticks out and rearrange them more to her liking.
- The male will often feed the female when she is sitting on the eggs. She can fly away to hunt, but sometimes the male brings home dinner and takes care of his mate even feeding her from his beak.
Such cool birds!
J.
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Joined: 12/4/2011
Posts: 21306
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interesting....I have missed every "flight"....I just catch the staring...understand "watched like a hawk"
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Joined: 9/12/2013
Posts: 3608
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I actually SAW the female rearrange the male's nest twigs one day!
You can see the first eaglet take his first dive out of nest through link on viewing page! around 51 seconds into that video link he goes soaring, downwards.
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Joined: 5/20/2014
Posts: 4408
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It feels strange seeing the nest empty. One of the eaglettes is perched on a branch. The other may be out of range from the camera. Wow 6 ft wing span already!
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