I am so excited! I just received an email notice from the Norfolk Botanical Gardens that the Eagle cam is now live again for the 2011 nesting season in Norfolk, Virginia :-) Hate Litter shared a link with us for last years cam just when the Eaglet's had hatched and I was immediately addicted and watched them daily thereafter until they fledged. This year I am excited because the egg laying hasn't happened yet, so I will be able to watch the entire process for the whole season. I hope you enjoy watching the progress of these beautiful creatures, too.
If you watched last year please note the view is different now because the Eagles decided to build a new nest for this season. The Botanical Garden moved the cam. They are also using a new video player for viewing that requires Adobe Flash Player. If you don't have it downloaded already, there will be a link at the Eagle Cam site for a free and safe download.
Oh, and as you're viewing keep in mind that Eagle eggs are the size of a baseball and Eagle nests are about 5 to 6 feet in diameter.
Happy Eagle and Eaglet Watching! :-)
By Deeli from Richland, WA
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Thanks Deeli for bringing this to our attention. I get a lot of joy watching this pair of eagles, especially after the eaglets hatch. One of these days, I'm going to visit this place.
Oh, Deeli, thank you so much for posting this info. One of the eagles is in the nest now (5:16 PM EST) and I'm smiling from ear to ear :-) I just love all things with wings and feathers and to be able to view these eagles is a wonderful treat.
Thanks for the Heads Up! I've been waiting for things to start up this year but haven't had a chance to check for the last week or so.
Thanks for letting us know about this site. I watched last year and just loved it!
Just wanted to let you know that I just received an alert that the first egg has just been laid (It's 12:35 pm PST February 3rd here) and so there will be oodles of activity in the nest now. :-)
2nd egg was laid today!
Thanks so much Hate Litter and BMD for letting me know about the second egg! Here's a photo of her with them. I sadly missed the event and, no, not because I was watching the Super Bowl (I do not like football) but because I was watching a movie - LOL!
Okay, I also missed the third egg being laid on the 9th but so did everyone else because the sun was setting and the cam won't show anything at dark because the infrared lights aren't working the way they should. I had a feeling there was another egg there the next morning because of how much extra effort mom eagle was taking to roll the eggs for incubation but it was hard to tell if an extra egg because there was oodles of snow on the nest.
They were finally able to confirm on the 11th when much of the snow had melted on the nest. :-) Here's the picture of the three eggs:
Wanted to share another Live Eagle Cam in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. It's also an awesome view and it's view is from almost directly above :-)
www.outdoorchannel.com/
Thanks Deeli. I'll check that cam out tomorrow.
Another cam that is fun to watch is the bear cam in Minn. Lily has 2 babies in the den that are 4 weeks old plus year old Hope who is still nursing. They are getting active now and fun to watch when you can see them.
On the website, in the research daily updates, there are some cute videos that were taken when they were active.
www.bear.org/
The eagles are in for a ride today. Today's weather forecast is SW Winds 25-30 MPH with gusts up to 45 MPH.
I could tell by the way momma was acting yesterday that there would be hatch at any time. The eaglet was officially pronounced hatched at 11:25 am EDT this morning when momma took the shell out of the bowl and placed it on top of the nest. I missed it by just 10 minutes.
I also missed the first and second view of the little bobblehead but was Blessed to see it's very first feeding. I was so excited and my eyes were tearing up. I am waiting for an email notification from NBG with the first feeding photo but did receive the the first peek photo. Will post it now and then post the first feeding as soon as receive it.
This is so exciting! I didn't watch until Hate Litter posted about the nest last year and they were already a couple weeks old when I saw them so this is a real treat to see them from laying to hatching and, of course, will watch until they fledge. :-)
Here's the photo of the first hatched eaglets first feeding. :-)
Great pictures and thanks for keeping us updated! It's going to be so much fun watching them! Let us know when the West Virginia eaglets arrive. Those eggs should also be hatching soon.
I completely missed the second eaglet hatching yesterday March 15th @Noon EDT because I was out and about much of the day. I thank BMD for alerting me about this Blessed event! Here's a video from yesterday of a feeding. At the very beginning you'll see both little bobbleheads poking up from the nest. Egg #3 should be hatching within the next couple of days. I'll post more photos once they become available from Norfolk Gardens. :-)
Update!
This one is of one of this mornings feedings (March 16th). It's so precious! You can see the third egg in between the two hatched eaglets. ;-)
www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/
Third and final eaglet hatched today at about 1:30 pm EDT! Here are the three siblings :-)
Thanks Deeli. Those videos are awesome!!! The eaglets are so cute when they are little chicks. This site is going to be about 2 1/2 months of fun to watch.
For those that might not know, you can click on the symbol at the bottom right of the video and make the picture full screen.
Thanks Hate Litter! I hadn't even thought of the full screen option and it is much more awesome to view that way! Great sharing gal! :-)
The eagle cam went down this morning but hopefully it will be back up before the day is done. In the meantime, here's a photo of the feeding at daybreak before the camera stopped. :-)
On Saturday, April 16, after tornadoes had ripped through North Carolina, leaving death and destruction behind, I watched the eagles as the storms were headed their way. I think it was the dad eagle on the nest and he looked so worried. The wind was blowing and he called out several times. You could tell he knew something bad was headed their way. I was thinking maybe the female would fly in and help but it was so windy that she may not have been able to come. He hovered over the eaglets best he could, getting in the middle of them, but they are so big now that he was only able to straddle one. When it started hailing, the eaglets were trying to get under him. It got so dark, I could not see what was going on and the camera went down. I was thankful to see the next day that they made it through the storms OK.
Thank you for the update, HateLitter! :-) I saw that too and was thankful the worst of the storm missed them! Here are some links for the eaglet banding day that took place on April 21st. It includes the eaglets being lowered one by one, the banding and being placed back in the nest:
www.wvec.com/
www.wvec.com/
www.wvec.com/
Am also including a self portrait of Julian and the eaglets. He's the tree company specialist who climbed that huge tree, lowered the babies and placed them back in their nest after banding. The photo is of him laying back next to the babes once he placed them back in the nest. It's so darn cute! :-)
It is with very heavy heart and crocodile tears to announce that just before 9:00 am EDT that Mama eagle was struck by a plane and was killed :-(
Here is the latest video news:
www.wvec.com/
I know I am not alone with my day long grief but Daddy eagle's grief is much more so! Tens of thousands of people have been praying and hoping all day long that daddy would come back to the nest and he finally did just a little while ago (about 7:00 pm EDT) with a small fish and fed the eaglets. The eaglets had not had any food since around 8:00 am EDT when Mama had fed them before going out to feed herself.
Everyone involved with the care of these eagles and this nest are keeping a close eye and will help the eaglets if needed. In the meantime please say prayers that Daddy has the strength to take care of himself and the three eaglets until they are able to fledge in about a month from now!
Keep watching the Norfolk nest and cheering the eaglets on, okay? The picture here is of Mama and her eaglets taken yesterday. In memory of Mama:
"God Speed and soar high above the clouds!"
In the best interest for the health and survival of all three eaglets and the health and survival of Daddy eagle the babies were removed from the nest this morning and are on their way to The Wildlife Center Of Virginia where they will be taken care of and learn how to take care of themselves and then be returned to the wild.
The cam will remain turned on at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens for awhile and you can find out in the moderated blog what the latest news is until the cam is turned off. You can also visit both of these links for updated news about the eaglets:
And this mornings news report about the eaglet removal. Julian, who took the self portrait taken on banding day shown in the comments below, was the same man who climbed the tree this morning. I'll venture to bet there were plenty of tears in his eyes.
www.wvec.com/
Here's hoping Daddy eagle will find a new mate this Fall and Bless us all with a new set of eaglets in the nest in the Spring of 2012.
It was so sad to find out that the mother eagle is dead. For me, it's almost like losing a pet. Every morning, I checked on them to see if all was ok. They will be missed.
Update on eaglets and daddy eagle :-)
All are doing well and daddy has been seen soaring above the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, feeding and sitting in his favorite feeding tree. The babies new temporary home has been completed. The first video is of their new digs and the second is of them being placed in the new nest. They don't look really happy being moved yet again but I know in my heart they will be happy campers in a day or two because they will be left alone now except for feeding and observation via video cam.
www.youtube.com/
www.youtube.com/
Wonderful, unannounced and unexpected news! The live stream just turned on again not long ago from WCV via NBG! Happy eaglet watching and be sure to check the moderated discussion blog to the right of the video for updated info about the eaglets and Daddy. :-)
www.wvec.com/
I pulled up the eagle site this morning just to see if the cam was up. I'm so thrilled to find out we will be able to continue watching the eaglets mature.
Thanks Deeli for keeping us updated.
Here's a photo of the eaglets eating in their new digs. :-)
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