Nest Update May 5, 2013 - Cinco de Eagle in Minnesota!

Good Evening, Fellow SundayNestWatchers!!

I announced this in the Social Stream today and I’ll remind you here, if that’s OK? Tomorrow nights blog will be by our very own mod ArkyAngel. Don’t miss it, I’ll guarantee you’ll love it. 

Sunday on the nest was the way a Sunday should be, lazy and serene. Mom and Dad kept Harmony and Peace trotting around the nest to their next meal and inevitable nap. The kids are almost fully the darker shade of gray that tells us the secondary down growth has arrived.They have reached what I like to call the Peruke stage where they both look like they are wearing barrister wigs. H & P are both are showing pin feathers on their wings and you can make out the main feather tracks where their flight and body feathers will grow in. Just to be clear, “pin” feathers are the sheaths that the main feathers grow out of. They grow in and then split so the feather can reach its full growth. So, pin feathers are not feathers in themselves but the beginning of feather growth, just like hair follicles on our heads.

The kids ate a lot of nestovers today but mid-afternoon Dad brought in a nice big fish that rivaled any that Mom has caught to date. Mom immediately confiscated it and began to stuff H&P once again. Dad dug around in the nest for a bit and then headed out to Stick Depot to peruse the wares. The clown feet we all love are in evidence now. The kids are waddling are around the nest and sticking them out when they sleep. They are growing so fast! Late in the evening the magic hour light was complimented by some zooming by the cam gnomes! Thanks BBC!

Pink light bade the babes good night and sleep tight! 

It was another light day for pics and vids as there was not too much action to record. 

Razzle made a vid of the clown feet phenomena.

MNBound Eaglets Clown Feet

Razzle also put together a Progress Report on our eaglets.

Peace & Harmony have started to show an interest in picking up food; at 2:54 in video Harmony picks up and eats a morsel of food. They are briefly beginning to stand; to exercise their wings & the parents leave them alone for longer periods of time.

MNBound Eaglets Progress Report for May 5, 2013

Clown feet showing big time!

A look at the corner of the nest where Harmony was napping today.

Waddaya think? Can we outrun ‘em yet?

Dad brings in a huge clump of grass and covers the babes.

Mom’s tail as she splits the scene. 

Thanks as always to Razzle, Bekka, and BBC for the wonderful pics today.

Well we start another wonderful week at the MN Bound nest. I can’t wait to see what this one brings in the way of astounding growth by our eaglets. They are way ahead of the curve and I think they will stay ahead in the weeks to come.

Hope you had a nice Sunday and we’ll see you on the nest tomorrow.

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.

Nest Update May 4, 2013 - Vid Updates For May 3rd And 4th.

Good Evening, Fellow VidViewers!!

In order not to take away from jreagles wonderful guest blog I waited until tonight to post yesterdays vids!

The day on the nest yesterday and today was pretty calm and serene. The weather was a bit gray and gloomy but the bulk of the rain predicted did not fall on the nest. Mom and Dad kept Harmony and Peace’s crops topped up and the kids played, slept and PSed to their hearts content. Dad did a cover maneuver when he spotted what could be an intruder yesterday and later in the day lost a stick overboard. We discovered that Peace also has her pin feathers developing earlier than usual just like her big sister. Mom called for Dad for about an hour and when he finally did show up she was a little short with him. She left the kids alone in the nest while she let him know that she was unhappy. Dad then came down and took over nest duties.

Saturday was a very quiet day as befits the 1st day of a weekend. Mom and Dad kept Peace and Harmony so full it was amazing they could move at all. Lots of fish and nestover duck was consumed. Late in the day Mom left the kids alone on the nest while they were napping. After about 20 minutes Dad arrived and proceeded to try to stuff them again. Mom returned later and as usual crowded Dad out of a feeding. It ended up with Mom feeding Harmony and Dad feeding Peace. A good division of labor. As night fell on the nest Mom continued her rearrangements of the Feng Shui and all was calm. 

On to the vids and pics!

The first is of Dad covering the eaglets as something he didn’t like came by the nest.

MNBound Eagles Dad Covers Eaglets During Alert

A good look at the pin feathers emerging on Peace’s wing.

MNBound Eagles Pin Feathers Emerging on Peace's Wing

Mom gets upset with Dad for taking so long at Nest Depot.

MNBound Eagles Feisty Nest Exchange

Dad has an OSD attack that doesn’t turn out well for Mom or the stick.

MNBound Eagles That Stick's Going Overboard!

Screencap from the stick episode.

Dad giving a passerby what for on Friday morning.

Mom and the kids doing wing stretches Saturday afternoon.

Now pay attention! I’m only gonna do this once!

Family feeding time! How sweet is that!

It was a very calm end of the week at the MN Bound nest. We look forward to a week of improving weather as we get deeper into spring and continued growth and merriment from the eagles.

Have a lovely Sunday and we’ll see you on the nest!

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.

Nest Update May 3, 2013 Pin Feather Emergence or Down??

That IS The Question!!

Good evening, everyone. JR is contributing to the blog today and having a great time putting this together. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have.

Talon has done a wonderful job keeping you all up to date in the blog of all the nesting activities each day.

MN BOUND Blog link   

Razzle has provided us with wonderful vids of each days exciting activities:  

Feb-Apr play list link   

April/May play list link  

Bookmark all and check often as uploads occur daily.

On to pin feathers!

On April 29^th Razzle uploaded a vid.

Harmony on this date was 14 days old.  We have all read that pin feathers are typically visible at 18-24 days on average.  We discussed and questioned whether or not we were seeing pin feathers and tried to validate our visuals with published research.  Is this cam so clear that we are able to see eaglet growth with more clarity to enable us to define such at an earlier time?

None of us are researchers nor do we profess to have this knowledge.  Our opinions are not substantiated by our individual research—only by what we have individually observed and read. 

We did not feel comfortable making a statement referencing the pin feather development with out substantiation.  Therefore, we contacted researchers and others who are dedicated to the study of raptors and wildlife. We offered them the above posted video link to review and asked if in fact pin feathers could appear on an eaglet at the age of 14 days, hopeful that their response would validate what we observed.

The responses were uniform and in agreement with what we saw; that yes pin feathers could appear at 2-3 weeks!  We were also informed that there are many variables that can influence raptor development. The genetic make up of the parents, the food resources (i.e. diet), the age of the parents,  and possibly the weather to name a few.

Fascinating information that sends all of us to our favorite search engines to discover more.  This subject is thrilling and could easily be continued.  However, we would probably miss tomorrow’s growth as eaglets develop very rapidly.  Monday Harmony is 21 days and statistically should be a foot tall with feet and a beak nearly adult size.   Time sure does fly when you’re a human watching an eagle nest.

Thank you BBC for the viewing clarity offered on this site.  Thank you my fellow mods for offering opinions, suggestions, research documents and the opportunity for healthy and positive discussion.  Thank you chatters for being with us, for sharing your knowledge in positive ways that enhance the learning for all!

As we continue this journey watching Harmony and Peace grow and mature to fledge, we hope that we remain positive to reinforce the desire of all to enjoy the nest of Peace and Harmony and show all, that choose to be with us, respect.

Hoping all of you have a wonderful evening.  I will see each of you nest side tomorrow!

Razzle captured a vid of Peace’s wing tip at 11:07 nest time and we can now say positively that Peace has the beginnings of pin feathering too!!!  Here’s the vid (we are sorry the lighting was poor today) and a screen cap!!

JR

Organizations from which information was requested:

Wildlife Center of Virginia

Center for Conservation Biology

Wildlife Care Alliance

Dr. Julie Ponder, DMN

     Executive Director

     The Raptor Center, College of Veterinary Medicine

     University of Minnesota

Nest Update May 2, 2013 - A Quiet Day After The Intruder Scare

Good Evening, Fellow WindyNesters!!

So, today was a very calm one after the intruder was chased away by Mom last night. The discussion, however, continued hot and heavy throughout the day in SS. We all looked at the footage several times and we do not have a consensus as to what the intruder was. Most of us are leaning to it being another adult eagle. That means it couldn’t be Harmon as some have stated. Sorry. It did have a white tail and it was hard to see the head, it was moving so fast with Mom chasing it like the Hound of the Baskervilles. But it did not return and we had a very peaceful day on the nest. It was windy and a little chilly so Mom and Dad spent a lot of time sheltering the kids to keep them warm. Luckily, the snow predicted all went south of the nest area and made big headlines on The Weather Channel. Hopefully for those hit it will melt quickly and we can get on with spring. Mom and Dad kept Harmony and Peace full to the brim again today and they played and slept as the day demanded. There was a northern brought in earlier in the day and Mom brought in a nice fresh duck for dinner. The nest got a new coat of feathers and the kids ate it up with gusto. After dinner Peace chased Mom around the duck and then everyone settled in for the night. 

It was so calm on the nest today we don’t have any vids tonite. We do have some pics from the day though.

Peace playing “I got your Nose” with Harmony. (Thanks Pat!)

And Mom tries it with Dad.

Harmony checking the wind direction. 

Mom over the nest.

Are you guys still here? Your dust bunnies need chasing!

Time for some roughhousing!

Tomorrow one of our great mods, jreagle, will be doing the first of the guest blog appearances. She’s keeping it a surprise so I am as excited to see it as I know you will be. Thanks to Razzle and BBC as always for the great pics from today. 

Hope you had a great day on the nest and we will see you there tomorrow!

Talonstrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.

Nest Update May 1, 2013 - Holy Smokes!

Good Evening, Fellow IntruderExcluders!!

Boy, Oh Boy! I get stuck at another long day of work and you guys have a most exciting day on the nest! When I looked in to grab a screenshot this morning Mom was standing on the nest covered in snow! And Dad was covered, too! Somebody forget to tell the weatherman?? It’s MayDay! Flowers are supposed to be starting to bloom, fer goshsakes! Peace was sticking her neck out trying to see what was falling from the sky. Harmony played it smart and tried to stay in the warm spot under Mom! Didn’t quite work out for either of them but they did get some fishcicle for breakfish.

MNBound Eagles Snow Falls on May Day

Harmony found a soft spot to hang out in and posed for the cam today.

MNBound Eagles Simply Harmony

Razzle posted a vid she captured on Monday of Harmony’s wingtip with her 2nd down growth showing.

MNBound Eagles Harmony's Wing Tip at 14 Days Old

And for the big WOW of the day, as the kids and Dad were waiting for Mom’s return this evening, something caught Dad’s eye and he let it know it was not welcome. This went on for some minutes and when Mom did show up she surprised Dad for fair. They both held choir practice to try to scare the intruder away. Finally Mom lit out after it and chased it across the river and away from the nest. It could be seen leaving in a big hurry with Mom hot on it’s tail. From stills and freeze frames it looks to me like it was an adult or near adult eagle that came to pay a visit. Sorry to say the coloration of the intruder precludes it from being Harmon. Last I heard he was living the high life somewhere else anyway. The kids were good eaglets during all of this and kept their heads down in the middle of the nest. Such good children! An exciting ending to a MayDay filled with excitement.

MNBound Eagles Extreme Alert Adult Eagle Intruder

Mom brought in some more new carpeting for the north wing.

Dad’s wing spread during the intruder incident.

Mom surprising Dad.

Mom and Dad during the choir practice.

All in all, a very interesting First of May on the nest! Thanks to Razzle and BBC for the great pics and vids today.

Hope you enjoyed the day on the nest and we’ll see you there tomorrow!

TalonStrike

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below or in the chat room.  Also, we'll be updating our official MN Bound LIVE Eagles Facebook Page regularly so you can follow along, like, or share with your friends.  We have several site moderators this year to help give optimal information to all that want to learn more about these magnificent birds.