Eagle Cam....

[Teresa]

So I guess the intruder was a female who wanted to take the nest over.. I wonder why they don't build their own nests? So am I correct in thinking that IF belle and Liberty can keep the new female at bay then they will keep this nest? or will they  give it up to her... As the post said.. Mating season is over.. too late to harvest an egg now.. so I wonder what will happen?

Am I the only one who is talking here?? Helloooo??? Anyone home today?

[Diane Amberg]

Yes, I'm here and have been watching, just not saying anything. Nature does waste a lot of little animals, but there is always something to be learned. I wonder what the next chapter will be.Thanks for sharing with us.

[frawin]

Teresa, we have been watching this site every chance we get.  We saw Belle attacking the intruder and wondered at the time if it was the males (of some animal species)  do attack the young.  The intruder had 2 or 3 big black spots on its head and we wondered if it might be blood as we had never seen an eagle with black on the head.  We have watched a pair of eagles in the wild and the eaglets were larger than this one ever got to be.  Both the male and the female were feeding and watching after them.  They also had built a second nest as we were told the first one gets too dirty to use after awhile and they do stay in the nest (unless they take a fall) until they are quite large. 

This has been a fastinating thread.  Thanks for sharing with all of us.

Myrna

[twirldoggy]

I really enjoyed watching this Eagle Cam.  It lets one see nature and the living cycle of nature.  On another thread there is a web site that shows how the Chernoble area came back from a dead zone to a wild area with overgrown plants and wild animals. 

[Teresa]

I have been doing massages all afternoon so haven't had a chance to watch.. I am going into the forum now and reading what the expert eagle people are saying..  I guess I missed the intruder female coming back in and trying to dig Paddy and the egg up.. Belle is back now watching carefully still trying to protect her nest.. Has anyone seen Liberty?  I wonder if he will come back to Belle being he hasn't been around? I know they mate for life but has the intruder chased him away for good?  Someone on the forum said that He was back circling and trying to get Belle to leave the nest..  I also copied this..

To explain about nest competition, which is what we have been seeing here.I have read that parents do bury the remains because they will decompose.  Sometimes they bury them deep enough to lay new eggs on top if it isn't too late to have another clutch.

We have seen other competitions like this (there was one filmed at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens a year or so bak) where the male fought off the intruder, so we are not sure why Liberty has not been able to do this.  We have heard on this forum that Liberty has flew and tried to lure this female intruder away.  The thinking is this female is larger than Liberty and could win if there were a fight.  This male (Liberty) has been seen around the nest, just not on the nest as the female intruder has chased him away before he could get to the nest.  There have been sitings of Liberty over the past four days right there in the surrounding trees.

It is possible that the intruder will stay until she either wins or loses the nest.  It does seem odd because it is unlikely that either female can raise a new clutch as we have been told by NCTC that it is too late in the season to mate, produce an egg, incubate it and have them hatch.  I don't know why, but that is what they said. NCTC has confirmed to us Liberty is still there out of camera range and occasionally chased away, but has never left the area.  We also have confirmed reports from eye witnesses who have followed this pair for years.  They know their eagles!!

Hope this helps.  It has been another long day for those of us who have watched for as long as we could.  The behavior has been very odd, even by eagle expert observations, so many of us don't have answers.  We just watch and learn.

[Teresa]

Its getting dark....
Looks like Belle is going to sit tight and stand guard another night.  On some other sights, some are confirming Liberty's still near watching. We may not see him come in until the battle begins or ends.  It would be nice if the younger female left, but we will have to all wait this out....and hope for the outcome we all want.  Let's all hope Belle and Liberty prevail.

When an intruder female eagle comes into the nest when their are eaglets, is it normal for the male for the male eagle to stay away?--- Most of the time a male will not move when a female intruder is inbound. do a google search for this string "intruder female bald eagle" you will see this situation occurs often..  Most of the time the Female Eagle is in charge, the are mates for LIFE and will only re-mate on the death of the mate.

When there is an intruder eagle how long do they normally stay around the nest?-- until the female "Belle" says enough.. When she is ready this situation will get colorful, prepare yourself one of the Eagle may die.. It will be like a stand off!!  In the search you will see the male hangs back however, if Belle get into a very bad situation he will tag team with her. Remember the females are bigger and can kick his butt..

Isn't is weird how our human instincts come freight training in at instances and times like this? I want to intervene ( or as the truth be told.. "interfere"..   ) I think everyone feels that the human in us wishes there was some way to comfort Belle and Liberty .. to let them know they are not alone and that we grieve along with them .. it's so sad to see Belle just sit there like that ..

as one gal posted...

Poor Belle looks as if she is about to fall over!  She must be totally drained.................where the heck is Lib?  She needs him to comfort her if no other way than to be in the nest to help keep watch so she can get some much needed sleep!  Hope he will join her soon.  I have never had more respect for a person than I have for this Regal Lady!  Goodnight, Belle - get some sleep.  Tomorrow is a new day &hopefully the intruder realizes you are NOT giving up your nest to HER!

Like I say~~~ The human aspect is there to try to interfere with Nature..  
But we have no choice but to watch and wait.. and see what happens in the morning.
((And I have massages off and on all day long.. How in the world am I supposed to keep up with the Eagles life and try to work a job?  LOL))

[Teresa]

Kjell is laughing at me..  because I am so 'into " these birds.. but thats' ok.. what does he know .. 

For those of you who didn't get to see some of what went on.. I found the cam footage..
This was when they first started...Can you spot the deer walking on the ground below? To see how tiny it is.. gives you a clue as to the height this nest is..


NCTC Bald Eagle Outdoor Channel, in partnership with the National Conservation Training Center, provide this live EagleCam to stream the activities of the eagle nest located, 110 feet up, in a tree on the grounds of the US FWS National Conservation Training Center. The nest has been active for six seasons, fledging several juvenile bald eagles. The eagles return to the nest for the winter season around mid-January, with eggs being laid in early February.
NEST LOCATION
The eagle nest is located approximately 75 miles from Washington, D.C. on the campus of The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services' National Conservation Training Center. The campus is in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, along the Potomac River.

This is when Paddy was born..

The first chick has hatched in the NCTC nest in Shepherdstown, WV on March 17, 2011.

This is when she was feeding him..

An intruder has been harassing Liberty and Belle for several days. Belle is unable to get food to the eaglet, so she feeds the eaglet saliva/moisture/water from her beak to the eaglet's beak. You have to watch very carefully to see the moisture that Belle shakes off her beak from time to time. You may want to watch it in full screen.

Liberty Fights off the Intruder..

and this is when he died and she buried him..and the "Intruder" shows up.. ( the black spot on her head)

Yesterday Belle's chick passed away... She covers her chick and unhatched egg and flies off to the right. The intruder flies down into the nest from a branch above and looks where belle just buried her chick and egg. earlier this had also happened but the intruder actually took the chick out from being buried.
Eventually you can hear Belle fly from above and intruder takes one last look before flying out to the right.
Belle arrives back and the intruder is heard landing back up in the tree.

[Teresa]

Checked on the Eagles just to see.. and looks as if there is another nesting  being made and prepared.. Belle is back with another male..Hopefully there will be another go at it this year..
  First part is mid-day. Second part is evening. Viewers wonder if dark item dug up is eaglet that died and was buried there, or perhaps an old fish.

[Jo McDonald]

That is SO cool !!

[sixdogsmom]

I have been watching an eagle cam sent to me by my cousin. I just finished watching the mother feed a fish to herself and her three chicks. The last one was hatched on the sixth of April; I just happened to tune in to see mama move off of the third hatchling. Here is the link;

   
 
 
http://www.raptorresource.org