Even from a distance it is easy to see that the eaglets in one of nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge are no longer babies. When I saw them this past weekend, one of them was still hanging around in the nest, but the other had ventured out to a higher limb. I am posting an image of each of the two eaglets as well as a shot that shows their relative positions. As you can see, there are now a lot of leaves on the trees and I suspect that most folks walking by on the trail are not even aware of the presence of the nest.
The little eagles are still mostly brown in color—it will take almost five years for them to acquire the white feathers on their heads and on their tails that we associate with adult Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
They are getting big.
Benjamin is delighted with this update about the little Eagles. He examined each of the enlarged photos and said : “They grow really fast! I like the bits of white feathers in their brown ones. I like the colors of their beaks too. I can still see the nest hiding in the leaves.” We are going back to older posts to compare the growth. Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!
Just a warning, Ellen, that some of my earlier posts were of a different nest. There are a couple of them that I have been watching and most of them were of the other nest. 🙂
Benjamin and I looked at the Baby bald eagles and Ready to fly posts. When I opened the first post, he said : “I don’t think that is the same tree Gem.” Curiosity bids me to ask, what is the age difference of the Eaglets in today’s post compared to the others? Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!
I think they were born within a week or two of each other. The one I showed today was much higher up in the trees and was a lot deeper, so it was harder to tell for sure when the eaglets were born. A little over a week ago I saw one of the eaglets from the first postings outside of the nest too, but it was so hidden in the branches that I did not even post the photo.
Nice to see the juveniles outside the nest, Mike.
Long life for the young eaglets!
That is certainly what I am hoping for. 🙂