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Posts Tagged ‘eaglet’

An eaglet at last

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 14, 2023| 1 Comment »

I patiently watched the large Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest last Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and eventually caught a glimpse of an eaglet. As some of you may recall, I have been keeping an eye on three eagle nests at this refuge and have already seen eaglets at the other two nests. This nest is significantly larger than the other two nests, as you can see in the second photo, and it is difficult to see activity in the nest.

I was zoomed in as close as I could with my telephoto lens and still had to crop the image in the first photo quite a bit so you can see the eaglet with its open mouth—I suspect it wanted to be fed. As you can see, one of the parents was in the nest with the eaglet and the other parent was perched in a nearby tree. It is possible that there are more eaglets in the nest, but I was really happy to spot one.

In case you are curious, I did not have my longest telephoto lens with me that day. Normally I use my Tamron 150-600mm lens when I know that I will be photographing birds. I was anticipating that I would be focusing on both large and small creatures, so I was using my Tamron 18-400mm lens on this occasion.  This lens gives me a great deal of flexibility in photographing dragonflies as well as birds and in capturing landscape shots like the shot of the nest—I was standing in the same spot for both photos in this blog posting.

Bald Eagle

eagle nest

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eaglet tests its wings

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 7, 2023| 2 Comments »

This juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) may not be quite ready to fly, but it was testing out its wings by flapping them vigorously while I was observing the nest on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The eaglet is so large that there is no longer any room in the small nest for its parents—one of its parents was perched on a higher branch in the same sycamore tree.

A few weeks ago, I observed two eaglets in this nest and I have not had a good look at both eaglets since that time. Has something happened to the other eaglet? When I looked closely at all of my photos, I noticed that I could see the silhouettes of both eaglets sitting side by side in some of the images, as you can see in the final photo. The eagle on the left seems much smaller than the one on the right, which was the one that was flapping its wings in the first two photos.

The foliage in the tree and the barrier across the trail keep me from seeing any better what is happening in this eagle nest, but it looks like the eaglets are growing bigger and stronger, especially the one on the right. It should not be too long before it is time for the eaglet to be making its first tentative attempts at flight.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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The eaglet has landed

Posted in Baby photography, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 19, 2023| 7 Comments »

I was delighted yesterday to photograph an eaglet in one of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Last week, several photographers posted photos in Facebook of the baby eagle, so I knew for sure that there was at least one in the nest. I have been keeping a close eye on this nest, a small one that was used by ospreys last year, and knew that it would have trouble comfortably accommodating an adult eagle and a growing eaglet.

When I first arrived at the barrier that closes the trail, I could see through the foliage that an eagle was sitting upright in the nest, but I could not see an eaglet. I watched and waited and the eagle eventually flew away. A short time later, another eagle flew in and landed on a tree branch above the nest rather than in the nest. As the eagle approached the nest, a little head popped up and I was able to capture the first image.

The eagle in the tree kept watch over the curious little eaglet and I never did see the adult sit in the tree. After a while, the eaglet disappeared from sight—it was probably time for its afternoon nap.

When I departed the area to check on another eagle nest, the adult was still on duty in the tree. I passed by this nest one last time and noted that an eagle was now sitting in the nest. It may be that one of the parents is small enough to fit into the nest and the other one is simply too large. As the baby grows, I suspect that both parents will be forced out of the nest. I would not see the eaglet until the adult lifted its wing and I was able to capture the final image.

As you can probably see from the blotches of green in the photos, I did not have an unobstructed view of the nest. I am hoping that the leaves on the trees do not fully block my view in the upcoming weeks.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Ready to fly?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 20, 2022| 11 Comments »

Earlier this month I did a posting called  Looking out of the nest that featured a young Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) sitting up in a large nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and wondered when it would be able to fly. Last Friday I returned to the refuge and was delighted to see the eaglet flapping its wings and testing them out—I think it is almost ready to fly..

The eaglet repeatedly extended its wings, but seemed a bit uncoordinated, like a gawky teenager who has experienced a growth spurt. Several times it was able to rise up into the air, but looked uncertain about what to do next. The photos below show some of the action, which lasted only for a few minutes. The eaglet then disappeared into the deep nest, possibly to rest after its exertion.

I watched for a while longer and eventually the eaglet reappeared, but it simply sat up, looking out of the nest. A fellow photographer told me that he spotted the eaglet the following day perched in the tree that you can see in the right side of the image. I suspect, though, that the eaglet will need some quite a bit more practice before it will be capable of venturing out on its own and, of course, it will have to learn how to fish.

I will probably make a trip to the refuge this week to check on the eaglet. So many of the nearby trees are covered with leaves that I may have trouble spotting the eagle, particularly because its dark, and mottled plumage help it to blend in well with the foliage. Adult Bald Eagles tend to stick out a bit more because of the bright white feathers on their heads.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eaglet in the nest

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 25, 2022| 9 Comments »

I was excited to spot this juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) sitting up in the big nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Monday. I assume that this eaglet was born this spring, based on its coloration and markings.

Earlier this spring I had noted eagle activity around this nest and thought that the nesting process had already begun long ago. However, this nest is very large and so high up that it is impossible to tell when the eagles began to sit on the egg or eggs. I checked my blog postings from the past and saw that I posted a shot of eaglets at this same nest on 19 May last year (see the posting Eagle nest update in May), so things seem to be following the same approximate schedule.

I saw only a single eaglet this time, but will continue to monitor the nest for more eaglet activity, including indications that there is more than one eaglet. Earlier on the same day I spotted an adult eagle perched in a tulip tree—you can actually see some of the “tulips”— adjacent to the nest and suspect that this is one of the parents keeping an eye on the eaglet(s). I included a shot below of the presumed proud parent as a final photo.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Eaglet update

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 20, 2020| 19 Comments »

It has been a month since I visited the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where I spotted an eaglet on 19 May and wrote a posting entitled “One little eaglet.” Yesterday I traveled to the refuge to check on the baby eagle and was a little surprised to find that the authorities had removed the barriers that had blocked access to the nesting area, which is adjacent to a trail. Did this mean that the eaglet had fledged and the family had left the nest?

I was happy to discover that the eaglet was still there, has grown considerably in size over the past month, and was sitting tall at one edge of the nest. The leaf coverage has also grown, making it pretty tough to get an unobstructed view of the little eagle. The vegetation also hid the presence of one of the parent eagles that flew away to a nearby grove of trees when I approached.

It is somehow reassuring to see that the cycle of life has continued undisturbed as our lives have been turned upside down by the global pandemic. I celebrate the new life of this young eagle and all of the other creatures who have begun their lives this spring and wish them success as they learn to navigate the challenges of their lives.

 

Bald Eagle eaglet

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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One little eaglet

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 20, 2020| 14 Comments »

The Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at a prominent nesting site at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge were late this year in nesting and I feared that they might not have any babies. I was therefore thrilled yesterday to discover that there is now an eaglet in the nest when I returned to that part of the refuge for the first time in a couple of months.

Authorities at the refuge set up barriers to keep the nesting eagles from being disturbed, so I had to observe the nest from a long way off. When I first arrived at the barrier yesterday, I could not tell if there were any eaglets. However, I noted that one of the parent eagles was perched on a limb above and to the right of the nest. In the past, I learned that when eaglets start to grow, there is no longer any room for a parent in the nest, so having one parent keeping guard near the nest was a positive sign.

I waited and waited and eventually the other parent eagle flew in and perched on a limb above and to the left of the nest. I was peering though my fully-extended telephoto zoom lens and noticed a dark shape pop up in the middle of the nest shortly after the second parent arrived. When I looked at my shots afterwards, I confirmed that there was an eaglet in the nest.

In the first shot, it looks like the eaglet was calling to its parent, although I did not hear a sound, or maybe was indicating it was hungry. I pulled back my zoom lens to its widest setting for the second shot, in which you can see both eagle parents and the eaglet in the nest in the center (you may want to click on the image to see more details).

I think that there is only one eaglet this year, though I can’t be absolutely certain. In past years there have been either one of two eaglets in this nest. Now that I know that there is a new little eaglet, I will probably try to return to the site to monitor its progress over the upcoming weeks and months.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Eaglets are growing up

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 31, 2019| 5 Comments »

Now that the foliage on the trees  is full, it is hard for me to monitor the status of the baby eagles in several Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. On Wednesday, however, I detected some motion as I was peering at one of the nests and realized that it was the flapping of an eaglet’s wings. I managed to find a visual tunnel through which my view was mostly unobstructed and was able to capture this view of two eaglets. I was shocked to see how big they have grown and suspect that they soon will be flying.

The nest is probably too small to hold the adults along with the youngsters—what I would call “full nest” syndrome, i.e. the opposite of the more commonly known “empty-nest” syndrome. The second image shows one of the presumed parents perching on a higher branch of the tree in which the nest is located.

Bald Eagle eaglets

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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At least one new eaglet

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 29, 2019| 3 Comments »

Many of you are aware that I have been keeping track of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. When the eagle couple occupied the nest earlier this spring, the authorities set up barriers to keep the eagles from being disturbed, because the tree with the nest is close to the intersection of several trails.

I have checked the nest several times in the past month and there has always been an eagle sitting in the middle of the nest. As I looked through my telephoto zoom lens this past Friday from one of the barriers, I could see that an adult eagle was sitting at one side of the nest, leading me to believe there might be babies. I waited and eventually was rewarded with a view of one eaglet.

Last year there were two eaglets born at this nest. Perhaps there is a second eaglet this year too, but at a minimum I am thrilled to know that there is at least one new eaglet birth to celebrate.

Bald Eagle

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Baby bald eagles

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 15, 2018| 9 Comments »

Babies are always exciting and it looks like there are at least two eaglets in one of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests that I have been watching for quite a few weeks. When I arrived at the barrier that blocks one of the trails on Friday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I noticed that the adult eagle was no longer sitting in the center of the nest—she was sitting in a much more upright position than previously and was sitting to one side of the nest. I began watching the nest through my telephoto zoom lens and periodically I was see the top of a little head pop briefly into view. I kept watching and eventually was able to get a shot that shows two babies.

I decided to crop the shot in two ways. The first one is a pretty severe crop, but it lets folks get a good look at all three eagles. The second crop is much looser and gives a better sense of the context of the shot by showing more of the tree and of the nest.

Bald Eagle babies

Bald Eagle babies

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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