In just a week since fledging Honor and Glory are doing a great job of getting out and about to see a little more of the world around them. Below are a few pictures from yesterday. One parent flying by to check on the kids and a few shots of the kids. Including one perched on a dead stump near the river with a pelican cruizing by in the background.
From what we can see it appears both Honor and Glory fledged today. Below are a couple of pictures from late this afternoon at the nest. One of the eaglets was still on a branch near the nest as one of the parents droped in on a branch above. The other was actually sitting on the peak of the roof of the building below the nest. Even though we have not seen him back up on the nest this afternoon it seems he may just be relishing his new ability to explore. The typical pattern for the past few years is for the eaglets to stick around the nest and the tree for another six weeks or so as they learn to fly and hunt.
Honor and Glory are getting further and further out on the limbs around the nest this week. It won't be much longer until they take that next step, to actually fly from this tree to another or the ground and back up to the nest. I would expect to see them around for at least the next 6-8 weeks before they head out on there own. One of the new pictures from today shows mom or dad in the nest looking like they are encouraging them to take that next step!
Honor and Glory are really getting some good hang time above the nest the last few days. I have not seen them on any of the branches yet, but I have seen posts indicating they have been on the branch just below the old camera. Below are a couple of shots from yesterday of both of them in the nest, one parent on a branch above the nest and the other parent cruising nearby.
We wish you all a happy Memorial Day weekend. We are getting close to fledging. Honor and Glory will turn 10 weeks old Saturday and Monday. Below are a few shots of one of them today getting a little "air" in the nest. Don't forget you can order some of the new EagleCam merchandise and help charity at the same time. Use the link above or go to www.qceaglecam.com
Do you ever wonder what they are looking at from the edge of the nest? With all the wing flapping you can tell they are about to start jumping from branch to branch. The river is up a bit again this week, so we actually have a few inches of water in the parking lot below the nest. Below are a few pictures of Liberty or Justice along with some other shots from today in the neighborhood of the nest.
We seem to have stabilized our feed from the new camera to keep it from locking up on a freeze frame every so often. We are planning a little bit of downtime tomorrow (Thursday) morning to try to connect audio to the feed. Hopefully it will be quick and successful. Below is a shot of one of the parents from today watching Glory and Honor from a branch a little distance from the nest. Don't forget you can help charity and get a keepsake from this experience. Click the link above or go to www.qceaglecam.com to order t-shirts and more. A portion of each purchase goes to charity.
We are finally back online from a different vantage point. Even though we will not be able to look down into the nest, we hope this view will let you see more activity around the nest. This will be especially interesting as our eaglets begin to move outside the nest. We don't have sound at the moment, but we hope to get that connected in the coming days.
The good news is that the river is receding. It looks like it could still be a few days before we can get back down to the nest area to work on the video feed. We will keep you posted on progress. In the meantime below are a couple of pictures from earlier today. One parent flying, one parent keeping watch from a nearby branch and two little heads sticking up above the top of the nest. Make sure you check out the Alcoa EagleCam merchandise link. In the next day or two look for new items available for this season. The link is above or you can click on www.qceaglecam.com
Alcoa was recognized for the educational aspects of Alcoa EagleCam during an awards ceremony on Friday evening. River Action, a river advocacy group in Davenport, presents its annual "Eddy" awards in several categories each year. This year Alcoa EagleCam, and specifically the connection to a grant from Alcoa Foundation to the Bettendorf Schools to create online learning modules, was recognized with the award. Public Affairs Manager, John Riches and Davenport Works Director of Manufactuing, Rob Woodall, accepted the award from River Action Founder, Kathy Wine. Alcoa was nominated for the award by Jerry Neff, a member of the local chapter of the Sierra Club.
We have about a foot or so of water in the parking lot below the nest here at Alcoa. This building near the river is outside of the plant's normal flood protection. It is not unusual to get some spring flooding. What this does mean is we will not be able to install our other camera in an alternate location until the water goes back down. Right now that looks like it will be at least late next week. I will try to provide some updates over the next few days as the river forecast changes. Below are a couple of pictures taken today. We can clearly see one of the parents in the nest and the other shot gives you a sense of the visit we are getting from the Mississippi River.
We have isolated the problem to the camera itself. After consulting with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service we understand and agree we will not be able to do any repair work to the current camera until after this nesting season.
We have come up with a plan to install a camera from a temporary location a distance from the nest. We are hoping to get that done in the next few days. Complicating that is the fact the Mississippi River is rising and the property with the nest is low-lying and will have some water rising over the next few days. We will post another update as soon as we have more information. Below are a couple of pictures taken last Thursday and Friday.
As you can tell, the camera is still not working. It appears the lightning storm that rolled through the area early this morning has damaged the camera. We are working on a plan to re-establish the video feed in the next few days. As soon as we have finalized our plan I will be able to give you a more accurate timeframe.
While you are waiting for our feed to return, please visit the Alcoa OspreyCam in North Carolina. That web address is www.alcoa.com/ospreycam The eggs in the Osprey nest are due to hatch later this month.
We are still working to get back online. We had a strong line of thunderstorms move through early this morning and more rain expected throughout the day. In the meantime, here are a few frame grabs of the eaglets during the day yesterday.