Norfolk Botanical Garden, Virginia - Bald Eagle Cam

http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle1.html

Cam link for Mac users
http://hwcdn.net/j2r7p9n9/wls/147880-WVEC2.asx

This is a streaming camera and has had night vision until 2011 (but not sound - it's near an airport so it's felt we'd hear more planes than eagles); I believe the infrared light does not illuminate the new nest very well, and streaming the cam through the night is expensive so the camera is turned off for part of the night.

The nest is in a botanical garden in Norfolk, Virginia. The 2007 nest fell apart after the last chick fledged, and the eagles built a new nest for 2008; NBG moved the cam to the new nest. This pair successfully raised 3 chicks in 2006 and 2007.

In 2008, practically everything that could happen did - they produced 2 (or maybe 3) eggs, but then a four-year-old female started harassing the pair, forcing them from the nest for prolonged periods and leaving the eggs uncovered; eventually the parents appeared to abandon the nest, and two no-longer-viable eggs were recovered. Then the original female returned to the nest and was seen mating with the male - and a month or so after the initial clutch, they produced two eggs - which were apparently broken when the nesting parent jumped up to respond to a large bird (maybe a great horned owl) flying near the nest. The next day she laid the third egg of the second clutch - which successfully hatched. When the chick was about 3 weeks old, a photographer noticed a growth on its beak - and the chick was removed from the nest a few days later for testing; the eaglet (named Easter on this forum and Buddy and Poink on others) was found to have Avian Pox and was taken to the Wildlife Center of Virginia (WCV) for treatment. The treatment was successful, but Easter/Buddy's beak was damaged by the pox, and in August 2009 WCV declared that he was non-releasable, “based on a review of the bird’s treatment over the past 15 month, evaluation of the curvature of the eagle’s beak, and the habituation of this young bird to humans.” His beak will continue to need periodic trimming for the rest of his life, so WVC is now considering options for the best placement for Easter/Buddy as an educational bird.

2009 was a much less eventful year; the eagles moved back and rebuilt their former nest, and successfully raised three eaglets; the middle eaglet, a female nicknamed Azalea, was fitted with a transmitter, and you can follow her travels at http://eagletrak.blogs.wm.edu/. The pair again successfully raised three eaglets, all male, in 2010; the oldest was nicknamed Camellia and given a transmitter. It will be interesting to compare his travels with those of his older sister. The pair built another new nest for 2011, and NBG again moved the cam.

Based on past experience, look for eggs in the first half of February, chicks in mid-March, and fledging in early June.

2010-2011 Season:

• parents return: They don't really leave for long - were seen by local photographers from time to time in September, more in October.
  
• cam on: January 18
  
• eggs laid: February 3, 2:48 pm; February 6, 4:25 pm; February 9, 5:55 pm
  
• hatched: March 13, 11:25 am (38 days); March 15, noon (37 days); March 17, 1:30 pm (36 days)
  
• banded: April 21 - NZ, female, 7.5 lbs (39 days); NX, female, 6.78 lbs (37 days); NV, male, 5.75 lbs (35 days)
  
• sad news: April 26 - the adult female was killed in a collision with an airplane at the adjacent Norfolk airport - link to the story
  
• eaglets to WCV: April 27 - after reviewing options, the experts involved with the nest felt a single adult would not be able to keep up with the needs of three rapidly growing eaglets, so all three were removed from the nest and taken to the Wildlife Center of Virginia where they will be raised with minimal human involvement with plans to release them to the wild in late summer - click here for the story.
  
  
• fledged (in flight pen at WCV): June 14 (93 days) (delayed because removed from flight pen while leg injury healed); June 8 (85 days); June 7 (82 days)
  
• released: July 27 (middle chick NX, who was fitted with a transmitter shortly before release, seemed too hot and tired to get good height, so was captured and returned to WCV to rest up)
  
• NX released: August 30
  
• tracking information: link to maps for 2010 juvie Camellia and 2009 juvie Azalea; link to Center for Conservation Biology EagleTrak blog; link to WCV page for tracking NX

(Information from Norfolk Botanical Garden)

Link to last year's thread for this nest

Reserved

If this information needs updating - would you kindly let me know?

First post data updated Oct 13 2010 by JudyB; keeping the reserved post for a while in case we have additional information to add. Thanks!

I just took a peek at the tracking maps - and Azalea and Camellia aren't really all that far apart, as the eagle flies! Both are in an area of Virginia where Azalea spent some time last fall - so it may be a stopping point for many of the young eagles from this area.

You can find regular updates from the Center for Conservation Biology here - http://eagletrak.blogs.wm.edu/.

Thanks for posting the very informative CCB link, JudyB. It is wonderful to be able to know where Azelea and Camellia are hanging-out these days.

Hello everyone...Any info on the cam?.I can't wait for the new season to start..

It looks as if the cam didn't come back online until January last year, Starr. It also went offline fairly early, while the fledglings were still around - so I'm guessing they have fiscal or bandwidth constraints.

There are a number of pictures of the eagles posted by the photographers at the Norfolk Botanical Garden - they post in the Norfolk forum - link Please note that it's OK to post a description and/or a link to one of their pictures there, but they are all copyrighted and may not be posted here without the express permission of the photographer. (I know regulars on this thread know that - but need to post the disclaimer along with my link for any newcomers. And it's worth checking it out - they take some spectacular photographs!)

Help the Wildlife Center of Virginia win the ASI Government Charity Contest.
Please help Easter / Buddy / Poink's home win this grant! They really need votes

To vote please visit:
http://www.asigovernment.com/ASI_VoteForYourCharity.cfm

Voting ends on December 5th!
You can vote once a day.

He is living a very happy life as you can see in these videos of talks given by, Suzie Doell, his trainer since entering the Wildlife Center:

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFEiHnVt ... er&list=UL

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ytnQogY ... er&list=UL

Thank you, Tsebitai, for your informative post showing us a way to help The Wildlife Center of Virginia with a vote cast in the charity contest.

Wonderful that Buddy has a loving home at the center.