March 29 2011 - Daily Summary

Two Nest Visits Today

First Visit - 633 to 640 am
Intruder arrives first at 633 am and he begins restoring the nest moving branches.
Belle arrives at 634 am and together they do some restorations.
It was a peaceful encounter; no aggressive behavior seen.
Belle appeared to be tolerant of the male intruder as she was working along side of him.

Intruder was in the nest from 633 to 640 am = 7 minutes
Belle was in the nest from 634 to 639 am = 5 minutes

Second Visit - 527 to 547 pm
Belle arrived in the nest with a fish.
Belle seemed very alert during this visit and ate her meal in its entirety in the nest.
No sign of the Intruder or Liberty this was a solo visit.
Length of Visit 20 minutes

March 29 2011 - Video of Belle eating her fish alone in the nest by Paula
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LowiUjNdxE

Notes:
No formal update on this situation since the press release dated March 22 2011. A member advised that she had written two letters of concern today regarding Liberty's absence from the nest; one to NCTC and one to US FWS and recommending that a ground search be conducted to search for Liberty. Liberty has not been seen in the nest with Belle since March 16 so there is a possiblity that he could be injured or died from his injuries either way a search would eliminate or rule out these two possiblities. Letters of concern were also sent to NCTC on this situation by the same member on March 17 & 18 2011.

March 30 2011 - Daily Summary

One Visit Today

634 to 640 am
Intruder arrives at 634 am moves some sticks around nest center.
Belle arrives at 637 am; joins the intruder and they meet near nest center; there is a bit of beaking seen just after Belle's arrival.
Then they go to separate areas in the nest and do a wee bit of nestorations.
Belle leaves at 640 am and the Intruder follows shortly after.

Final Summary - May 2011

A ground search of the nest area was eventually conducted and there were no signs of Liberty; however some time later a dead eagle was found in nest area. It seems likely that the body found is Liberty's just based on what has transpired. Unfortunately since these eagles are not banded so we will never know for sure but to those that have followed this family....it is the only logical explanation for Liberty's absence since he was so devoted to Belle!

Over the past couple of months....Belle appears to be more tolerant of the young male intruder nicknamed Smitty and it does seem likely that Belle has accepted Smitty as her new mate.

Heartfelt thanks to all the dedicated members that helped us document these very sad events....a painful journey for our Liberty Belle and to all our family here.

This Daily Summary is now being discontinued.

Liberty and Belle sharing one of their loving 'niparoos'

Screen capture by Debs

Rest in Peace Liberty....Soar High and Soar Forever Free....Forever in our Hearts