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 with night vision (but not sound - it's near an airport so it's felt we'd hear more planes than eagles).

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, nicknamed Azalea, was fitted with a transmitter, and you can follow her travels at http://eagletrak.blogs.wm.edu/.

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

2009-2010 Season:

• parents return: (I'm not sure if there was a significant time that the parents were away)
  
• cam on: January 13
  
• eggs laid: January 31, 2:14 pm; February 3, 11:50 am; February 6, 12:29 pm
  
• hatched: March 11, 1:10 pm (39 days); Mar 13, 12:01 am (37.5 days); Mar 14, 12:01 am (35.5 days) (eggs 2 and 3 hatched overnight and the experts at Norfolk Botanical Garden are using the convention of placing the time of hatch at midnight)
  
• initial banding: March 31 - oldest NC - 2.5 lb (20 days); middle ND - 2 lb (18 days); youngest NE - 1.75 lb (17 days); the youngest was determined to be too small to be banded, and the middle chick lost his bands shortly after he was returned to the nest (a subsequent quick visit to the nest retrieved the bands so they wouldn't endanger the chicks); a subsequent report by the biologist said that all were fine and healthy, just smaller than average (see Dr. Watt's response re March 31 Banding at NBG for details)
  
• second banding and transmitter: May 5 - oldest NC - 8+ lbs (55 days) outfitted with GPS transmitter and named Camellia; middle ND - 7.25 lb (53 days); youngest NE - 7.50 lb (52 days); all subsequently determined to be male
  
• fledged: May 27, 8:09 pm (77 days); May 29, 6:52 am (77 days); May 31, 12:36 pm (78 days)
  
• last seen: all were still in the area on June 30 when the cam was turned off
  
• tracking information: link to maps for Carmellia and 2009 juvie Azalea; link to Center for Conservation Biology EagleTrak blog

(Information from Norfolk Botanical Garden; 2008 screen cap by ConnyZ)

Link to last year's thread for this nest

Thank you for setting up this thread JudyB Eagles are back :thumrt:
I like to start the thread with a collage that I made yesterday

Beautiful Eagles!!!

Great collage Diana :thumrt: They are such a beautiful pair :love: !!

Here are a few scaps from yesterday too. I saw them mate yesterday too but the cam did not move in soon enough so I was not able to capture the moment; it was late afternoon!!

Hello everyone ~pics from jan 15 , 2010
]

Mom has a big fish 1/16/10

few more pics ~1/16/10

At dusk~Together

pics From 1/13/10 ~Love in the afternoon



Calling out

Pics from~1/15/10 ~Two on the branch