Bare, thanks for the heads up! :0000000000luvmyhors

Thanks for the info. I watch the birds every day and it's amazing just how much they've grown.
They've changed from little balls of fluff to magnificent birds.

I feel the same way Pooh. It is an amazing site. From tiny cute fuzzy ewoks to magestic birds. I keep thinking if I check it a few times during the day, I may be the first person to see them branching!

The largest of the eagles is really stretching his wings today. You can see him 'lift off' just for a few seconds and then land again...it is so cute. He's really practicing - the others are just watching but it won't be long for them too most likely. I bet today or tomorrow he leaves the nest for the first time.

It is exciting. Like a teenager with a new license who wants so badly to drive.

I've seen all three eaglets today "nest flying" and exercising their wings. The moderater calls it Wingersizing. Where they lift off and flap their wings but don't really travel anywhere. The next step is branching, which happens before they get the nerve to take their first flight.

Even after they start flying, they return to the nest to be fed. That should be fun to watch.

I always worry that one of the eaglets will get bumped out of the nest by accident. Apparently one year an eaglet did miss a branch and land on the ground. The parents didn't return the eaglet to the nest, but they did continue to bring it food.

As big as the nest is, it's starting to look like the eaglets are outgrowing it. In the past few days, I haven't seen all three of them lying down at once and it almost looks like there's not enough froom for all three of them to.*

Bet they'll be taking flight soon. I seen some "wingersizing," but haven't any of them branching yet. Have you Bare? Cuz? Anyone?

* Look Tony-- I ended the sentence with a preposition. No English major, I.

PT, I'm so addicted to this web site. :mornincoffee: :popcorn: :popcorn:

The nest is the size of a queen-size bed. However the wing span of the eaglets is now five feet. So there isn't much spare room when they all start wingersizing at the same time. It can be quite comic.

Yes, all three are branching now. If you look on the right hand side of the eagle cam page, there is a link to Camellia branching on May 15 and on May 23. They should be fledging (taking their first flight) by the end of May.

It will be exciting to see their independence, but sad to see our little eaglets disappear from our lives. (They will still return to the nest to be fed for a month or two, so we can enjoy their coming and going).

Bare, one of them is on a branch right now!! How funny.

They are branching a lot. Cam (the male with the transmitter) is on a branch right now (8:00 PM). They are just chilling, hoping the dad will bring more fish for dinner.

I used to live in that area of Virginia where the eagles nest. There was a nest just across from my back yard. What you don't get to see on this webcam is how the parents encourage and "talk" to their babies. It is just facinating to watch the parents circle and circle around that nest, calling all the while to the babies. When the babies start answering back they all can raise quite a racket! I haven't been watching like you all have, but I am reliving my memories reading your comments.

K-9 - There is a website with sound:
www.hornbyeagles.com/webcam.htm

I think the camera is better on the Hampton Roads, Virginia, website.

Bare, have you been watching this evening? They've been so active, flapping and flapping, moving from branch to nest and back, flapping some more. Their wing spans are already amazing, as you said. They are still exciting to watch. It's amazing that they were those tiny little fluff balls such a short time ago. Wow!

Where's Cuz?

K9, I like the sound of those memories!

They are getting braver with each passing hour. Now they're flying from branch to branch. Soon they'll be taking their first flights .. within a few days. Even when they start flying, they'll still return to the nest to be fed by the parents.

In a month or two they'll be gone for good. As much as I hate to see them leave, in a way I'll be glad ... so I can get my life back!

Two of the three eaglets have now fledged, which means they have taken their first flight. We're still waiting for the third eaglet to fledge. The eaglets will leave the nest for short flights but will return to the nest for a month or two to be fed by the parents.

It's hard to get kids to leave home when there is free food around! :icon_hungry:

http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/micr...eagle-cam.html

Barefoot, you made my day. Too funny!! Pturner, I've actually been at the home in TV for three weeks. I've not had time to watch the eagle cam and unfortunately missed the first flights...I nearly cried when I logged on tonight from NC and the stupid cam is down and I read that they had fledged. God bless you Barefoot for providing the link and so much enjoyment to everyone who you passed it along to. Especially me!!

Now I'm in TV. Have had visitors since I've been here, until this afternoon. Finally had a chance to look and site was down. :cryin2:


Maybe I'll see some action from Eaglet #3 tomorrow.

Are you really in TV Pturner??!! I just got home tonight. We are like two ships passing in the night. I hope I get to meet you and Gracie sometime in the near future. I did meet Donna and a few others on one of my first days there at the Havana Club. Sorry for high jacking the eagles' time...I can't believe you are there and I didn't get to at least get to say hello to you before I left.

Hi Cuz, I was thinking the same darn thing when you posted previously that you had been here!! Would have been hard to make it work this time anyway. I came down with my brother Wednesday. He left Friday morning. DH got here Friday afternoon. His sister and brother-in-law got here Friday night and left today. Whew. Now I have some free time -- and YOU LEFT!

To un-hijack this thread, we're like two Eaglets fledging the nest. Hope to finally meet you in person next time!!!

And I hope to meet you both sometime soon!

Back to the three eaglets ... they will be hanging around the nest for a while, so you'll have lots of time to view them. One made a bad landing a couple of days ago and hung upside down for two minutes on a branch.

I have now discovered links to bear cams, hummingbird nests, and owl boxes. It's as bad as when I first discovered TOTV. I spend my days with my nose glued to the screen. :Screen_of_Death: I need an intervention.

OMG, a bear cam? That now sounds really cool. It will prove, once and for all, the old question, 'does a bear sit in the woods!!' Sorry.
Maybe we can have live cams of ourselves so we can meet! Gracie has to be included. LOL Talk about needing an intervention. Seriously, the last few times I've checked on the eaglets, the cam has been down.

Everyone I told about the Eagle cam was excited, except for one person. He said, "you are invading their privacy. How would you like for them to spy on you?" To this I replied, "They have eagle eyes, remember. They probably do spy on us."

:beer3:

Just saw one fo the eaglets fly away from a branch near the nest. The nest is empty. The other two of the eaglets are perched on adjacent branches higher up the tree. They appear to be talking to each other!

The eaglets do seem to copy each other's behaviour. I guess that is how they learn. Soon they will be watching the parents hunt so they can learn to provide for themselves.

Sadly, there is a 50% mortality rate for eagles from one to five years of age. Some never learn how to provide for themselves.

This eagle cam has given me more of an appreciation for eagles and nature. The parenting skills and devotion of the mom and dad are incredible.

Now I'm also hooked on three more live cams: hummingbirds, barn owls, and black bears. The internet is truly an amazing place. :024:

Bare, please share the sites for the bears, etc. I'm loving this reality show, satisfies the voyeur in me.:thumbup:

Yes, all three new sites! Yesterday DH and I played at Terre de Sol. On the 17th hole, we saw a nest sitting on brush in a marsh area with red-winged black bird babies that must not have been even a day old. They were smaller than my thumb! As luck would have it, we had to wait for the people on the green to finish. We watched the momma fly away for food and bring it back to them. It was so awesome!

Sure, I'll post the sites tomorrow. I'm at the cottage on the laptop and don't have the sites with me.

By the way, do you know that on the eagle cam, you can right click, hit zoom, and go full size. Or you can increase the size by using the control button plus - o +. Duh, I just learned this recently.

P.S. You probably know this, but if you click on the Cobb Island 4 line at the top of the eagle cam, you will find a falcom mum with four fuzzy babies. They hatched recently.

Is anyone looking at the nest right now. It appears that one of the eagles has his leg hanging over the branch and it looks damaged. Oh I hope I'm wrong.......

Furgetaboutit...... He's OK... apparently he was doing that thing males do, hang their foot out over the side of their carts, only his foot was hanging down over the branch. Very relaxed. Whew....

Glad he's ok! Geez, those males. When their not hanging their foot over the side, their lifting their leg. :024:

Pturner, so true :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Big Excitement Yesterday
 

For those of you following the eaglets, yesterday was quite the day - one of the eaglets was in a canal, unable to get out - a photographer came to its aid, he couldn't fly and was taken to a vet's for overnight observation.
Keeping my fingers crossed for NE!

Sunday's Crisis
 

Anyone watching the eaglets? There was a lot of excitement on Sunday when a photographer found NE floating in a canal & unable to get out - fortunately the photographer fished him out, he spent the night in the "hospital" and returned under his own power to the nest yesterday - whew!
(I tried posting this yesterday and got a message "waiting for moderator review" - either I'm still in the great waiting room in the sky, or due to the mention of the eagles my message got posted in some golf thread!)

NE's unexpected swim caused a lot of excitement. Yikes! He was very lucky the photographer was watching. I guess he was diving for a fish and didn't realize he first had to learn how to take off in water. Apparently a lot of eaglets drown when learning how to hunt.

Here are some more interesting websites:

www.hornbyeagles.com/webcam.htm
www.IWS.org/bald_eagles/allnests.html
www.ustream.tv/discovery/live/animals

Thanks for the update! I'm visiting my parents in Boca and haven't checked the site for two days. It figures. As soon as I miss it, things happen.

Anyway, thank goodness for the photographer. I've grown attached to the Eaglets. I'd be heartbroken if we lost one.

WOW! What an absolutely fantastic photo of the wet eaglet!!!


http://norfolkeagles.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3232

Here's some more from another photog.


http://norfolkeagles.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3223

Thanks again Barefoot. You are the best!
bk

Let me share this from the eagle cam site. There are some really talented photographers hanging out there.

www.pbase.com

http://norfolkeagles.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3226

http://norfolkeagles.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3223

I really enjoyed watching the three eaglets in 2010 hatch to fluffy little midgets, grow huge, and eventually learn how to fly. What a great experience!

There are lots of eagle cams available on the internet. I like this WVEC one in particular.

The first 2011 eaglet just hatched! Your grandkids will love this site.

What an amazing site, just saw the hatchling when the mother repositioned herself......thank you barefoot for posting the site.