Baby Eagle

Iris L.

A baby bald eagle has been hatched in Big Bear CA.  There is a naming contest open until March 25th.  Visit www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org to view the eaglet's Webcam or to suggest a name.  

Iris

Ed1937

Cool!! Now there's one more thing for me to do.

M1

Thanks Iris! Beautiful!! Wonder whether that other egg will hatch.

Crushed

Unfortunately thoughtless self centered hunters are poisoning them

WASHINGTON — America’s national bird is more beleaguered than previously believed, with nearly half of bald eagles tested across the U.S. showing signs of chronic lead exposure, according to a study published Thursday.

While the bald eagle population has rebounded from the brink of extinction since the U.S. banned the pesticide DDT in 1972, harmful levels of toxic lead were found in the bones of 46% of bald eagles sampled in 38 states from California to Florida, researchers reported in the journal Science

 

The researchers also found elevated levels of lead exposure in fall and winter, coinciding with hunting season in many states.  During these months, eagles scavenge on carcasses and gut piles left by hunters, which are often riddled with shards of lead shot or bullet fragments . 
 

https://nypost.com/2022/02/18/nearly-half-of-us-bald-eagles-suffer-lead-poisoning/

 

  

jfkoc

THANKS FOR THE HAPPY POST...FUN TO CHECK IN ON THE NEST

Iris L.

The bird experts have determined that the second egg will not hatch.

Iris

jfkoc

How do you think they come to that conclusion?

Crushed

jfkoc wrote:

How do you think they come to that conclusion?

In Yellowstone they told us that if they don't hatch by 36 days they won't hatch

https://journeynorth.org/tm/eagle/annual/facts_hatching.html

abc123

Thanks Iris! I enjoy seeing this! There was a huge nest only a few miles from my house. In winter time, when the trees are bare, I would ride out to just admire the size of the nest. I thought it was beautiful. Hurricane Ida destroyed it. 

Crushed, the facts you shared really make me angry. There was an article in the local paper about 10 years ago about a rare type of wild hog. The idiot who shot and killed the hog commented, "We haven't seen one like this is over 20 years"! His picture was in the paper with the dead hog, the idiot was grinning ear to ear. 

Iris L.

Jfkoc: "The remaining egg, now more than 48 days old, will not hatch, officials say."

Iris

nancyj194

Thank you Iris for the link. It will be fun to watch this one grow. I used to watch an eagle cam in Iowa and it was a very enjoyable pastime.  

Thanks again!

Nancy

jfkoc

fun to check in during the day...

Iris L.

This eagle pair had two prior egg layings but the fledglings never hatched.  Probably due to what Crushed mentioned. 

It is nice to be able to see wildlife without disturbing them. 

Iris

Stuck in the middle

Bird numbers are down 30% worldwide since 1970, due to deforestation, pesticides other than DDT, microbeads from single use plastics, fencerow to fencerow farming, and general environmental degradation, including the spread of heavy metals including lead shot.  We can change this if we want to.  Waterfowl numbers are actually up due to conservation practices by groups like Ducks Unlimited, even while bird numbers overall are in decline.

Some suggest we should practice vegetarianism and smaller families.  Failing that, we will continue to have wars (there are about 25 going on at this moment), famine, and zoogenic pandemics to limit our numbers, and other species will continue to decline.

Lead shot is banned in California for hunting.  I expect it will soon be banned nationwide.  Unfortunately, the birds need more help than that.  As do we.

Bob in LW

Iris L. wrote:

It is nice to be able to see wildlife without disturbing them. 

Iris

Humans are kept away from the nesting area because bald eagles have been known to abandon their nests when people are too close.  I have noticed that the eagles have lately been giving the chick more room to stand and flex his wings, since it has really been growing, thanks to a diet of fresh fish. The Los Angeles TV stations often show the eagle cam on their newscasts.

jfkoc

The baby was flexing like crazy this morning and then he pooped on camera...lol

Stuck in the middle

When I worked 20 stories up in a downtown office building in the 1980s, we had a nest of Peregrine falcons on a rooftop with CCTV so the whole city could watch the chicks on cable TV (no internet).  By looking out the window, I could see the parents swooping on the pigeons that roosted on windowsills, sort of an organic pest control.  Good times.

jfkoc

Falcon cam;

https://history.mayoclinic.org/falcon-program.php First egg laid today!

Stuck in the middle

Beautiful birds, unless you're a pigeon.

Bob in LW

Stuck in the middle wrote:

Beautiful birds, unless you're a pigeon.

Or a fish!

M1

There are two hatching right now at the National Arboretum in DC too, there's another webcam.

jfkoc

https://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/washington-dc-national-arboretum-mr.-president-first-lady-bald-eagle-cam

From here you can open up all of the web cams