The Eagle was Banded

I've been enjoying eavesdropping on some eagles' nests that are located off Catalina Island.  These cameras are part of a long-time and ongoing project to help increase the once-endangered eagle population.

The Two Harbors nest has one female eaglet.  The West End nest has 3 - 1 female and 2 males.  It's been very cool to watch the nurturing done by both sets of parents - who would take turns hunting, feeding and watching the kids.

A few weeks ago they banded the single female in the Two Harbors nest.

Young eaglets are banded and numbered so they can be tracked and data gathered as to how successful they are at staying alive and well and potentially reproducing.

It may seem intrusive to some - but without the dedication of those involved - there might not be any eagles to band.

I watched the eagle-cam as the nest was visited by a Dr. Peter Sharpe and his assistant.


 

I took some photos of my computer screen - so they're not the best quality - but it shows the process of how to snatch an eaglet.


This is the eaglet's first ever glimpse of a human.

Dr. Sharpe backed slowly into the nest - about a foot each time.  With each stop he would re-arrange a branch or two and move the dried grass around.

At this point she looked very curious.

By now there's definitely some whiggage going on. 

Baby tries to "get big" to scare away the ginormous intruder.


Then she seemed to settle down - just trying to figure it all out.

He rarely looked at the eaglet - only glanced her way a couple of times.  She looks curious in this pose.

You can see how big the nest is when a man can sit in it with room for a friend.

Note the way he's dressed - a bit reminiscent of a super-sized eagle.

She started to get a little braver here and moved closer to get a better look.

Then in a flash - he reached out and snatched her by the beak!

I jumped about a foot - even I wasn't expecting that!

Needless to say - she was not a happy camper!

Look at that wingspan on a youngster still unable to fly!

His assistant came in quickly to help so the eaglet wouldn't get hurt....

...and in no time she was in the bag - literally.

They took her out of the nest for about 20 minutes to do the banding, figure out the gender and give her an overall well-baby check.

She was returned to the nest - a bit shell shocked...

...but lookin' fine in her new 'wing bling'.

The parents had been flying overhead during the banding process and returned later with some goodies for her.

If you'd like to watch the live action - the link is below.

Happy bird watching!

www.iws.org/bald_eagles/twoharborscam.html


p.s. Baby girl #18 may not always be in the nest.....she's learning to take flight! 


This one is great too!      www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles