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[Nora in IA]

After the write-up I saw by one person who I will not name, not knowing about this I thought something happened to one of the eaglets by the time I finished reading!!!  This is sad, but not unusual.

[STLbf]

Early fish from MrN, then a skunk carcass for lunch from DNF about 11:00.  In between, eaglets spent time resting, preening, ps-ing, and shaking off pesky gnats or black flies.

[STLbf]

Early morning, wet weather.  Eaglets picked at the skunk skeleton, MrN brought a fish which DN17 snatched and consumed part of. DNF came later to do some nest cleanup. 

[STLbf]

Good closeups of DNF and the eaglets.  DN17 and 18 look so much alike, I can't tell them apart just by appearance.  Maybe feather patters on wings and tails will be different and helpful in weeks to come. 

Watch the napping eaglet about 2:30 this afternoon to see how eagles close their eyelids from the bottom to the top.  I wondered why.  A Google search found info from The Center for Conservation Biology that says birds active in the daytime close their eyes like eagles.  But birds active at night close their eyes like we do, from top to bottom.

[Ginger52]

STL -- so far most of the time I've been able to ID them by looking at their commissures (corner of mouth).  DN18's is pretty straight and on the left side there's a little mark which I think is where the fishing line cut into it.  DN17's curves up slightly and is a brighter yellow.  It also looks to be a little thicker but that may just be because it's a brighter color.  It's a little difficult to see the differences in your pics.

Tails look promising for ID's.  DN18 has white on the tail and DN17 does not.

DN18 and DN17 -- commissure (corner of mouth)


DN17 tail (no white)


DN18 tail

[STLbf]

Ginger, thanks for the beak tips.  I will look closely.  The tails will be easier to use as ID because they are so much larger!

One pic early today and one at 5:00 this afternoon -- hope all has been well in between!

[STLbf]

Hopping wing exercises for both eaglets at about 6:00 this morning!  Awesome       See the audience of four grackles watching.

Just after the hopping, MrN brought a large suckerfish, and DNF brought another one.  He stayed to feed the youngsters; she flew away.

[STLbf]

The Norths perched in the Brush Pile Tree for a brief time about 8:00 this morning, then DNF flew back to the nest.  Correct that it's the BPT?

About 10:00, cam ops got great closeups of one of the eaglets, guessing DN17 because of slight upturn of mouth corners as described by Ginger yesterday.  Agree?

[STLbf]

Live cam at DNN has been on Highlights for almost 3 hours. 

[STLbf]

Two fish from DNF about 6:00 this morning.  Eaglets trying to self-feed, mostly just rolling them in nest grasses.

Look at the tail feather markings:  white "band" part way up = DN18;  dark with no markings = DN17.

MrN brought a third large fish about 8:00.  He stopped off at the Love Branches before lugging it to the nest.  The fish was full of eggs so extra heavy. DNF brought some fresh grasses about the same time.

[Ginger52]

The Norths perched in the Brush Pile Tree for a brief time about 8:00 this morning, then DNF flew back to the nest.  Correct that it's the BPT?

About 10:00, cam ops got great closeups of one of the eaglets, guessing DN17 because of slight upturn of mouth corners as described by Ginger yesterday.  Agree?

Yes, correct that it's BPT and also I think on your ID of DN17.

[Ginger52]

On three different nights recently DNF has been bothered by an owl -- a small one, so probably an Easter Screech Owl.  The first time it smacked her once and then was gone.  The second night it smacked her two separate times.  Then, last night she heard/saw it and vocalized, slapped wings, hissed.  I never saw the owl.  One of the eaglets also wing slapped last night.

This pic is NOT from last night.  Just before the hit (to the right of DNF)


Last night -- DNF reacts and eaglet wing slaps


Last night -- DNF comes down to nest


This afternoon DNF dropped off some "ghetti" -- either deer or cow.  I did see a pregnant doe there recently.  (However, Mod GABear said that "deer usually eat the placenta along with cleaning it all from the fawn, to reduce the scent and the chance of being found."  Kind of late for a cow to be calving though...)

[STLbf]

Ginger, thanks for pics of owls & "ghetti" from earlier.  I've noticed that DNF has been on the Ladder Branch at night, but missed the owls and wing slaps.  Good to know that the eaglets have caught on to defending themselves.  Gotta think that a small owl might be just "counting coup" and not really attacking.   It's a tough world out there for eagles and all the other creatures.  One might hope that DNF discovers an owl nest like she did with the hawks.

About the ghetti, it's the time of year for deer to be giving birth.  Like you said, not so much the cattle.  The ghetti looks kind of old to me, so not from today but a few days ago maybe?  Doesn't help with what animal it came from.

[Nora in IA]

Driving around we've been seeing lots of calves that are pretty little yet.