Golden Eagle Webcam Nest 2022

[Liz01]

15:19 little is calling too
15:21 she landed on a tree and returned to the nest .. still calling and with empty hands
off again
15:22 back on the curved branch
15:23 off again

[Liz01]

15:26 Helju is calling and flying around. Little is calling too

15:28 a huge prey by Kalju. a goose? is too big for a duck He is totally soaked. Since he's wet, did he get the goose out of the water? Can golden eagles do that?


soaked Kalju! Helju landed on the nest tree out of sight


he jumps on the curved branch and is drying his feathers.. . .wings are wide

[Liz01]

15:30 little stands up. Helju is calling and flying around


15:31 she landed on the front branch is still calling.
She wants that poor Kalju flies away





he turns on the branch - Kalju flew away .. she is silent that was 30 minutes loud calling!
15:33 she starts feeding the little one

[Liz01]

Kalju delivers the prey, Helju came in


big little one



15:47 little is doing a ps .. then is continues eating

15:54

[Liz01]

15:55:23


16:00 feeding is over. nice crop on the eaglet

[Liz01]

16:10 still rainy weather. She covers her eaglet


16:37 she is preening her little eaglet

18:09 she is tired

[Liz01]

18:34 She still covers her big little one

[Illi]

Little one is sleeping , mother protects chick from the rain. Tomorrow will be more rain

[Liz01]

19:19 the camera is buffering

[Ravens]

2022-05-20

On the order of prey and feeding.

We had two new deliveries today, despite the rain, which I have seen impede hunting efforts at other nests where mammals and non-aquatic birds were the principal prey.

07:18:56 - Is the time when Helju delivers avian prey. My initial impression is shared with Liz01, perhaps a gosling. However, at a later timestamp the feet give me some pause. Perhaps the angle, distance, light, and blur simply hides the webbing. If Mike Halahan ever stops in, you would be interested to know that Helju was carrying this meal in her left talons. :>





She considers placing it in her behind-the-tree spot, but changes her mind.

07:23:35 - Eaglet is fed.
09:02:40 - Eaglet gobbles a single bite.
10:34:55 - Eaglet is fed.
12:23:01 - Eaglet is fed. All from the same carcass.
15:28:30 - A rather soggy Kalju delivers obvious waterfowl. It is too bad we can't identify the species. That was a big part of the fun over at the Bucovina nest. Well, Kalju makes the delivery in his right talons. ;>



15:33:18 - Helju feeds her eaglet, as mothers do. From new carcass, big and plump.

And since the rules are three screenshots per post, I shall have to keep the loveliest, if less data-worthy, to myself.

[Ravens]

15:28 a huge prey by Kalju. a goose? is too big for a duck He is totally soaked. Since he's wet, did he get the goose out of the water? Can golden eagles do that?

I consulted the library at our fingertips to try and answer your question. The scientific literature largely agrees that hunting over water is rare for golden eagles. But. None of those studies have taken place in the boggy Sooma National Park. I imagine it would be less rare there? Making actual contact with the water would be a surprise! Though fishing has been witnessed on spawning species of salmon and trout in shallow waters. Here are some observations in study form: Golden Eagles Feeding on Fish, Bryan T. Brown

Of course there are other ways Kalju could have been made soggy. Aside from the rainfall itself, there are probably plentiful puddles and otherwise spongy soils. Vegetation (shrubbery, long grasses, etc.) can plaster one too, should he have had to land and pass through it. Edit: The way Kalju was holding his wings loosely at his side as seen in your screenshot at 15:31:30, did also make me wonder after the details of his hunt. Who knows.

Photographs of golden eagles flushing waterfowl over water:

Mike Tabak - https://www.flickr.com/photos/blackcapp ... 6642904417
Sandy Paiement - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sandypaiement/24291331480
Larry Keller - https://www.flickr.com/photos/larry_keller/8433951244
https://www.flickr.com/photos/larry_keller/8434453150/
Tony Mitra - https://www.flickr.com/photos/tonu/16160632015

Video describing an observation of a subadult golden eagle flushing and successfully capturing a sleeping duck. The ducks were up on an inclined bank, but the eagle stealthed over the water to flush them away from it: https://youtu.be/QKhadW--lmk

Who knows what behaviors opportunism might suddenly require. What instantaneous decisions might be deemed worth an exceptional risk. Typically, though, no. Golden eagles do not pluck waterfowl directly off the water. Try to find a video or photograph that isn't a misidentified juvenile bald eagle or other species. I've had no luck. Please share if you do!

It seems that experienced waterfowl know they are safest from goldens on the water and use it defensively:
"Once on the water, the ducks would not leave, and an eagle was powerless to pick one off its surface. The eagles soon counteracted these tactics by concealing themselves in the dense Douglas fir timber on the butte overlooking the pond. They appeared to have discovered that personnel in feeding the swans would flush the ducks from the water if a kill had not been made beforehand." - Observations on Predator-Prey Relations between Wild Ducks, Trumpeter Swans and Golden Eagles, Ward M. Sharp

[Liz01]

May 21

Good Morning!

the sight is much better today
4:18 Helju is calling outside the nest
4:45 She cam home with a twig




little one is twittering. She covers her cotton ball

[Liz01]

6:17 big yawn


6:25 Little one and Helju are calling
the eaglet looks super cute

[Liz01]

6:27 eaglet is stretching and doing a ps




Helju is doing eagle yoga, went on the curved branch and is calling

[Liz01]

6:27 eaglet tries to cast a pellet - Helju flew off

[Ravens]

Scolded at for about eight minutes by a mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus). Helju tried to sleep through the onslaught.

[Liz01]

6:33 Helju brings a branch
She took a pellet and ate it, then she took another pellet and flew away with it




video morning activities

[Ravens]

Interesting. Helju ate half of her eaglet's recently cast pellet, and presumably flew off to dispose of the other half, as she took it with her.

[Liz01]

6:47 Little is still alone at home. Helju and she/he are talking to each other
6:48 Helju brings a huge green twig

6:49 she took a pellet and flew off again

[Liz01]

6:50 eaglet stands up


6:51 she returned with another green twig