Lesser Spotted Eagles in Poland - 2016/17

[Wojtek]

Jujani, thank you very much! I can see it now.

[Wojtek]

You probably know about it, but just in case - there is another LSE webcam from Latvia: http://www.pomarina.lv/. The eaglet from this nest fledged this morning and doesn't look like it is coming to nest for the night.

[Wojtek]

Well, thank you Biker! I got so excited about the link that I didn't notice someone else helped me. Thanks again.

[Jujani]

Thanks BigDee, that sounds right. I have reviewed some 2016 pictures from this forum and it looks like the 2017 eaglet is about 3-4 days earlier then the 2016 one. That means the first egg in 2017 was laid on 29 April, the hatching happened on 9 June and eaglet will fledge about 10 August (if the same gender). Would you know how many eggs they had this year?

The camera was first on the old nest. The LSE's have not taken the old nest anymore, but this one. The camera was then rebuilt. That was on the 30th of June and the chick was a bit bigger. Whether there were 2 eggs or 2 chicks was not known. Also not when this chick hatched. It is probably slightly younger than that in Latvia, but not much. That is what I know.

[Marfo]

August 7

I heard some rustling for some time close to the camera but nothing could be seen. Then I saw a claw right in front of the camera coming from above . So she is sitting on top of the camera. I was too late to take a picture. Pity you can't scroll back in time..

[Jujani]

The mother brought something very small, looked like a half-frog.




The female has remained very long in the nest, has done housework and their feathers tended. The eaglet has begged for food all the time.

[Wojtek]

Judging from those sounds UwB-2 is trying to take apart the camera.

[Jujani]

The mother had brought some nice fresh twigs. Again and again she has rearranged the branches. The Eaglet has preferred to do some exercises. At some point, the mother was too tired and now lies alone in the nest. Almost like in real life

[Wojtek]

9 August, 14:51
Some observations:
In 2016, UwB-1 started branching on 12 August, and fledged on 15 August at age of 64 days. The time between start of branching and fledging seems to be very short. The eaglet was observed exercising its wings as early as 29 July.
In 2017, Fridis from Latvia started branching on 30 July, and fledged early in the morning on 6 August, although this might have been not intentional fledging. Fridis was 59 days old at the time of fledging. The eaglet returned to the nest two days later on 8 August.
In 2017, UwB-2 started branching on 1 August, and is still in the nest tree today, 9 August.

[Jujani]

The nest is empty, the LSE family sleeping probably elsewhere.

Maybe the young eagle is already flying. I have not seen it, but when it starts from a branch, which is outside of the camera, can it be?

[Wojtek]

As far as I could tell UwB-2 spent all day (9 August) in the nest tree, mostly on the top of the camera. It was still there when female (my guess) came in the evening to prepare nest for the night. I have noticed that recently UwB-2 started coming later to nest. Right now (18 past midnight in Poland, 6:18 pm here) there is only female on nest.

[Wojtek]

10 August
That's unfortunate that the camera had to fail during such critical time. The eaglet is about to fledge and we don't know what happened today. Last time I checked, at 3:30 am local time, the female was alone in nest, but I am sure UwB-2 was somewhere nearby in the nest tree. Right now, at 9:25 pm local time, the nest is empty. This may suggest that young already fledged, and mother and fledgling sleep somewhere away from the nest tree.

[Jujani]

The camera was off all day today.
21.30
Now she goes back, but the nest is empty, no mother, no eaglet.

oh, we write the same time

[Wojtek]

11 August
So, UwB-2 fledged yesterday, 10 August, at age of approximately 62 days, four days later than Fridis, and about five days earlier than UwB-1 in 2016. I hope we will see the fledgling and its parents again.

[Jujani]

Very sad that we missed the first flight. Fridis was also not in the nest after her first flight 1-2-days and is now again regularly there. Perhaps it is so with UwB-2.

Wojtek
How do you know exactly when UwB-2 hatched? I can not find a date anywhere. Did you ask?

The images can be fooled, but for me it looks as if UwB-2 is younger than Fridis.


It is not so important, the main thing is both LSE`s well and they have a beautiful, long life.

[Wojtek]

Hey Jujani,
I don’t know the exact hatching date of UwB-2. I just guessed it by comparing pictures of UwB-1 and UwB-2. UwB-2 looked about 2-3 days older than UwB-1, it meant it hatched 2-3 days earlier. At the time, I didn’t watch the Latvian website so I didn’t compare UwB-2’s development with the Latvian eaglet. I guess Fridis is 2 or 3 days older than UwB-2. So if you would like to know exact hatching date of UwB-2, I would guess it is 10 or maybe 11 June. That means UwB-2 was 60 or 61 days old at the time of fledging, not 62 days I reported earlier. The differences in appearance of young eagles may be caused by amount of food they receive and/or if this is male or female.

11August
At 4:51 pm local time an adult LSE landed on the nest with a vole. I could hear UwB-2 call nearby, but it didn’t come to the nest. The parent picked up the prey and went in the direction of the voice.

[Jujani]

The camera often had downtime in the last 2 days. I saw none of the LSE's, but I could hear them nearby.

[Wojtek]

14 August
Around 2:15 pm local time, there is no video (black screen) but I can clearly hear UwB-2 call, and I think it is perched in nest tree.

[Wojtek]

15 August
What a challenge with this camera and mic. All we can get there are only scraps of information.
Around 12:45 local time I could hear LSEs calling somewhere in the vicinity of the nest. Not sure this was young or adult. Around 16:45 again an LSE calls, this time I think this was UwB-2, and it was close to the nest.
I wonder if other people could see or hear eagles. Could you please share your observations with others?

[Marfo]

I haven't seen anything the last days, unfortunately, there is only black screen and I heard tiny scraps of sound. So I have not been watching much. Maybe the battery is empty.