NEW YORK Bald Eagles

[kimmarie]

Joyce suggested that I start a topic for NY State Bald Eagles.... jm- here ya go!

I'll start with a VERY LAME pic taken today of "Alex" (as Joyce has dubbed her  )  I'm not going to share publicly where this nest is located because it's not in a great or safe location for viewing and we also want to protect the safety of the birds and respect the privacy of people we know who live nearby).  The lighting was bad and we just wanted to get home, but had to stop for just a couple minutes...

Joyce, I hope you will share your pics from last weekend here!  You all have seen my "not so good" pics from last weekend under another thread.

BTW when we visited, Alex stayed in the nest and we found Andy quite some distance away (almost at the back of a friend's yard)..

[glenham]

YAY 

[Joyce]

I've pulled together my pics from Sunday March 30.   I know, I know...I'm the slowest at posting pics.  Well, I thought I would upload them to our Falcon and Friends Photo Gallery...but "dummy me" forgot my password. 

So not to keep you waiting...here are some pics I took on a detour to work last Thursday April 3.  I only got to see one in the nest and basically they are all head shots.

The first picture is the focal distance with my 400 mm lens.  They are much farther away to the natural eye.  Since I take high resolution photos, the other two photos are cropped and enlarged.

Joyce

[kimmarie]

Hey Joyce can we change Alex to Alexa?  sound more feminine    Now that we have your password problem fixed I hope you can post a gallery album 

[kimmarie]

Stopped and visited the Eagle nest (outside a refuge area) for about 10 minutes on Saturday.  Only saw one adult on the nest and she/he kept bobbing up and down.  Of course it was over 80 degrees  so the adult could have just been feeling the heat OR maybe there is a chick now? 

I couldn't get any decent photos because the tree/trees are in bud so the view is screened.

No sign of the second adult, but will visit again nest weekend 

[irinash]

On Saturday I visited Iroquois NWR and took picture of Bald Eagles Nest at Cayuga Pool. Very distant view even through the scope.  Park ranger told us they have eaglets probably last week. 

[kimmarie]

AWESOME PHOTO Irina 

TC is getting the bike ready for the road this week so the next nice weekend we will be taking a ride out to Iroquois    (But I doubt I will get any photos as good as yours  )

[kimmarie]

Update on Alexa and Andy 

Well I guess I can finally reveal that the nest is located in Alexander, NY (between Batavia and Attica).  Last week the Batavia Daily had a nice story about the nest    Even though I purchased the article on line I don't want to post it and worry about copyright violation - but here's a 10% snippet (in keeping with what is allowed in academia -- plus I know the man who was quoted here  )

"Hans Kunze, who writes a weekly column on bird-watching for The Daily News, said it's no longer unusual to see eagles in Western New York.
"I've seen them in several locations this past fall and winter," he said. "It's much more common now."
Kunze said the pair in Alexander arrived last year but weren't as visible and active as they are this spring.
Eagles begin nesting early and the two in town likely have already hatched their offspring, he said."

I went out there on Saturday before the thunderstorms came through and I have a feeling there is at least one eaglet in the nest.  The adult in the nest was sitting very high and kept fussing and looking down....  I know that Joyce was also there late in the week (maybe Thursday or Friday  ).

My pic isn't as good as any of her's, but here's what I did get on Saturday

[kimmarie]

I talked to Joyce earlier - she has been VERY busy at work, but she was kind enough to send some pics and a brief report of her latest visit to "our local" nest.  I hang my head in shame  I'm not worthy to take pics here anymore  not when she can do THIS!

Oh and here's Joyce's report 
" took the scenic route home on Saturday morning.  I think I was watching Alexa for about 45 minutes and then in came Andy.  Altogether I was there for 1 1/2 hours.  It is getting tougher to get clear shots with the greenery, but I did get a few.  I'm positive there is an eaglet, maybe two.  I got pics of both adults at the nest and they were so attentive.  One flew off to a nearby branch (1106a show them at a distance).  The flight shots were out of focus, but that's where I first caught a glimpse of the eagle's bands.  I had some good high resolution shots that I could zoom up to 100%.  Love the look of the eye on some of them.  I wish I could tell for sure who's who.  S/he kept watch and checked out the creek below."

[glenham]

Great pictures    What a Beautiful pair of Eagles..

[kimmarie]

And speaking of NY Eagles  my friend LM found this story on the NY DEC website (I just don't know when it's from - there's no date, but I suspect it's from 2001)  http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/9376.html   Amazing at how long these wonderful birds can survive

Twenty Five Year Old Bald Eagle Recaptured
Region 6 Natural Resource Highlight
Region 6 Wildlife staff made a surprise catch on January 30 while conducting winter bald eagle trapping on the St Lawrence River. Agnes, a twenty five year old bald eagle, one of the first two eaglets brought to New York State as part of the Bald Eagle Restoration Project that began in 1976, was recaptured by DEC staff. She was positively identified from the leg band she had been wearing since her initial handling.

In 1980 she was found nesting with her sibling in Jefferson County on the Perch River Wildlife Management Area, this was the first successful bald eagle nest found in New York state after the start of the restoration project. Her distinctive aggressive behavior set her apart from other nesting eagles and made it easy to tell it was Agnes returning to nest at Perch River for a number of years. In recent years, she had not been positively identified and it was not known if she was still alive. It was an exciting development that she was discovered again at this relatively old age and in seemingly good health. A blood sample was taken which will provide information on the accumulated contaminant levels of a New York resident bald eagle and the tail feather transmitter she was outfitted with will allow staff to positively identify her nesting location in the 2001 season.

The winter eagle study on the St. Lawrence River has been ongoing for a number of years. Eagles captured in the study provide information on the origin of the wintering population and winter roost locations, how faithful eagles are to nesting and wintering grounds, and the overall health of the eagles. Winter aerial surveys provide approximate numbers of eagles in residence during the winter months, and this year's total set a new record with a count of 64. Another record was set in New York State in the 2000 bald eagle nesting season, a total of 51 breeding pairs were recorded along with a total of 71 young fledged from those nests.

[irinash]

Thanks Kimmarie for exellent directions to Alexander Bald Eagle nest.
 On Saturday we finally got there. Easily found the nest from the bridge. It was  one adult at the nest, no sighting of youngs. I think it was she, Alexa. After awhile Alexa decided to say Hi to us, took off from the nest and flu over our heads landing on the other side of the bridge on the tree top. In despite of the overcast skyes and starting rain she gave us the best view of her. What a powerful and gorgeous bird! From now she is Alexa the Great for me!
She sat there relaxing, cleaned her beak at the tree branch, made a poop. Then flu back to the nest.
Leaving the bridge we also found another nest , of  house finch. Cute Mom was on it.
Also early that morning we saw an immature bald eagle flying over the pond at Oak Orchards/Iroquios.
I put more pictures at falcons and friends gallery (Alexander Bald Eagle Album) 

[kimmarie]

 

THANKS IRINA!  Wonderful photos!  I'm glad you were able to find it ok!  Too bad Saturday was so overcast.  I didn't make it out there this weekend but will try next 

[glenham]

IRINA... What an awesome picture  Thanks for posting it for us to see 

[Joyce]

Marvelous photos Irina!  What a great opportunity.  I always thought it was Kimmarie that brought the raptors out...next time, I'm going with you!  It is such a wonderful feeling to watch these eagles.  I hope I get to see one closer like you did.

I checked out the nest yesterday (Thursday evening) on my way home from work.  I was a little too late, because the sun was setting and Alexa (I suspect) was sitting on the nest keeping the eaglets warm.

I stopped by again this morning on my way to work, and there was no one at the nest.  I thought the eaglets must be regulating their own body temperature, because it was only in the 50s. 

To pass the time, I watched swallows flying, and I think one flew into a nest high up in a knot in the big tree on the right bank of the creek.  Then I saw a couple of red-tailed hawks soaring above the trees. They were out in force today - all the way to work. 

When I looked back at the nest,  one adult snuck in and sat behind the tree up on the edge of the nest.  Must have seen the red-tails too.

I still haven’t spotted any little gray heads yet.  I hope someone confirms how many eaglets are in the nest.

(  '<
/ )   )   
// '' ''   
Joyce