Golden Eagle Webcam Nest 2022

[Liz01]

17:30 Margit's neck looks pregnant -- 9th month

[Liz01]

17:36 nearly 17:37 Helju is calling nearby

17:49 black feathers are growing


17:51 Helju is back with a small green twig

[Liz01]

just cute

[Illi]

Today is even warmer day than yesterday.
18.32 Margit stretch her wings and legs i am a big girl

[Liz01]

18.32 Margit stretch her wings and legs i am a big girl

[Ravens]

2022-05-24

I made too many screenshots. How to choose. Illustrative three first. Today we had 3 prey deliveries (and none of them anatids), and 4 proper feedings.

06:37:27 - Helju feeds Margit a single bite, and then flies off with a large bone.
07:09:46 - Helju feeds Margit.
07:12:29 - A pause. Helju eats Margit's cast pellet. Definitely consumes it this time as she then remained in the nest and continued to feed Margit.
07:38:30 - Helju flies off with another large bone.

In comparing the other tree nest I've observed, there is an interesting contrast in behavior. Last year, in the Bucovina region of Romania, we observed mother golden eagle Lucina not furnish her nest with nearly as much green branches as Helju's nest has. This nest, here, is well padded with green conifer needles. Secondly, I do not recall Lucina carrying off large bones. The bones remained in the nest until incorporated into the nest or swallowed. On a few occasions those bones, the marrow within, tendons, even hide helped to stave off starvation on some dicey days. But. It definitely attracted a lot of flies, likely other insects. Pretty ones too, butterflies. Yes, they also eat carrion. In this way since nest parasites have been well known to harm the health of and outright kill nestling golden eagles, maybe it is a trade off. Both of these eagles with different strategies. Of note is the fact that the Bucovina pair are younger birds. The previous pair mysteriously disappeared in 2019. Lucina appeared sporting some white feather bases in her rectrices and a couple remiges, her mate had one or two similar rectrices before molting them out as well. And now this year, Rarau has disappeared and there is a new subadult male, Caliman. Mixed age pairs can hint at increased mortality levels in a population, but I digress.

10:04:21 - Kalju arrives with what appears to be a common crane (grus grus) leg. Even though size of particularly small individual cranes can overlap (lengthwise) with some larger individuals among great egrets (Ardea alba) and grey herons (Ardea cinerea), and even though scale can be tricky when having only a mature golden eagle to contrast and compare... even though the illusions of angle and distance to lens can also throw such things off... Even though! My fellows, we have seen the hallux, and as in the common crane it is less developed than it is in either egret or heron. This gives us confidence that the meal is crane.

10:02:37 - Helju feeds Margit on old prey.
12:18:15 - Kalju delivers more prey. Another bird. Grus grus chick? We get a decent peek at it later. Long legged, long necked, no webbing betwixt toes, fleshy colored beak and feet. Ochre down feathering.



12:19:02 - Kalju pilfers the crane leg. We will use this picture to display the short hallux of Grus grus. I have a less attractive screenshot of a direct side view if someone wants it.



15:57:52 - Kalju delivers more prey. This one lacks a head. The feet resemble those of the phasianids. *Squint* The tarsi do not appear to be feathered.



20:34:14 - Helju feeds Margit from that 3rd delivery.
21:18:20- Helju feeds Margit the crane chick.

The rules are three pictures per post. I'll return with more.

[Ravens]

Accidentally made a post here, so I'll just fill this with some nice pictures from the day.

There was an awful lot of bonding affection via allopreening today. Pretty cute. We saw this with Zenit at the same age. Folks were wondering if this was a golden eagle trait, this doting, or individual personality. It was remarked that the extent of attention to offspring had not been witnessed at the nests of other eagle species (namely sea eagles, I presume). Have you seen otherwise?

[Ravens]

Common crane (Grus grus) chick? Note that the beak is flesh colored, but when backlit appears dark.

[Ravens]

[Ravens]

04:16:04 - Helju awakens.

[Ravens]

04:49:09 - Sounds of an unhappy creature being attacked or otherwise harassed. Mmm, perhaps red fox (Vulpes vulpes), or maybe European hare (Lepus europaeus). I know, but they can sound similar. Someone with more experience listening to hares and foxes crying out can correct me, please. :> Helju was on alert and glanced about beyond the nest.



Red fox vocalizations that can overlap with tones produced by hares - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KFaHEkoVgfY
Sharing purely for the audio, not condoning captivity for wildlife.

[Liz01]

May 25

Good Morning Illi and all

clear view in the early morning

Helju is in the nest with Margit

Margit you have nice ring on you leg!


She is really a big girl!


sh is at her preferred place

[Liz01]

45:47 breakfast is in the middle of the nest


5:47

[Ravens]

Margit snoozes whilst Helju preens.

[Liz01]

6:18 Margit is sleeping. Helju is guarding her


she looks around

[Liz01]

6:46 asking for breakfast


6;48 stands up


6:49 Margit is preening herself.


6:51 cute little claws .. she is calling for breakfast
She turns to the table. Helju is busy with other things

[Liz01]

6:53 Helju went to the prey ... breakfast time! she starts feeding Margit




6:57 a bird is calling nearby pretty loud. Sound like alarm calls

6:59 part of a little chick


7:00 bird is silent

[Liz01]

7:02 she is still feeding Margit


7:03 Halju is looking around ..
7:05 feeding is over?

[Liz01]

7:05 Helju went on the curved branch




off she goes

[Ravens]

From breakfast feeding at 06:53:44.

Both of yesterday's prey remains are in one jumble, but this appears to be the foot of the common crane chick (Grus grus).