Golden Eagle Webcam Nest 1 2024

[Liz01]

7:55 Helju is having breakfast


little is doing a ps


8:18 Helju leaves


8:32 she is still away

[Liz01]

8:39 she is back with a branch

[Ravens]

2024-05-04 - Day 8; Week 1

No new prey. Eaglet fed well on leftovers.

12:43:24 - Helju carried away one of the large wings.

15:46:28 - She flies off in an attempt to intercept a smaller bird.
15:47:01 - Returns to the nest.



15:54:55 - Kalju alights with a full crop.
15:57:15 - He broods his growing eaglet best he can. Papa time. Unfortunately, the stream soon skipped...



16:26:33 - ...Helju is brooding.

[Liz01]

May 5th


big thank to remsdrongo for time stamps

6:32 cam is on
7:06 Helju with branch
8:05 Helju off
8:06 eaglet ps
8:09 Kalju lands on branch
8:10 into the nest

There is a pellet on the eaglet


8:11 Helju with branch


8:15 Helju picks up a pellet- it's the pellet that was hanging on the eaglet
Kalju off
Helju off with pellet
8:18 Kalju with branch
8:22 Helju with branch
8:23 Kalju off

[Liz01]

8:55 Helju off
9:01 Kalju landed on the left branch - comes into the nest and covers the eaglet
9:45 Helju is back with a branch- Kalju off
9:48 Helju flies away
10:20 Kalju on the left branch
covers the eaglet

[Liz01]

11:04 Helju brings a prey, part of what?




Kalju flies away

[Liz01]

11:04 eaglet is doing a healthy ps


11:05 camera went off
11:07 camera is working again

[Liz01]

Delivery and feeding

[Liz01]

15:53 Helju flies away

[Liz01]

16:26 eaglet still alone


16:28 parent flies by?
16:32:24 parent flew past
Then Helju is calling.

It's not the best place for the eaglet. At this point the 2 chick, few years ago, slides through the branches.

16:36 Helju is back
16:38:43 little is doing a ps. and is calling

Helju is still working with the branch
normally she is much more caring. She is behaving differently this year

[Liz01]

16:43 little is walking/crawling to mom. I hear thunder

[Ravens]

2024-05-05 - Day 9; Week 1

1 prey delivery.

No breakfast available this morning. Not to worry.
11:03:59 - Helju arrives after a marvelous stoop with a well plucked bird. Black or dark feathers. Feet not clear enough or I missed frames.



There was a shift in behavior today, with Helju making more trips away from the nest and Kalju brooding more frequently. Mind you I haven't been recording daily precise timestamps as in years past. Memory could be faulty for absences. Judging by the panting, and perhaps eaglet toddling out of the nest bowl, the temperature was warm for them. When Margit was being raised (2022), we observed a shift in behavior during her first week as well, on Day 11. Also a day with an empty pantry. Temperature unknown. And over at Lucina and Caliman's eyrie in Bucovina, Romania, this definite (well recorded) shift in behavior also occurred during eaglet Alunu's first week (2023), with Lucina spending over an hour away from the nest multiple times beginning on Day 8. It also coincided with a warming period, but not a preyless nest. Alunu adventured outside of the nest bowl on that day too. :> Caliman was a new, inexperienced father, thus did not brood readily as Kalju does. Thus time away was of more interest and stood out.

Kalju brooded five times today. I have recorded (personal journal) male incubation times prior to hatch, and brooding times every day since hatch.
Kalju has brooded twice a day at most, up until today:
08:12-08:14 - Arrives with a full crop.
09:03-09:47
10:21-11:03
12:20-12:52
20:34-21:24

Helju's absences:
06:31-07:06? (stream not available before initial TS) - >35 minutes. Pine spray delivered.
08:05-08:14 - 9 minutes. Kalju was brooding for 3 minutes. Pine spray delivered.
08:15-08:18 - 3 minutes. Pine spray delivered.
08:19-08:22 - 3 minutes. Pine spray delivered.
08:57-09:47 - 50 minutes. Kalju was brooding for 44 minutes. Pine spray delivered.
09:48-11:03 - 1 hour, 15 minutes. Kalju was brooding for 42 minutes. Avian prey delivered.
12:07-12:58 - 51 minutes. Kalju was brooding for 32 minutes. Nothing delivered. Helju returns with a full crop.
13:15-13:36 - 21 minutes. Nothing delivered.
15:53-16:36 - 43 minutes. Pine spray delivered.
20:05-21:23 - 1 hour, 18 minutes. Kalju was brooding for 50 minutes. Nothing delivered.

[Ravens]

2024-05-06 - Day 10; Week 1

1 prey delivery.

Today we are back to old patterns. Kalju brooded once, visited thrice. Barely any panting from heat today.
If only these cameras came with a localized temperature read out. That would be keen. :>

09:17-09:58 - Kalju brooding.
13:57-14:03, 20:52-20:53 - His other visits. The latter, a pine spray delivery.

This goose head accompanied the dark feathered prey of yesterday. I suppose shadowing must be involved. These beak markings match those of the bean geese; tundra bean goose (Anser serrirostris) or taiga bean goose (Anser fabalis). General flyways.



09:59 - Helju delivers prey. It's a hare species. I am not certain if both European hare (Lepus europaeus) and mountain hare (Lepus timidus) overlap in Soomaa National Park. We can see the well furred feet of a hare thanks to Kalju's help. Lagomorphs do not have paw pads. This time stamp is out of order as the illustrative .gif and screen shot occurred later in the day.

[Ravens]

2024-05-08 - Day 12; Week 1

1 prey delivery.

We'll begin with the prey. A lot of time was spent away from the nest today.

Kalju delivers prey. It is a bird with a green dorsal sheen.



11:28-11:32 - Kalju broods until Helju interrupts him with the delivery of a pine spray.
11:57:13 - She leaves, heading out over the bog and arcing to the left. Silent.

12:43:00 - From beyond the curtain of trees at right, she returns to the curved branch 46 minutes later. Her talons are empty. During her visit, the eaglet is fed a meal of old hare, then brooded.

13:53:27 - Helju leaves again, to the right beyond the curtain. Silent.

15:06:34 - Kalju checks in. He is beaking that quiet way of calling that is characteristic of him. We can hear Helju tsyuking with a slight trill.
15:09:07 - Kalju quiet calls at the sky.
15:10:01 - Helju passes by in front of the lens calling, "tsyuk-tsyuk-tsyuk...pssa-pssa-pssa", or words to that effect. ;> Her mate talks to her as before.
15:12:34 - Kalju leaves the nest with the well-picked hare spine.
15:17:00 - 1 hour, 24 minutes later, Helju checks in alighting upon the middle branch, screeching.
15:17:21 - And away she goes.
15:35:14 - Kalju returns to the curved branch, quietly calling.
15:37:27 - Eaglet approaches Papa as he preens above.
15:39:59 - We can hear Helju calling with that excited trill in her voice.
15:42:02 - After 25 minutes away, she returns with a conifer spray, vocalizing loud and shrill. It does not appear to be directed at anyone off nest.
15:42:21 - Kalju leaves with an arcing trajectory to the left. Helju rearranges nesting material.
15:43:49 - She leaves leftward.

15:43:53 - Eaglet bites at today's new feathered prey.



15:46:46 - 3 minutes later, Helju alights behind the camera lens, calling away.
15:47:20 - Then a hop to the curved branch, continuing to vocalize.
15:47:53 - Into the nest proper. Soon a feed from the front foot of the old hare commences.

16:01:42 - Off Helju goes, dropping down to the right, calling a little before and after.
16:04:21 - Kalju to the left branch. Both vocalizing.
16:04:35 - Helju alights nearby, out of sight. That excited trill in her voice.
16:07:42 - Kalju leaves to the right. We hear Helju in the distance.

16:09:50 - A couple minutes later, Kalju alights in a conifer beyond the eyrie. Helju follows suit with her trilling pssas.



16:10:22 - Kalju snips off a pine spray and brings it to the nest. This seems to set Helju off again, her voice rising.
16:13-16:14 - Kalju broods until Helju also sails in with a pine spray from her previous perch.
16:14:56 - Kalju leaves.
16:21:47 - Eaglet preens self. Mom has done some preening too, and rearranging of nest.
16:32:43 - When she leaves, she does so silently, and high, heading right.
16:33:31 - Now she's calling off yonder.
16:45:56 - 13 minutes away, Helju returns with a conifer spray.
16:52:45 - She leaves to the right, vocalizing a bit before with a pause, then again in the distance.

17:02:50 - Kalju alights at an adjacent pine.
17:08:21 - He alights at the eyrie's left branches with empty beak and talons.
17:10:10 - When he leaves he takes more hare bones.
17:13:36 - Helju returns after 21 minutes away, straight into the nest. Then to the curved branch where she quietly preens.
17:24:21 - Off and away toward the bog, arcing right beyond the curtain of trees. Such a busy eagless today.
17:56:57 - 32 minutes later she returns to the curved branch with a pine spray.
17:59 - Helju hovers over her eaglet.

18:06:50 - Feeds eaglet from the hare's foot and also plucks the bird.
18:36:34 - Helju leaves from the curved branch to the right. There wasn't really much of substance on the bones.
18:49:07 - 13 minutes, and she returns to the curved branch with a pine spray.
18:52:00 - She broods.
19:38:08 - After a wing-leg-tail stretch upon the curved branch, she leaves yet again! Bogward, right arc.

20:01:25 - 23 minutes out, back with a pine spray from the right. Hovers over eaglet.
20:32:38 - Broods.

[ellie]

May 9

17:31:08 Kalju brought a prey! It's so tiny


Finally, First feeding today

[Ravens]

2024-05-09 - Day 13; Week 1

1 prey delivery.

Helju's absences:
06:43-08:22 - 1 hour, 39 minutes - Returns with: conifer spray
08:23-08:45 - 22 minutes - conifer spray
09:29-12:33 - 3 hours, 4 minutes - conifer spray
12:35-14:50 - 2 hours, 15 minutes - conifer spray
14:51-14:53 - 2 minutes. - conifer spray
14:55-15:26 - 31 minutes - nothing
15:49-16:28 - 39 minutes - conifer spray

Helju yawns.



16:47-17:25 - 38 minutes - conifer spray
18:54-19:11 - 17 minutes - conifer spray
20:24-20:41 - 17 minutes - conifer spray

I can scan back over my old notes from the Bucovina eyrie (2023), and see that Lucina had a >3 hour absence for the first time on eaglet Alunu's Day 17, but >2 hour absences began on Day 9. Wish I could be as thorough with my documentation as I was that season, but life is a mess. Strictly noting patterns is important for determining normal versus aberrant behavior.

12:34:22 - We hear a jet. Helju silently watches it pass overhead.

17:31:08 - Kalju delivers prey. It's an altricial nestling. Young of various species offer an integral pulse of seasonal nutrition for many. Even squirrels and deer will eat vulnerable young birds. This is why fledging as swiftly as possible is a common strategy. It is wise to not keep all one's eggs in a single basket, as the saying goes. An observant hunter might notice the comings and goings of a parent to even the best camoflaged nest.



At the apex, Eaglet is unlikely to suffer a similar fate, but reproduction rate and successful recruitment for the species is slow.

[Ravens]

2024-05-10 - Day 14; 2 Weeks Old

0 prey deliveries.

The morning is wet and drizzly with rain. I will share something that I posted on another forum last season, so apologies if it is old hat: The following is from a falconry book. Ignoring the human side of things, and the description of altered habitat. Some further insight on why hunting on rainy days may be difficult for the birds themselves.

"Most eagle owners I am sure would consider hawking under wet conditions unappealing. The main problem is that the bird's performance is severely affected when its plumage becomes wet, and in heavy rain the bird can become wet before it even flies. Even if the rain itself should stop, the ground will be saturated and should the eagle come into contact with this after an unsuccessful flight, this too will wet its plumage. When flying over low crops or other moisture holding vegetation an unsuccessful flight can spell disaster. If one or two similar flights follow then the bedraggled bird may as well be carried home. It is surprising how performance is affected by wet feathers. The eagle that was brisk and sharp in flight becomes a powerless, unmaneuverable pudding! That it is at a disadvantage is all too clear to the bird too, for mentally one sees it switch off. The intensity goes and the pursuits become half-hearted.

Wet conditions will also influence hare numbers. Hares will move off open, water-logged ground and head for the hedgerows. This is not to say that these animals will not be found on wet fields or even lying in thick, saturated crops, but they will not be found in large numbers. All this paints a very bleak picture. Nevertheless, success can be had on rainy days, if the falconer ways up flights very carefully." - Hawking with Golden Eagles, by Martin Hollinshead

Precipitation can affect the behavior of predator and prey alike. While success has been witnessed time and again, know that there is more of a challenge for these eagles in hunting on wet days.

A nearly 4 and a half hour session away with a 14 day old eaglet is definitely a record with my small sample size of observations. Certainly small, though. While the morning was rainy, the temperature must have been mild as the day wore on. Eaglet is no worse for wear other than the hungry belly. We must note that Helju and Kalju have had empty or not noticeably full crops as well.

Helju's absences:
08:48-09:08 - 20 minutes away - Returns with: nothing
10:04-11:15 - 1 hour, 11 minutes - conifer spray
11:17-12:30 - 1 hour, 13 minutes - bare stick
12:37-14:08 - 1 hour, 31 minutes - conifer spray
14:10-18:37 - 4 hour, 27 minutes - nothing
18:38-19:13 - 35 minutes - nothing
19:14-20:03 - 49 minutes - conifer spray

Helju presence, to help our brains visualize with less effort:
20:41-08:48 - 12 hours, 7 minutes at the eyrie
09:08-10:04 - 56 minutes
11:15-11:17 - 2 minutes
12:30-12:37 - 7 minutes
14:08-14:10 - 2 minutes
18:37-18:38 - 1 minute
19:13-19:14 - 1 minute
20:03-overnight

Kalju presence:
09:02-09:05 - 3 minutes - Brings: nothing
10:44-11:16 - 32 minutes - conifer spray; broods eaglet for 28 minutes
12:21-12:31 - 10 minutes - nothing
13:09-13:25 - 16 minutes - nothing; broods eaglet for 12 minutes
19:44-20:04 - 20 minutes - nothing; brooding position beside eaglet for 3 minutes
_____

11:16:45 - Time stamp of note. Helju picks up that now flat bird with the green dorsal sheen, whom Kalju delivered on 8 May. We can now identify it as a mature northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). No merganser this. Note especially long whispy crown feathers, black extending over the breast, and longer and black tipped rectrices.



11:26. There is a lot of black feathering on the head, even for a breeding male, but everything else seems to match. Featherbase page.



12:31 - Later Helju attempts to feed her eaglet an awkward sized chunk of... while it was lying near this bird, it could be a chunk of hare fur, tendon, and bone. That's how it appeared to me. She was rather insistent about it. Eaglet eventually did managed to swallow this.

12:34:00 - That done, Helju immediately moves the lapwing to the back edge of the nest. She never seemed all that interested in it. Neither did Kalju, judging by how unplucked it was. I wondered if maybe he scavenged rather than hunted it, but scanning back over the old footage, the lapwing appears fairly plump, not so flat and stiff as now. Impossible to say, though. Huh. Dunno. Helju has deemed it unworthy for unknown reasons.

May tomorrow bring a successful hunt!

[Liz01]

May 11th.

Andra, thank you for letting me know! and for the times stamps too!

7:36 Helju stands up


jumps on the curved branch , stretching, preening


7:37 off she goes
7:40:54 eaglet is doing a ps! it was a good one!

[Liz01]

8:58 Arrival Kalju


he jumps into the nest


covers his eaglet

[Liz01]

Ravens. Your wish came true! Helju brought a prey for her eaglet
Kalju has stashed it for her on the hands over place
they prey must be pretty heavy, Helju breathes with her beak open

I see paddles feet




9:18:27 Kalju flies to the right



9:21 she starts de-feathering the prey. I see black feathers. that is a big one!