Happy Fourth of July

 

Bald Eagle Nest at Duke Farms

There is a web cam at a bald eagle's nest on Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ. We watched on the web for a while this morning and saw the eagle feed two chicks. A screen capture is below. The live web cam feed can be accessed from the Duke Farms web site or if all works well, clicking on the bottom image.




PLEASE NOTE: Bald Eagles are extremely sensitive to human disturbance. At no time should anyone approach nesting eagles. People who want to observe or photograph eagles and who come too close may actually cause the birds to abandon a nest.
Federal law also protects eagles with penalties up to $10,000 and 2 years in jail.

Bald Eagle chased by Osprey

One afternoon, we heard some loud squawking and saw a large bird being chased by an osprey. The osprey dove at it from above several times. When we looked at the photos, we saw that the larger bird was a bald eagle.

Bald Eagles Nesting

 

 

 

There is a pair of nesting bald eagles at Honeymoon Island State Park. Part of the trail is fenced off by orange fencing (also known as snow fencing outside of Florida) for 300 feet around the nest to protect the eagles. We arrived first thing in the morning and saw the nest but it was empty. In an uncharacteristic act of persistence and patience, Mike suggested that we return later in the day before leaving. This time, one eagle flew away as we arrived. We waited a while and it flew back. As it landed, we saw that another eagle had been concealed in the nest. We watched them interact a bit, fly to a branch near the nest and mate.

The close-up on top is of an injured eagle cared for in an aviary at Boyd Hill Nature Park.

Florida Birds

It will take a while to sort through the photos, but here are four good ones from St. Pete.
Pileated Woodpecker, Roseate Spoonbill, Bald Eagles, Yellow-crowned Night Heron.