Busy Day at The Garden
This morning (Sunday June 13th) saw a flurry of excitement at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Just before 10 am both of the adults dropped food in the nest. Shortly thereafter, one of the cadre of eagle photographer noted that a juvenile eagle was in the canal adjacent to the nest area. The bird made its way to the edge of the canal but was unable to climb up and over the bulkhead. As it was obvious that the bird was unable to escape the water, another photographer entered the water and assisted the bird in getting ashore. Once the bird was up on land its band was clearly readable as NE, marking it as one of the juvenile males from this nest.
Above Photos Courtesy of Pete Prucha (C)
As this was ongoing it was also noted that another juvenile eagle had perched in the nest area - even feeding from the remnants of the morning meal. Camera close ups showed this to be an unbanded first year juvenile.
Interestingly, neither of the remaining resident juveniles seemed to react to this bird’s presence. Indeed ND perched within a foot or so of this unknown juveline with no outward signs of concern. The bird was somewhat smaller then ND indicating that is likely a male as well. Although the adults were known to be in the area neither of them reacted defensively to the “visitor” either. What if anything, the arrival of the unknown juvenile has to NE ending up in the water is unknown. There was no noted interaction between the birds. It is possible that the two events are coincidental.
The visiting juvenile left shortly after 11am without any further interaction with any of the resident birds. This young bird is a strong flyer indicating that it has been out of its nest for some weeks. It is possible that this is a young bird from a local nest or from a territory further afield. There’s really no way to know, the Chesapeake Bay region is incredibly important to bald eagle ecology and attracts birds from up and down the East Coast
Meanwhile Norfolk Botanical Garden staff and Reese Lukei (researcher with the Center for Conservation Biology) were able to capture NE to assess his condition. Local licensed wildlife rehabilitator Lisa Barlow responded as well. The bird’s condition was assessed and no injuries were noted. After being given some time to dry out an attempt at releasing the bird was made. Although able to make short flights the bird was unable to gain any altitude, repeatedly returning to the ground. NE was recaptured and the decision as made to hold the bird overnight giving it time to rest and recoup from an exhausting episode. Following a brief veterinary check to ensure no underlying injuries exist, a release will be attempted again tomorrow with the rehabilitator, CCB and DGIF staff on hand.
*For a detailed firtshand acount of much of the activity at the Norfolk Botanical Garden on Sunday - check the CCB blog at http://eaglenest.blogs.wm.edu/
Norfolk Eagle Cam
