Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Fish for Breakfast 4/25


About 90% of a bald eagle's diet is fish, although they do eat many other things, such as snakes, small mammals, waterfowl, and birds.

An interesting part of having a bald eagle nest on our campus is that they make a great deterrent for the nesting of resident Canada geese who seem to be everywhere nowadays. While we all like seeing Canada geese and their young, too many of them on a campus like NCTC can be a problem. Right now, the geese are sure that nesting within eyesight of the eagle nest is not a good idea, and thus where we had large numbers of gees five years ago, there are virtually none today.

13 comments:

Eagle-Eyed Sharon said...

Tuesday, 12:00 noon. I guess eagles eat geese too? These babies are really getting to chow down today. This is at least their 3rd time eating. I even got to watch a fish flop around for a little bit in the nest. Don't really know how it survived the trip there. Daddy has been feeding the little one for a while now by itself. Now Momma is back feeding the other two. God, I love this. Momma picked up the previously flopping fish and moved it with ease. It was a little harder for the larger fish to move though. Strong birds.

glo said...

And I always thought "birdbrain" was an insult. Sounds to mee like they are really very smart, whether we are talking eagles and caring for their young, or geese and their choice f residency.

Eagle-Eyed Sharon said...

Glo, they do sound pretty smart, don't they.

Eagle-Eyed Sharon said...

Tuesday, 5:15 p.m. This has been a really good day for our eaglets and a really bad day for fish. It seems like they have brought about 10 or 12 in today. Daddy just brought one in and Mommy fluffed her feathers out, took it and now is feeding the babies. Daddy is eating the leftovers from an earlier meal.

paula eagleholic said...

Sharon, I thought maybe I was seeing things when that fish was flopping around...glad someone else saw it too. The parents have really been around a lot today, it's definitely been a good fishing day...some of those fish were huge! The eaglets are a lot like other babies, lots of eating, sleeping and pooping!

Eagle-Eyed Sharon said...

Paula, I think they do more pooping than anything else.

paula eagleholic said...

Sharon,
I had to laugh, one day last week the eldest backed up to the edge to poop, and I was a little worried he was getting too close...then when he did his business, the force of it must have caught him off guard, cause it knocked him forward into the nest on his face! And I was worried about him falling backwards out of the nest!

paula eagleholic said...

Wow, is it just me, or do the eaglets look like they have grown overnight from all that fish yesterday?

Mema Jo said...

I had left the room & when I returned and glanced at the video, I actually thought that there was a strange bird in the nest; however it was the 'big boy'! They really must grow overnight!

Eagle-Eyed Sharon said...

Tuesday, 1:36 p.m. They probably gained 2 or 3 pounds each yesterday from all the fish. They really ate good. They are growing so fast. I love it when they flap their wings. Trying to strengthen their muscles for their first flight. The video is down now for some reason. I am hoping it comes back up soon. I feel like we miss out on a lot when we don't get to watch their every movement. My, oh my, I guess I need a life. I don't know though, this one is pretty good!! :)

paula eagleholic said...

I haven't seen much feeding activity today. The fish may be getting a reprieve today with the muddy waters, making them harder for Momma and Poppa to catch.

Mema Jo said...

I know that when the video goes down I get so disappointed that I sometimes forget to put the Eagle Cam up. I did that this past Sunday and them towards the end of the day I felt really 'stupid' that I had forgotten about the cam. I know it feels like slow motion, but you can keep track of them.

Eagle-Eyed Sharon said...

Jo, I have forgotten about that too. Thanks for the reminder. But I still want the live cam back up.

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