It was another action packed day at the pasture pond. The E's first wake up to a beautiful sunrise in the nest tree. It is like Harriet's light & love was shining down upon her E's from the heavens 💕 They both will fly off towards the office oak to begin their day.
M15 brings some prey to the ground and E21 flies in and claims it. E21 eats while Dad sits on the fallen palm. Great closeups of E21 eating! E22 will fly in and mantle and try to steal - they both have their talons on the food and are tugging - E22 will get a piece and head to the right to eat and E21 continues to eat on the left. When finished they go to the water's edge and they have a little scuffle on the bank! E22 will hop to the fence rail and E21 to the rock on the right. Then both E's are perched on the fence rails for the first time! What a beautiful sight to see them looking out over the pasture pond towards their nest tree - imprinting their natal nest upon their hearts with the hope that they will one day return to start a family of their own.
M15 brought in three food items to the ground and one to the nest today. Both E's are honing their skills with these ground deliveries and how to protect their prey. The E's will continue to be fed by M15 until they leave the area on their own. Juveniles do not usually learn to hunt or fish on their own before they do leave - it is a skill that they learn through trial and error & observing other eagles. During their first year, they will eat mostly carrion and food that they steal from others until they learn how to hunt. Here at SWFEC we have seen some of the prior fledglings catch their own food - E7 brought a crow to the nest tree, E12 caught a young grackle on the ground & E20 caught a couple of fish in the pond last season which was exciting to see! Thank you for watching!
To see the highlights below, please click on the timestamps to advance to that portion of the video.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Opening
00:07 Beautiful sunrise for the E's
03:16 M15 to ground with prey - E21 claims
08:07 Closeups of E21 eating
09:22 E22 flies to ground, tug o prey, gets a piece to eat
16:26 Both E's at water edge
18:44 scuffle at the pond
20:02 E22 on fence rail E21 on rock
22:42 Both E's on fence rails
26:06 One E flies off
Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk
Thank you SWFEC , hosted by Dick Pritchett Real Estate, for allowing us the opportunity to view these amazing eagles. #FLORIDA #baldeagles #eagle #SWFL #SWFEC
Watch live here: dickpritchettrealestate.com/s... captured & edited by Lady Hawk