Lake Washington, Washington - Bald Eagle Cam

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/eaglecam/lake_washington.html and click on "View Cam"
The cam refreshes every 10 seconds.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife posted the following about this new cam:
“This year we have retired the Puget Sound EagleCam and replaced it with the Lake Washington EagleCam. Located in a 100 foot tall Douglas fir tree, the bald eagle pair have been actively building their nest and should be able to be observed increasingly as the mating season and pair-bonding is upon us. This bald eagle cam was installed with a landowner’s invitation and cooperation and with the hope to share the unique views and interactions of a dramatically situated bald eagle nest.”

Based on other cams in the area, look for eggs in mid-March, chicks in late April, and fledging in mid to late July.

2007-2008 Season:

• eggs laid: before April 2nd
• hatched: first chick seen April 26 (may have hatched a day or two earlier), second probably April 29
• sad news: one eaglet (probably the younger) died around June 28; no apparent reason (age 60 days or about 8.5 weeks)
• fledged: July 10 (75 days - 10 weeks, 5 days)
• last seen: August 13 (about 15.5 weeks old)

picture from Shoebutton on the Maine Eagle Cam Forum.

Link to last year's thread for the Puget Sound bald eagle cam

There's a chick! rgeegee on the Maine forum saw it around 8:32 am PDT this morning!

I just watched a feeding, and my impression is that it's a fairly young chick - but I couldn't guess if it hatched yesterday or today. (Well - I could guess - and I'd guess late yesterday - but I'm calling it this morning for my website unless someone has an earlier sighting than rgeegee's.)

Here are a few pictures:

I think I see someone peeking out around the tree trunk:


Both parents rush to feed the tiny eaglet:

(all I can say is it's a good thing eaglets have a predisposition to bond to the first huge pointy beaks stuck in their face - if something that relatively huge and fierce looking was peering down at me, I'd take my first flight then and there! )

And then both parents go back to get a second bite for the little one:


After a bit, they did work out whose turn it was to feed Junior


Those big goggly eyes are part of the reason I think the eaglet is pretty young:


And I really can't tell if s/he is reaching out for more food - or has just fallen asleep in mid-feeding:


Either way, one of the parents moved back to brood the little one shortly after the last picture.

Watched a nice feeding earlier today, and got some pictures of the chick's little head (and a tiny wing! ) peering out from its hiding spot behind the post.

And I can't be sure, but it looked to me as if the parent was also offering food to a place where Chick 1's beak wasn't. It's hard to tell what's happening with a refresh cam - but there were at least three times I thought the parent reached behind the chick.

It is three days since Chick 1 hatched. Do you think there might be someone else hiding behind the tree?

Here are two pictures of the little one being fed (including one shot of a tiny wing!:


And this might be an attempt to feed an even littler one:


I probably won't add more pictures here unless someone else is interested. There is an active thread on the Maine forum - http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=198&mforum=tdbc - for those who are interested.

I am always interested in your postings and narration...I just personally am watching to many nests to even be able to post anything of quality like yourself....so, I will understand if you feel as though no one else is participating and want to just post on the MAINE forum....but also feel free to add what you do here!

Thanks for understanding, soph9! I do find so many nests interesting - and feel a bit guilty moving one to the top of the list when no one has posted since I did last week. I admit I do have a spreadsheet, and generally check in on most of the nests once a week - unless I'm especially interested in them, in which case I may watch for a while - and post the results - more often. I really don't have any idea if most people here enjoy the updates - or find them a bit of a nuisance until drop off below the active threads. But I enjoy watching how all the eaglets develop, and how they deal with common issues - like tripping over their wings!

Don't worry about bumping other active threads...post as you like and rest assure I am reading them even if I don't post back...you often draw my attention to the nest your are posting about and perhaps you actually remind me of those I forget....BTW...the wind is HOWLING at the PH nest! Holy that was a huge gust of wind!

I agree with Soph... No one can be everywhere all the time and when one of us posts to a less 'popular' thread I know I sure always check it out.

10 second refresh would be a bit hard to watch I'd think. I will check it out though.

Both parents attending to the needs of the chicks? I think I saw two...

ditto ditto...Judy does a great job!

Thanks! And I think I saw the elusive second chick!

First two are family portraits - until these, I really wasn't sure if I was seeing part of a second chick or just the wing of the first chick - but I see two sets of little eyes here:


And these are just the older one (or if part of the younger is visible, I can't tell for sure). Love the parent's expression in the second one!

Here are a couple of pictures of one of the chicks - most likely the older:


And while I've had a hard time seeing the elusive second chick, Sherri from the Maine forum got a couple of great pictures of both of them:

Finally had a good look at both of them this morning - the older one is one week old today!

And here are a few more - I do like Dad's arrival in the third one!



And while it may not be obvious, I'm quite sure both were being fed and didn't see any rivalry going on - it is hard to get the whole story from a refresh cam, but both chicks were focused on Mom and neither seemed intimidated - and it looked as if both were reaching for food and each was getting it part of the time.

I got a couple more pictures today - looks as if the older one decided it's time to explore!



I think the younger one is being fed in the last picture while the older one watches.

Well, look who we have way over here:

It's true the older one is two weeks old today (more or less) - and they do start to wander at one week - but all the way to the other side of the tree trunk? It's the first time I've seen one way over there!

They did return to the proper side for a feeding - and both were fed:

This does seem like a fairly mellow nest most of the time.

And this picture is from a bit earlier than the rest - but if you consider the scruffy look to the little sleeping eaglet, you can see that she really hasn't been sleeping in back alleys - it's just her second coat of darker down coming in!

they look pretty even in size but it is a bit hard to tell...

Great pictures! Haven't had time to check these little ones out today - thanks, soph9!

So I've just got one question - who snuck in and replaced our little chicks with these big eaglets???




The younger one is about two weeks old, the other a few days older (there's some guesswork involved because of the tree trunk ) - and they're getting huge!

These are from May 17 when the older eaglet was three weeks old! Unfortunately I was out most of the day, so had to take my pictures in the early morning. It's just a guess, but I think the camera may be facing east.

Here are a few pictures from today - the older one is five weeks old - and getting big!

Well, you know how I've mentioned on occasion that it seems whenever I want to focus on one chick in a nest, the other one has the best poses? This is worse. The very shy younger chick is five weeks old today - and do you think I could get a picture?

I guess I'm exaggerating a little - after all, here's a head:


And I think there's a bit of a tail sticking out here:


And they seem to be playing hide and seek here - note the big feet sticking out on the right side of the tree:


And here the older eaglet seems to be checking with the parent to see if they know where the other eaglet is hiding:


I guess if you make this into a small feathered jigsaw puzzle, maybe you can see all of the little one on his hatch day!

I actually managed to tune in while both eaglets were out and about today! The older one ("Peek"?) is six weeks old today, so about the same age as the Norfolk eaglet Buddy, who will be six weeks old tomorrow; the younger chick ("Boo"?) will be six weeks old on Tuesday. I mention that as pictures of Buddy have generally been closeups focusing on his head - which will give a sense of the feather development on this pair - while these pictures will give a sense of Buddy's wing development and general size!




The names were suggested by Loraine, who lives near and observes the Kent, Washington, nest - and they do sound appropriate!

And because I really did get to see more of them than usual, I have a few more pictures for today: