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back to Sidney, BC - Week IX
on to Sidney, BC - Week XI

There are many more wonderful pictures from this week on the
Hancock Wildlife Channel Forum Screenshots and Videos - Sidney Nest thread

And the observations I've posted are a very, very small sample of what's available
on the Hancock Wildlife Channel Forum Observations Daily Log thread

My thanks to the dedicated observers who made this summary possible.

wendybacalar's photo - June 23

Skipper observed, "April 23, 5:58 a.m. Skye "wingercized" herself to the 5 o'clock position. By "wingercize" I mean she spreads her wings (doesn't really flap) and hops/walks around. Now back on j-g after a brief visit to the front of the nest."

Janner observed, "April 23, 6.01 Dad arrived with fish - Skye so excited he nearly couldn't land - she barged into him and came away with the fish in one smooth movement - instantly mantled over to the left side until Dad went to the balcony and away at 6.02"

[j-g = junglegym - area where Skye exercises]

wendybacalar's photo - June 23

Skipper observed, "April 23, 6:23 a.m. Yikes!!! Did anyone else see that? Skye ran to the 7 o'clock position as if on an "attack" and something fell out of the nest. What was that? She is still standing very close to the edge of the nest looking down. Something is going on underneath the nest."
wendybacalar observed, "It was a small bird on on the side Skipper. She lunged forward and chased it off!! She may still have her "food" underneath her but is protecting it!"

ostrich observed, "April 23, 6:50am eaglet time - adult arrived from the right with something and Skye charged immediately - very aggressive! Skye was really pecking at the parent's feet trying to get whatever it is. Finally Skye got it and took it over to the other side to eat it. Parent went up to the lookout branch and then left.
I'm really happy to see Skye getting so intensely aggressive. With lots of food and no sibling, I have been hoping he would start showing more of the skills that Big and Lil had to learn early."

wendybacalar's photo - June 23

link to Skipper's video
"Skye's Theme Song: C'mon Let's Go"
(lots of flapping)

wendybacalar observed, "June 23, 9:33-34 Skye got up on the back plank (J/G) and was talon gripping while flapping and doing the branching lift off practice! She did this for at least 10-15 seconds. Quite impressive!! She was lifing the sticks with her and they held their place quite nicely (thank goodness!)."

jkr observed, "April 23, 10:48
Skye heads over to 3:00 stands for minute and then flaps and HOPS ONTO THE BALCONY !!!!!!
10:50 A couple more flaps and she hops back to the nest. Way to go Skye !!"
Janner observed, "10.48 She did it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Up to Mum's branch - not so much wing spread while there - more sedate dismount at 10.50"

["balcony" is low branch on the right where the parents often sit, also known as Mom's branch or Lookout Branch]

Eagle Lover from NYC - Starr's photo - June 23

ostrich observed, "April 23, 5:43pm eaglet time - both parents on the nest. There seems to be food there - interestingly, both parents were feeding there with Skye behind them peeping. Now Skye moved over and grabbed a big piece from one of the adults."

jkr observed, "April 23, 5:42 FOOD DROP
Mom and Dad both arrive. Skye quit eating for a second to check out what they were doing here and dad stole her fish head and mom is eating whatever she brought with her. Skye is peeping like crazy that they'd steal her food and not share.
5:44 Dad leaves from the front of the nest. Heard a crashing noise as he went by the mic. Skye grabs a huge piece of fish from mom but mom steals it back. Skye is not happy with her and squeals. She wants food too. Don't know how she could be so hungry after eating for the last 23 minutes.
5:45 She steals a huge piece and downs it fast so that mom can't take it away.
5:46 More squealing and wanting food.
5:48 Steals another piece from mom and mom is also feeding her. The little piggy thinks she's starving even after all this eating she's done.
5:50 Skye backs up to 8:00 for a poop shoot and runs to check out the nest at 12:00 before heading to the CU cam area to snuffle her beak in the grass. Mom continues to eat.
5:51 She heads back over to mom and squeals for more to eat. Mom ignores her this time and goes to the balcony."

wendybacalar's photo - June 24
"Skye's wet eagle dance"

wendybacalar: "Just think how much those wings must weigh when they are wet!! She is strong!"

Eagle Lover from NYC - Starr's photo - June 24

I Love Barbaro observed: "June 24, 7:57pm - Parent gone. Skye stands there for a bit and is now at 6oc, hops over to 3 and walks back to 7. She holds something between her feet, picks it up (it looks like a fish!) and runs up to 11oc with it. Ten seconds later, she hops/skips down to 6oc, picks it up again and carries it to her little pile of sticks. It is a fish! I just caught a glimpse of it on the cu. She is standing at 11oc, and from the looks of her body, she has begun to pull. Now she moves over to 3oc and I can hear her and see her eating.
8:02pm - Self feed begins. Well, not quite. She picks up the fish and carries it to 11oc. where she begins to eat again."

Eagle Lover from NYC - Starr's photo - June 25

wendybacalar observed: "June 25, 5:56-5:57 am Skye is peeping - each series peeps x 3 and then a pause. Then repeats. Getting more insistant as the minutes pass. The peeping x 3 loudly is Skye's new voice."
kate_oneill observed: "June 25, 6:08 There's no question: her calls have matured, especially since her guttural barks during the "intruder" incident.
6:09 Now, she's gone back to peepy-little-eaglet calls."

wendybacalar's photo - June 25

link to BBE's video "Eating Left Overs"
BBE: "Skye is busy in this 2 min. clip of the fish brought earlier this morning. Really has it down that the food needs to be held down and then worked on!"

wendybacalar's photo - June 25

wendybacalar: "June 25, 11:04 A.M. Skye baby was on her jungle gym of a plank trampoline, bouncing up and down.."

EagleIowan observed, "June 25, 11:44AM Yikes!! Skye has ventured to the edges of the nest 9 position. Skye just jumped to 3 position and did some hops and flaps. She has an impressive wing span for a young'un. Skye is jumping sideways from 6 to 12 and back again. She is now at 12 doing lots of wingersizes."

wendybacalar's photo - June 25

wendybacalar: "OK back to Professora Skye's newest eagle biology lesson - 9 week old plus 3 day eaglet wing feathers: 'This is my underwing. Note there are still some downy feathers close to my body that are white. Hmmm will they turn brownish black too someday like my others??'"

wendybacalar's photo - June 25

link to queenie's video "Wingercising"

lyndabird observed: "6:27 pm PDT Parent, Dad I think, brought in a small fish and Skye kept up her peeping and must have been mantling behind Dad. He quickly got the message and flew off to the right side.
6:29 pm Skye then stopped her peeping and picked up the fish, which was still flopping around, and started to eat. She's an effective eater now, pulling long stringy pieces off and quickly eating them. She just got a fairly large piece and swallowed it whole.
6:34 pm She's finished, so it must have been a small fish. She self fed for 5 minutes. There goes another sneeze. It seems that going a little hungry has been good for this bird. She has effectively learned how to grab and protect her food and doesn't even want the parents near when she eats. She ate this fish efficiently, pulling and eating quickly."

bociany's photo - June 25

I Love Barbaro observed: "8:00pm - Okay, this is interesting. Little One seems to have developed an interest in her feet all of a sudden. First, she just looked at them, mesmorized by their beauty no doubt, and possibly noting their size as well. Then, she picked her right foot up and tucked it under her. After a minute or so, she looked back down, saw that her foot was still missing, and brought it back down to the ground. A minute or so passes, and still looking, she picks it up again and tucks it under. It has been missing now for several minutes. I'm sure she is wondering if this could this be a case for Sherlock.
8:11pm - She just brought it down and right back up again.
8:14 - down and up. Does anyone know the significance of this type of bird behavior?"

Eagle Lover from NYC - Starr's photo - June 26

lyndabird observed: "7:53 am PDT Skye is still standing on her twigs at the j-g and is preening. Down feathers fly off now and then in the breeze.

I Love Barbaro mentioned yesterday about the lifting of one foot. I also noticed this behaviour. It was a tentative lift up, enfold the claw into the feathers and then let it back down.
As birds sleep on one foot, this is likely the testing of this motion to prepare her for sleeping on one foot with her head tucked back, which is an adult pose. She is still sleeping flat out currently, but we will likely see more of the foot/claw pulled up in the next few weeks."

bociany's photo - June 26

I Love Barbaro observed: "9:44am - Mom just landed with a fish. Of all things, she is beak feeding the little one, who is very hungry and aggressive. She peeps with every offer from Mom and grabs the food from her beak. Mom has certainly changed her rule about what size the portions must be. No more dainty little servings for this huge appetite. In fact, Skye reached in and grabbed a big chunk, and Mom just looked at her and let her struggle with it. Actually, she didn't get it down and gave it back. Mom cut it up and gave it back in smaller pieces. But the next chunk Skye grabbed was a big one, and this one went down. When the meal was over, Mom went to her balcony and the babe followed her right over there and began to do her flapping-hopping routine. "

Eagle Lover from NYC - Starr's photo - June 26
"Do you hear me?? Do you???"

trek observed: "June 26, 9:03 pm I have never seen the babe do this before. He has picked up a stick and appears to be maneuvering it just like dad would. At first he worked on it at 6 o'clock but has now moved it to the main trunk of the tree and it appeared to me that he was trying to set it in the nest. Then he took it and moved it near the centre of the nest. The best part was watching dad watch over his activity. He followed the babes every move with a great deal of interest. The babe next does a hop onto his lookout sticks."

Eagle Lover from NYC - Starr's photo - June 26

trek observed: "June 26, 7:03 pm Very interesting communication between parent and babe. The babe was running all around the nest flapping and squealing. Then the babe sits at the base of the lookout branch reaching up to dad..and dad reaches down to him..they are beak to beak..as he does this the babe does some soft peep/squeals..this reminds me of the video of mom and babe communicating. Dad reaches down a couple of times to touch his beak with the babes and now the babe has settled down in the centre of the nest and all is quiet for the moment."

REDRUM's photo - June 26

link to emc's video
"Skye Jumps and Flaps" (5:24 min)

kate_oneill observed: "June 26, 2:41 Skye! Little 0 to 60-in-one-second-flat eaglet. From flatlet to leaping Lena in under one second. Now long series of wing beats, 20 or so per series. Height? Oh yes! Maybe a foot inot the air off the nest, while executing some good practice landings on the edge of the nest, with fast turnarounds."

trek observed: "8:12 pm..I am beginning to see a pattern emerge. Before the babe begins his practice flapping..he begins a high pitch squeal almost as if to wind himself up for the next activity...He then unfolds his wings..starts jumping up and down while hanging onto his sticks and flaps like a madman. Last effort lasted 35 flaps..."

terrytvgal's photo - June 27

link to harrymilt's video
"Flapping, Branching and Fish Dinners" (4 min)

wendybacalar observed: "June 27, 2:05-2:06 Skye was doing something interesting I've never seen. She would do some flapping on the jungle gym, then get down and readust something in the sticks under her, climb up and flap some more. This went on for a few minutes that I could see. She started wingflapping there with more gusto after a little repair on her branch."

janner observed: "3:57 Skye is leaping about - using her wings for lift - but the wind is fairly strong and she is being carried further than may be safe!!
4:00 Beautifully done - she 'flew' up to the balcony and held position there with wings catching the breeze!! Looked quite confident this time!!
4:03 wingercising all over the nest now!!"

REDRUM's photo - June 27
"Who's on first?"

link to Sierra's video "Sticks 'n' Fits"

wendybacalar's photo - June 28

wendybacalar: "June 28, At Dawn, Mom was on the balcony. Interestingly enough, I never did see Skye on the c/up cam as it got light this morning. I think she may have perched all night on her plank in the back!! I started watching at 4 a.m. and she was NOT where she usually is when first light came..sigh..growing up so quickly!"

wendybacalar's photo - June 28

link to Soundguy's video
"Skye Anticipates a Food Drop" (1:50)

I Love Barbaro observed: "7:41pm - I have been watching in amazement as this little one goes flapping and hopping and skipping through, around and over the nest tonight. I am struck by how sure of foot she is now. No more stumbling. No more carefully placing her feet down, feeling for solid ground. No more accidentally picking up clumps of nest flooring as she cruises through the nest. No. She moves with incredible agility, strength, confidence and grace. She even approaches the edges at full speed and is able to stop on a dime. I have not one bit of fear that she will fall over the edge and I have no doubt that she is ready for final preparations. I don't think she could have had better parents..to include all of us.

Little One has "arrived."

beans's photo - June 28

link to beans's video "Jump, Skye, Jump" (4:17)
"Skye finds Sidney's boombox with a note attached--
Dear Skye,
Here is some music for your wingersizing.
Love,
Sid & Vic
PS: See you at Goldstream this fall!"

Eagle Lover from NYC - Starr's photo - June 29

wendybacalar's photo - June 29
"Skye and Mom"

I Love Barbaro observed: "June 29, 7:53 pm - Interesting how when she loses her balance a bit, she is using her tail to steady herself. Guess the tail feathers grew out enough to make a difference."

bociany's photo - June 29
(ten weeks old)

kate_oneill observed: "June 29, 5:46 am Wow: A 40-wingbeat, hopping celebration of whatever she was nibbling on. Must've been yummy! The jubilation included a cross-nest hop to the very (5 o/c) rim that was just lovely It's great to see her practicing using her wings to put on the brakes. Well done!"