I drove out to Hurricane Landing (Sardis Lake, Mississippi) at dawn on St. Valentine’s Day. The wife had to work and would not be awake for another few hours when I arrived. She had a card and box of chocolate covered cherries to supplement my absence. I trusted Cupid’s bow to deliver my message via Brock and Hallmark projectiles.
I mentioned to OceanDiver that I had watched the local habits of the Bald Eagles in my area for several years. One point I made was the location of nests used for purposes other that raising chicks. I wanted to see if the eagles were keeping their sites active (and true to my observations).
Here are satellite images of the area during this time of year. The lake levels are lowered and the Tallahatchie River channel is the best fishing location for the eagles without human intervention.
Now that you have an idea of the scale and place, I’ll get to the eagles.
I was able to drive to the Indian Mound and set my equipment up so the truck acted as my “blind” while I filmed the eagles. This is the first photo I took.
The adult male was staying near the nest while the adult female moved to the north (opposite from me) side of the river. Two juveniles worked the area between the two adults.
The younger of the two kids flew toward the calls of the female. Here is his account on film.
I missed the strike because it was behind the Indian Mound. I did catch the return.
I took the next video during October 2022 near the nest site (lower lake). The hunter in the video is the same adult teaching it’s new offspring to hunt this year.
10 second video
I went back to Hurricane Landing on March 9th to check on the eagle family. The group was there and hunting off the same perches. I was able to get a better shot of the young male.
But I remembered that I had recorded the male sibling on Valentine’s Day. Here is that film.
10 second video
I want to share film from January 2023 of the same area but different fledglings. The last of this video shows a juvenile with a catch and the other juvies (and adult) harassing it. I believe that all aspects of this family encounter was meant to prepare the juveniles for life on their own.
1:38 minute video
Do you have any observations of rearing or training fledglings?
OceanDiver asked that I post the new schedule for Dawn Chorus. I hope you will chose an open slot and share your moments with us.