Understanding the tracking maps
July 7, 2009New Virginia Eagle Locator Website
July 10, 2009
This is the satellite data locations for Azalea from 11am July 2 to 4pm July 6. She is spending much more time away from the nest and the data show that she crossed the fence onto the airport. There is an error factor of 60 feet, so she may have actually sat in one of the trees by the airport fence around the edge of Lake Whitehurst.
11 Comments
rlukei, thanks for the replie on the transmitter on two of the eaglets. On average if a person were to watch from there where you guys are,,how many eagles would you spot say in a days time? Once again thanks so much for this website. I love watching these birds!!
Samuel
The number of eagles that can be seen in the Norfolk area varies widely depending on the time of year with early summer being best because that is when the young leave their nest. NBG is by far the best location because of its easy access and urban setting in a public park. There are 11 active nests in lower Tidewater, but only the NBG nest has good public viewing.
The three best locations in Virginia to see bald eagles are Caledon Natural Area on the Potomac River near Fredericksburg, the Rappahannock River near Tappahannock, and the James River between Hopewell and Jamestown. These are summer concentration areas where eagles gather to fish.
rlukei, thanks to you and all involved with this project. I have spent the entire spring checking on the eagle family each day. I live in Curtice, Ohio (near Lake Erie, east of Toledo). We have a pair of nesting eagles about 5 miles from where I live. These eagles can only be seen from a distance using binoculars. Watching the eagles on this site helped me to learn about the nesting eagles near me as the birth of the babies occured about the same time.
Mary
Thank you for your comment. You highlight the principal benefit of the web cam at NBG, and the several other live web cams that people have access to. Bald Eagles have been by their nature creatures that like their privacy and for the most part have kept their distance from humans and all our activities and noise. As a result, learning about their behaviors has been difficult and recording and documenting those actions even more difficult. The small part of the Bald Eagle populations that are beginning to accept people activities and move closer to us, are providing new opportunities to gain knowledge about these magnificent creatures. The NBG eagles are just such a situation.
Reese, thanks so much for all of the info you so readily share with us. I have learned so much over the years just by knowing you! Now that I’m addicted to eagles, your observations and comments help “fill-in-the-blanks”. CCB and NBG are both fortunate to have you as a resource.
Thanks so much for the effort you put into the eaglecam project. I am truly addicted to watching this close encounter with these fascinating birds. This is my second year tracking them, and I can’t wait to watch the nest again next spring!
I printed off the math/science activity, “Flying High with Fledglings,” to share with teachers at my school. Thanks again for this wonderful project!
Syd
The “Flying High with Fledglings” paper you mention is found on the Norfolk Botanical Garden web site under Eagle Cam (www.NBGS.org). The annual bald eagle surveys are conducted by The Center for Conservation Biology. You can add data for 2005-2009 as follows:
Date Year Nests Young
2005 29 429 657
2006 30 469 705
2007 31 524 737
2008 32 557 864
2009 33 612 826
HI REESE,
CAN YOU TELL US WHEN AND IF THE FLEDGLINGS WILL BE HUNTING ON THEIR OWN,OR AT LEAST WILL BE TRYING TO
THANK YOU
Krista
Part of being a “fledgling” is learning how to hunt for your own food. The adults will only feed them for a short period of time. I expect you have noticed that food is not brought to the nest very often now. You have probably also noticed how much squawking or “food begging” they do. Being hungry is the “tough love” part of teaching them that they have to find their own food. To survive they MUST learn to find their own food.
First of all – thank you for all your work. I love this website! My kids are always teasing me about how much time I spend on your website and asking me “How are the eaglets doing, Mom?” The other day at work I noticed a hawk soaring way up in the sky -how old is an eagle when it is able to soar high up in the sky?
Claudia
These three young eagles are well on their way to being able to “soar” high in the sky. As the wonderful photographs the local photographers have taken and shared on the two eagle forums show, they are fast learning their flying skills. Unless the weather prohibits them from doing so, eagles seek out warm thermals on a daily basis to soar high. They use those warm thermals to migrate as well. We can look for them any day now to be soaring above NBG with their parents.