Ground Observations - 2014 - 2015 Season ~when Mom went missing

[NancyM]

Indeed, Rajame.

Here's another photo of the eagle who perched in the BST. It's the best view of the dark bit under the tail.

Looks to me like maybe a single feather, still shorter than the rest, newly emerged after a moult. And just a freak colouring, like Dad's dark 'freckle'?
I'll let the experts figure it out.
I think these two eagles are quite beautiful.
October 16, 4:29 pm

I took the liberty of cropping and fiddling with the lighting of one wren's wonderful photos.  This does look like an oddly colored feather on the eagle that was in the BST yesterday.

[Gasp62]

love Nancy's post of the talons crossed!  and i love Booni's pics, and I love wrens pics of the sub-adult on the nest, and the adult eagle on the scootch-branch

[winterwren]

Three more views of yesterday's nest visitor...

Here, moving food from crop.
October 16, 4:45 pm



Here, the only time I saw him or her taking interest in nest materials. Didn't move the stick, just grabbed it between preening, as I recall.
4:47



And a stare-down-the-beak view (for some reason I always find them difficult to catch clearly, but this is my best effort).

4:50



The light was starting to fade, so I left shortly after this, close to 5 pm.

[Cawatcher]

  What a beauty! Great shots wren!!

[boonibarb]

 
i*ve got a few, ahem, cough cough, fotos to post from that exciting Nest visit too!
But since wren has filled you in already, i am going to force myself to stick to my plan of posting fotos in the order that they happened.
So, here we are, back to october 9.
We were visiting in a yard in the Nest neighbourhood when we heard trilling!
There was an Eagle on the very top of Gregg*s Tree!
i took this foto from where we were, then we all went crashing through the bush to try to get closer.
i believe mishi & maybe ekf got better fotos of this Eagle, who is definitely not Mum or Dad!
My foto gives you no idea what the head feathers or eye or beak looked like, but look at that tail!
A sub-adult perhaps?

october 9 2014 13:37 - Eagle in Gregg*s Tree



https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/15561278482/

[boonibarb]

 
Okay, carrying on in order of appearance, i believe somebody called us? to tell us there was an Eagle in the Babysitting Tree!
Is this Dad?
It is definitely not Mum!
A Crow is perched not too far away.

october 10 2014 17:27 - Eagle in the Babysitting Tree



This time the Eagle has a Starling for company.
Can you spot them?
The nictitating membrane is across the eye here.
Notice this Eagle has a thin band of dark on one of their left tail feather edges.



This Eagle looks a lot like Dad, but still, something is not quite him.





By preening under their left wing, they are showing us their lovely white head & tail feathers!
You can see that thin dark stripe on their second from the left tail feather here.



To me, this Eagle is not Dad.


 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/15374569027/

[boodle317]

Beautiful bird booni.  I think I have to agree, there is just something about the eye that isn't Dad.  Darnit.

[boonibarb]

 
Okay!
So four of us photographed this Eagle from the ground, & all were convinced that this was Dad.
But i have looked & looked & looked at my fotos, & i just can*t say for sure that this is Dad.

october 11 2014 11:07 - Eagle in the Peters* Tree





i am trying to see if the neck feathers have Dad*s distinctive part.



Looking here for the freckle Dad might have on the top of his head.
Does that tail feather on his left have that same fine band of dark on it that last night*s Eagle in the Babysitting Tree had?




 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/14954463794/

[boonibarb]

 
A few more of this Eagle in lovely lighting.

october 11 2014 11:10:11 - Eagle in the Peters* Tree



Top of head view again.





october 11 2014 11:20 - Eagle in the Peters* Tree



https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/15575192885/in/photostream/

[NancyM]

booni, this is a gorgeous eagle but I think you are right that it is not Dad.  
In the very last photo, I think I can see a dark area on a tail feather, could be the same as the eagle we saw on the bst while the visitor was in the nest a couple of days ago.  

eta: booni's photos posted after the ones above show a much more obvious dark tail feather - must be a different eagle in these pictures.

[boonibarb]

 
Here we are, a couple hours later, the Eagle is still in the Peters* Tree.
i believe this one stayed there for four hours that day.
Here, i am much closer to the Tree, & looking at the Eagle from the left rather than the right.

october 11 2014 13:57 - Eagle in the Peters* Tree





https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/15552436586/in/photostream/

[winterwren]

If he's moulted a bunch of head feathers, would the neck line stay the same?

[boonibarb]

 
Now here we are, four days later, & ANOTHER Eagle is in the Peters* Tree.
& i am thinking it is Dad because i see a part in the left side of his neck feathers.
It is absolutely bucketing rain & i should NOT be out with my camera, but i am with ekf, & she is crazy, & it is her last day here so we are out there getting soaked chasing Eagles around with Otto.

october 15 2014 10:28 - Eagle in the Peters* Tree



This one is looking a lot like Dad!





Once again, when i finally get to look at these fotos on my computer, this cannot be Dad!
This Eagle has one bizarre young-adult tail feather, & skinny toes!
Also notice there is a big nick in one of the left primaries, that makes this Eagle quite distinguishable from others.


 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/15390743260/in/photostream/

[boonibarb]

 
This Eagle even has Dad*s muttonchops!
Look how wet his breast feathers are.
You can see the rain pelting down in all these fotos.
Here the Eagle is calling out.

october 15 2014 10:53 - Eagle in the Peters* Tree





This Eagle kept looking up, like he could see someone else flying above.
Soon after this foto, he took off!



https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/15553006856/in/photostream/

[boonibarb]

 
We were hearing calls from Hidden Beach now!
So down there we went.
Did i tell you it was pouring rain?
From the little park by the road, you could spot the Eagle who was at the top of the Hidden Beach perch Tree.
i believe this was her.
There were two Eagles in this Tree, & the one lower down was making sort of plaintive crying calls, while checking out the Eagle who was perched higher in the Tree.
At the time i thought it was Dad, being solicited by another female, who was making the cries.
Now i am not even sure if this is the same Eagle who had just been in the Peters* Tree.
What makes it harder, is that my camera is fogging up!
This foto, if i remember correctly, is the female Eagle, who was in the top of the Tree.

october 15 2014 11:18 - Eagle in Hidden Beach Tree



This looks like her again, only from the beach this time, but i am not positive now.
Both of these last two fotos have that dark eyeline going behind the eye.



This one*s head feathers almost look like Mum!



Urrgh, i think these are all the same Eagle, the lower down one.
i don*t think we had a good view of the one at the top, except maybe the first one, from the road side.



The Wiigs had seemed to be checking out Mum & Dad*s territory, then flying back to their own, so i wondered if maybe these two in the Hidden Beach perch Tree were maybe them.
But, no, both Wiigs were in their own territory.
Here is one of them.

october 15 2014 11:28 - Wiig on Sandstone Point Tree


 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/14956903693/in/photostream/