we have been watching the nest for ages (wondered at first if there were going to be chicks this year); then we saw their little heads popping up (the nest is easily 5 feet across so they really do have to pop up); then we saw them flapping their gangly wings (the pair of them testing the edge & testing their parents).
today we saw them fly! i was so excited & proud - it felt almost as if we had had some part in helping these eaglets fledge when really we have done nothing but park under the tree several times a week & watch the nest in awe. we think they are one male & one female (just by the size difference) & they are big birds eventhough they are really just chicks & still have tufts of down poking out between their new feathers. there was quite a comotion as the parents called & cajoled & directed each eaglet out of the nest, down to the coast guard station & back again (bigger brother did it a few times little sis only once). the adults were chased by gulls and crows each time they left he nest - thankfully the chicks were never bothered.... amazing (my bb boy is fledging at the same time)
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I told my BBs over Sunday brunch yesterday how parent eagles get the eaglets to fledge by making the nest less and less comfortable - removing the down & padding they built to protect the eggs, so the sticks poke through and urge the adolescnets to move.
They suggested fewer Sunday brunches might help. ;-)
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