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Friday, June 15, 2018

Golden Eagles Part 5: The Eagles Fledge



Dale Matson

Click On Photographs To Enlarge

Empty Nest 06-15-18 

After the Red-Tailed Hawk fledged I continued to observe and photograph the eagles until they also fledged. That was my original mission. Assuming the eagles and hawk were about the same ages, after the hawk fledged, it would be around twenty more days before the eagles fledged.
It was amusing to watch the eagles as they looked at the hawk practice flying with lots of wing flapping. The eagles were on a different clock and probably didn’t understand the antics of their (step) sibling.
I informed Mike Smith the Millerton Lake resident expert on eagles and the docent on the winter eagle boat tours about the hawk. He was unaware at the time that the Golden Eagle nest also contained a hawk. We went up together to see the hawk and he stopped at a more distant viewing site. He told me, “Ethically I can’t go any closer”. I told him that I would honor his concern that day while with him.
At a later time, I got a communication from him following him observing my wife and I climbing away from a closer view sight. The e-mail cautioned me that we were endangering the young eagles. He was doing his final yearly eagle survey from a boat on the lake. He informed me that this was a time of particular stress and that they might prematurely fledge. This is referred to in the literature as “forced fledgling”.
I took his caution seriously and knew that I could still monitor the eagles from across Millerton Lake on the Fresno County side. My camera and lens were capable of more than 800mm which is similar to a spotting scope. The photos would not be of good quality but good enough to know and record when the eagles fledged without endangering them by being too close and rushing the process.
The distance was now further than any passing boat and about a third of a mile away. I’m sure the eagles could still see me but were not at all stressed at my viewing and photographing them at such a distance.
I am still puzzled at how little time the adults spent in the nest with the nestlings. They would sit for hours high above the nest, often together, on a dead snag tree.

Parents Perched Far Above Nest From Across Lake

I watched and photographed another Golden Eagle nest in the Madera County foothills and the adults were in the nest often. The Millerton nestlings were like “Latch Key Children”. The parenting styles were dramatically different.
About a week and a half ago I observed both nestlings doing considerable wing flapping. I also got a photo of both nestlings with the hawk perched above them for a visit. Last week they were flapping their wings and perched above and around the nest. The short video I included shows the one nestling above and flying down to the nest.

 Testing Wings
 Testing Wings
Eagle Hawk Reunion From Across Lake

Eagle Testing Wings From Across Lake

Yesterday, there was no sign of the nestlings in or around the nest for the two hours I watched from the other side of the lake. Mike was OK with me going up to the view site we were at but I resisted doing this until it was evident that both birds had fledged. I went up to the Madera side view site this morning with no birds evident for two hours in or near the nest. I was disappointed, thinking that now that the eagles had fledged, I might never see them again. The nest looked so abandoned. Before this the empty nest in January was a sign of possibilities to come.
 Empty Nest Photographed From Across Lake
Empty Nest Photographed From Across Lake
Eagle Fledge Returns To Lower Limb Of Nest Tree

As I was about to leave, one of the eagles landed on a limb below the nest. It wasn’t a clear view for me but I was somewhat reassured that the nestlings had successfully fledged.
What a wonderful experience! I will have some final thoughts on an epilogue post.  
  

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