Bird Cams Around the World

When Nature turns
April 4, 2016 Shepnotes
This is my own thinking - I didnt post over on RRP.
http://www.raptorresource.org/forum/ind ... .5640.html

E4k has had at least 2 intruders this year. Maybe one 1 male and 1 female.
Maybe Taylor had mated with the female. I never liked him so I am dispassionate.
This loss is good for the local eagle over-population.

Neither Blair or Taylor PROTECTED their eggs.
I am NOT sure the eagle who destroyed the eggs isnt a female.
If so - that'd be why Taylor didnt fight her.

The area is over-saturated with eagles. Then Nature turns.

E4k Breeding last year produced no young.
Usually 2 seasons of unsuccessful breedings - one of the pair will seek a new mate.

New male seeks to bond with Blair
April 3, 2016 no sign of old male Taylor
http://www.eagles4kids.com/daily-update ... -wind.html

Eggs destroyed by - intruder April 3, 2016
Any chance Blair destroyed her own eggs?
I watched and am amazed how strong eggs are!
http://www.eagles4kids.com/daily-update ... royed.html
http://www.eagles4kids.com/daily-updates


2015 sad season
Taylor refused to incubate eggs, so they never hatched
http://www.eagles4kids.com/season-5

Please dont hate me for my opinion!!

Thanks for the pics, Ferenz...I'd have to go over to chat to see if a Taylor sighting had been confirmed..I don't know that...I know yesterday when I watched for a few minutes, the intruder male visited the nest, alone, several times (according to chatters..and they would know much better than I.)

Shep, all opinions are welcomed!! But, some of your facts are wrong...and hopefully, somebody will correct me if I am wrong..entirely possible..as my memory isn't what it used to be.

2015. The reason Taylor didn't incubate until later was because the eggs were not his. Just the fact that he eventually gave it the old college try was something.

Blair destroying her own eggs? Nope. While it is possible that an unstable parent could destroy eggs/chicks (we saw that quite a few years ago with the topeka falcon nest..), that didn't occur here. All the mods and Darrin (who know Blair and Taylor inside and out) identified the "destroyer" as an intruder..not Tay or Blair. Is the intruder female? Highly doubtful just based on interactions between Blair and the intruder as observed by mods/darrin/chatters.

In terms of Blair and Taylor not defending their eggs? Since I haven't watched 24/7, I have no clue..

Somebody much more knowledgeable than I once told me that if it's a choice between eggs and bodily harm/death..then the adult will abandon eggs (not sure about chicks). Nature has them hardwired to protect the "breeding stock" (adult)...if that makes any sense..Why didn't Taylor and Blair gang up on the intruder? That is rare..I'm sure it does happen, but I can only think of 1 documented incident when that occurred...and that was with Rochester's Mariah and Kaver. I believe Mariah came to Kaver's defense when he was losing the battle with an intruder..

my 2 cents worth..LOL...and I could be totally off base!!

I will write a response to all of this later as i have watched 10/7

but I will start now.

TAylor and Balir took very good care of their nest. Taylor incubated in 2015. we commented on fact that he tried , when he came back after 2 weeks absence.

TAylor was a great mate, but there were lots of intruders, all being male.

Blair went off nest when intruders came in, to try and draw them away form nest. This time it did not work.

the last thing they want is a fight on nest with eggs. IF you saw them attacked the other night , you would see how careful they were around eggs and both went off nest, so eggs would remain in tact.

TAylor did a good job incubating here this year but at times was not on ,as he was in protection mode and when any eagle or falocn is protecting territory, they will not incubate or bring in food till safe. so sometimes Balir had to leave to get food. There again, they must eat.

TAylor was attacked first time and knocked off nest and he learned from that. Taylor was not weak, but I think this time he knew this male was stronger and he was not ready.

yesterday Blair really wanted nothing to do with intruder. I will put video here after to show that.

TAylor did all he could do and you are right SGB, it is their survival first at this point. I do believe it changes with chicks.

I will come in with more but for most part SGb , you are right on the money. the mods here are great an have very good at posting ht facts.

And Blair did not destroy eggs. it was the intruder. this does not happen often, and our biologist calls then rogue if they do.(

I do not know why anyone could not like Taylor.He was strong as he could be, Taylor went to trouble of burying eggs when he left nest and I always thought it was because he knew this male was about. maybe if BAlir had kept them covered they would still be there but who really knows.

I will be back later as I have been really rocked by this,

http://www.eagles4kids.com/daily-updates/

please read . these are Darrin s comments. Very good as I knew it would be

Update posted by Darin (Talon):
Update: Please Read If You Have Questions (note: Bev - This is long, but I thought it was important.)
On April 2, Blair and Taylor were off the nest a lot. We did spot an eagle in the morning and it was neither Blair nor Taylor. The day before, there was an eagle spotted as well, perched high in an oak tree about one mile from the nest.
Many questions have surfaced as to why Blair and Taylor were off the eggs like they were. One answer “may” be to divert the attention of any eagle away from the nest. Something we could not see was going on. Taylor had some difficulty brooding with his broken toe from the February 18th attack. He was still healing and doing what he could and also trying to defend his territory and the eggs. At times, the behavior was strange to many of us, but there is usually a reason in nature for everything. It turns out there was good reason. Keep in mind; we can only see what is in front of the lens. So much happens off camera.
Some believe the new eagle to be a female. We DO NOT hold that opinion at this time. Some think there was an attack on Blair yesterday around 5:30. We believe that was simply the new male trying to land in heavy wind gusts. Blair was alerted and spooked a bit.
The Eagles4kids nest is not the only nest to have this happen. There has been other on cam instances of things like this happening. We are not alone. One could make a generalization that this has been going on since eagles have been around. We simply don’t witness it as often.
As for the new male we are observing, he may be the male we see here on out. One would think that Taylor would have been here if he could. He has been injured before and been away from the nest. There is some possibility of that if he is injured, but at this point it would be normal for him to fight to the end as well. If this male sticks around, he will likely be the one we observe next year too. We are not addressing naming at this point. The future is not a good thing to predict either.
Why did the new male do what he did? Over the years, I have learned from others and from reading. The best I can say is that he likely does not have a nest, or a mate. Eagles are “born” to procreate. Obviously, he needs both to do so. He gets both here, and a prime territory it seems as well. Again, the strong survive. He also wants to have his genes here and not another male eagle’s. What we saw does not make him a bad eagle, it is normal, even though our emotions do not allow us to see it that way.
If indeed this male continues here, it does not mean that other nest disputes will not happen. The population is very strong. So strong in fact, that disputes may be more the norm. Maybe it is nature’s way of balancing things out. If it is too hard to watch, please come back when you feel comfortable. The students are handling this, as I knew they would. They are awesome!!! Yes, they feel sad, and disappointed. But kids, they move on quickly and will observe like the previous 5 seasons.

We are not really experts here. There are some books for that. We are merely looking into nature’s window with two cameras. My team of people working behind the scenes has helped document time off eggs. Blair and Taylor have been off eggs for longer periods than people like to see. The question of eggs hatching was a serious one. As a matter of fact, eggs were left alone or not incubated on average of 166 minutes/day. Many of those were shorter times but nonetheless this is something important to note. One of the eggs appeared to have a chick inside as the male destroyed the eggs and contents. One appeared to have yolk type matter. It is inconclusive at this time. I only say this as to add some facts behind our observation. Maybe it will help people in some way that worry about eggs and cold. Take it for what it is worth.

It is normal for viewers to have many emotions. As viewers, we need to accept the fact that this is nature. I know you all have heard that a lot here, but it is true. What will be will be. Here, or any other cam for that matter.

Facts: New male has taken over for now, and will likely stay. Blair is here and acting normally. Eggs are gone, and it is too late to have another clutch. I can state fact about Taylor’s health. I can only say he has not been seen since 7:30 PM on April 2nd.

I know I have probably missed something. You may have your own opinions about the situation here. These are my observations.

New Male & Blair on Den branch

I checked a couple days ago - no pics posted but eagles had been seen