SHEPHERDSTOWN (NCTC) ~ January-March 2011

SusanE · **Posted:** Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:07 am

Intruder was in the nest just now puttering around with sticks. Then he/she flew off to a branch to the left of screen:

obxbarb · **Posted:** Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:19 am

Good grief! She certainly isn't giving up easily.

bev. · **Posted:** Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:59 pm

We are starting to think this is a male intruder. It does make sense . I f you go to the old Maine forum(forget its name,) they have videos from this morning and I was watching and this eagle is smaller than Belle.

Looked smaller last night also.

so everything is speculation.
3 eagles were seen in the area yesterday. 2 flying close together and then another one. could not ID
Of course without bands??????

so I think everyone will just have to wait and see how it all plays out.

And last night Belle was aggressive but not too much so.
If you have ever seen a fight for territory , you would know this was very mild.

so IMO we will just have to wait. what has transpired so far is sad, but I cannot hate the intruder. It is only following its instincts. We have seen this so much on falcon cams.

Mick · **Posted:** Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:48 pm

I agree with Bev. IMO I think the intruder is smaller than Belle. I went to check on some of the screenshots when I thought the intruder looked big. He/she was standing on the edge of the nest which seems higher or under the camera- I think there was camera distortion.

Thanks for your comments Bev.

PattiO · **Posted:** Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:04 pm

Another post from Paula this evening .... very interesting!

We asked another biologist who visits the NCTC blog his thoughts...sent him videos, the synopsis, etc. Here is his response

Quote:

Hi Paula!

Sorry it took so long for a reply. I talked with a few colleague's at work yesterday about Belle feeding the chick secretion's from her nares gland. One of them did say he has heard of this behavior happening, but we all share a mutual skepticism of there being any nutritional value to the chick.

Just as a thought, we were wondering if this act isn't out of desperation, an instinctual need to feed her chick, whatever it may be. Like I said though, that is just a thought.

I spent several hours last night skimming through the blog from the last several days trying to figure out exactly what is going on here. I then relayed this info back to my colleague's today. Based upon behavior alone, we all believe that this intruding bird is a male. From what I have gathered, this bird has always kept a submissive behavior. From following Belle around, to sitting in the nest tree in a non threatening fashion, it just makes more sense. It seems likely that this bird has already had an altercation with the Liberty and is now trying to court Belle and form a pair bond with her. That fight may have happened the day before the hatch, possibly the morning of the hatch. That would explain his absence the day of the hatch and why sightings of him have been so scarce.

Also, while researching info on the feeding of nares gland secretions, I somewhere came across a video from today (posted by you I think), showing Belle and the intruder in the nest together. Belle was very aggressive, actually on the back of the intruder, and forced it from the nest. The intruding bird was completely submissive, showing no intent to fight back. While in such close quarters, it also appeared that this bird was actually smaller than Belle. Just more reason to believe that this intruding bird is a male.

I would like to appoligize for posting prematurely on Friday that I believed this bird to be a young adult female. I based that assumption solely on a 30 sec. video clip in which the intruding bird APPEARED to be as large if not larger that Belle. I should have held my opinion until I had more facts on the situation as a whole. I still believe this to be a fourth or fifth year bird, only now I believe it to be male. SORRY!

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few weeks. This is a prime example of natural selection. I know many people on the blog would be horribly upset to see Liberty displaced by an intruding male, but it's in Belle's best interest to mate with the strongest male.

TJ

Mick · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 1:02 am

From netmouse 1
Recorded tonight at 7:00 EST, showing the new guy working on the nest as Belle peacefully stands with him.

kittenface · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 1:57 am

OMG this is just to heartbreaking :egg15:

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

It is so sad kittenface. Liberty & Belle go together. Not Rudy & Belle. I know what was said about Belle benefiting from the stronger male is best, but viewers have loved Liberty for so many years now, my heart goes out to him if he is truly displaced. The OC thread has viewers saying Liberty n Belle have moved off together, and this is Rudy and his mate, as well as Rudy has moved off and this is Belle n Liberty who won - based on the fact that they "mate for life". Right now nest is empty though earlier this am posts said that intruder visited, then another eagle. Disputes over whether second eagle visit was Belle or Liberty, or Rudy's "mate". With that said, we need clarification to correct any bad information regarding eagle behavior. I think at this point NCTC should prepare a statement, since they promised timely scientific updates. Maybe another day of viewing the situation and they will. :egg10:

for Liberty.

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 61875

kittenface wrote:

OMG this is just to heartbreaking :egg15:

WOW...you are so right...so confusing....and I guess this is why I thought the "intruder" was Lib...because he/she was smaller than Belle...I sure hope there is some more clarity today...

Dot K · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:18 pm

Wow is right. It's like "24" - just hold your breath for the next episode.

bev. · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:20 pm

I think until someone actually goes there with a scope and observes for awhile , they will not know what is going on. Just looking for an hour is not going to tell you anything. Sometimes you have to observe for days (I know)

Lib was seen on Sunday by ground crew, but everytime he tried to go to nest he was chased.

That is when I decided the intruder was male. Everything pointed to that. When the cam was zoomed in that threw off size.
Belle would naturally protect from the intruder and would not relinquish readily. I believe that is why we saw her so aggressive the other night.

Now on Tuesday, someone went down and did see 3 eagles, but unless you have bands ????

I do not even think the experts know what is happening right now.

I am not ruling LIb out just yet.
I remember Norfolk a few years ago when female intruder came in. Resident female left for a bit, after loosing 2 of 3 eggs to owl attacks, adn constant bombardment by intruder, and then Voila , she returned and intruder was gone. Then went on to lay and egg (buddY) that is all on NOrfok blog. (long story short)
Big difference in Norfolk is they have biologists there are are viewing constantly, and ground crew. I am not criticizing here , jsut stating a fact.

Lib may just be regrouping. We do not know. If he is still around and ground crew did see him and Belle together roosting on Sunday, things are still playing out.

Only time will tell.
Go LIb :thumbegg:

bev. · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 3:14 pm

intruder was just in nest for quite awhile and arranging sticks.
He finally just poof and was gone. we heard thunk in tree.

there is a ground crew out there and we could hear someone in tree.
they confirmed. Belle in Tree and intruder flew out and flew in tree above Belle.
We heard that .

so far no more eagles. :egg10:

LeeLee · **Joined:** Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:54 pm **Posts:** 471

I was watching and saw that too. But I did notice that periodically while the intruder was in the nest, Belle let out some soft cries, like the kind she gave him when she was fighting with him before. So maybe she is still "protesting" his presence on the nest. It is really something though how boldly he has been rearranging sticks. Like he is not even fearful of Liberty in the least. Thats the one thing that bothers me. Still hoping Lib and Belle can somehow change things up and send him off. Am also wondering, is Belle getting her own fish now or has the intruder brought fish? Or since things have changed, and there will be no mating and egg laying this year, is she getting her own fish? have not seen anyone eat at the nest yesterday or today yet.

SusanE · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 4:11 pm

Sounds like the consensus now is that this intruder is definitely a male. Thanks to all for your input as well as sharing knowledgeable posts from other sources. This nest has been like a roller coaster! :sigh

bev. · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 4:39 pm

Belle and intruder flew off towards the campus. No signs of another eagle so far. :egg10:

Dot K · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:17 pm

Do they band the eagles in Shepherdstown? My friend who lives in Colorado told me they don't band eagles out there anymore - the FWS guy in Colorado told her there were too many eagles to band them all - or, as I suspect, a budget cut somewhere. But without being able to read the bands, it's really hard or almost impossible without long time observationl

kittenface · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:26 pm

Dot K wrote:

Do they band the eagles in Shepherdstown? My friend who lives in Colorado told me they don't band eagles out there anymore - the FWS guy in Colorado told her there were too many eagles to band them all - or, as I suspect, a budget cut somewhere. But without being able to read the bands, it's really hard or almost impossible without long time observationl

As far as I remember they don't band them but someone else might know.
I am just about positive that Belle & Lib aren't banded and little Palmer wasn't last yr.

Mick · **Posted:** Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:11 am

Thank you for all the info everyone!

bev. · **Posted:** Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:12 pm

someone went out there today and saw 3 eagles headed toward the river.
too far away to tell who , or if there was a chase or not.
but a farmer who watches the ealges said that he had not seen the original male for a few days and then yesterday he saw him and Belle in tree.

Now if has been watching for years and would say original male, he would have also seen the intruder and Belle , the last few days . So maybe he can tell them apart.

who knows anymore

Intruder was in nest a short time ago and then Belle, and she did not appear happy. If I can snag a video or picutres I will.

bev. · **Posted:** Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:37 pm

if you go to this site and scroll down to Pegs post there is a video of visit

http://www.window-on-wildlife.com/index ... ic=20.1050

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SHEPHERDSTOWN (NCTC) ~ January-March 2011

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