from fb Norfolk Botanical Garden Eagle Alliance
It had been mentioned on some facebook pages that Dad’s current mate had bands on her feet and that this might not be #3 or DT! We have said all along that we couldn't be sure who this female was. When the cam went off we lost all photographic records of #3 - we have no idea what she looks like now - there have been photos roaming around of "bands" but until we could be sure of who it might be, we felt we should not post about it.
His current mate and the mother of his egg(s) does have both a silver and a purple band and due to the dilgence and dedication of the wonderful photographer Mike Inman he was able to get a photo of her bands so she could be identified by the Center for Conservation Biology.
Dad's new mate is HE, his offspring from 2009, sister to HK out at Honey Bee Golf Course and Azalea who was followed by her transmitter for so many years!!! Now this is not uncommon for eagles to mate with sons/daughters. Cases have been documented and there are no problems with the eggs, chicks or with them fledging!
Now we haven’t brought attention to this because we wanted to be able to read the bands and know who the female was before any formal announcement was made. Just like we needed to know definitely that it was Dad’s nest last fall by identifying him through the dot in his eye (courtesy of Mike’s wonderful photo) even though we learned about the nest for the first time in July. Mike had been trying to get photos of the bands and so had I but either the bands were turned or the light was reflecting off of them or she scooted her feet behind some pine fronds or pinecones before photos could be taken.
In addition, and most importantly, we didn’t want to publicize the bands because the property owners had asked us not to because they knew there would be a line of photographers in the street trying to get that perfect photograph. Unfortunately word is out about where this nest is and we have always been about protecting the eagles and protecting the privacy of the property owners. But it is apparent to us now that others don’t have the same priorities.
Please join us in just rejoicing in the fact that Dad has a new mate and he has a nest and he has a family! That’s the most important thing – that’s what we have been fighting for. And we hope that #3/DT has found a mate that she is allowed to have a nest and eggs and chicks!!!! Dad appears to be so content in his new location. Eagle On!!! (A photo of the beautiful HE taken on January 29th by yours truly!)
for the photo