Dr. Charles R. Preston, Senior and Founding Curator, Draper Natural History Museum, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming
21 June, 2010 – Greetings to All! Last week was a busy one for Golden Eagles and our Golden Eagle Posse team members. The weather early in the week was dry and warm, with plenty of sun to dry out the muddy roads throughout the Bighorn Basin. Some of our Posse members had not been able to visit their assigned nest observation points for two weeks due to impassable roads. Emily Buckles and I led a Discovery Camp class into the Basin on Monday and Tuesday to introduce them to field research and Golden Eagles, in particular.
We first visited one of our inactive nest sites to discuss how and where Golden Eagles nest and explore the site for prey remains from previous years. We also had the opportunity to view two active eagle nests and one active Red-tailed Hawk nests from a distance. The Discovery Camp participants were 12 – 14 years of age, and made some nice sketches and journal accounts of their experiences. We also introduced them to our method of assessing the relative abundance of rabbits by taking them along on one of our nighttime rabbit roadside surveys. It was great to see these kids in the field, showing a real interest in the outside world. We hope it makes a lasting impression in their lives.
Later in the week, we experienced high winds—with some gusts recorded in excess of 60 mph! So far, we’ve had no reports of chicks being dislodged from the nest. Richard Jones completed his regular aerial survey for June, and we now have identified 66 Golden Eagle nest areas within our study area. As of last Friday, 22 of these nests are occupied, and several of these nests are supporting 2 chicks. Some of the chicks are nearing fledging, while others are 2 – 3 weeks behind the leaders. I expect to be able to summarize nest occupancy, success, and productivity by mid-late July this year, so we can compare to previous years.
Here are some interesting reports I received this past week from our Golden Eagle Posse nest monitors:
Report from Susan Ahalt and Nicole Suuck received 13 June:
It started out as a boring day this Sunday, the 13th, as the adults were nowhere in sight. At the nest I kept seeing the babies but as soon as Nicole got to the scope they had scrunched down again. She finally got to see them and the difference in just a few days was amazing. The older is quite covered with dark feathers while the younger just has some spotting on his wings and the trailing edge of them. Both adults came and went all through the three hours with only a very short stop at the nest. The most exciting thing was when one of the adults was sitting on the side of the cliff, took off for a short flight and landed on another bunch of rocks. A medium sized bird jumped out and the eagle hopped down below the rock. Then the eagle climbed up with something in her mouth, flew to the nest, dropped it off and left again. The medium bird was about the size and coloration of a prairie falcon although we’ve not seen any other raptors there but for one male kestrel. We have no idea what the eagle stole but she was dive bombed while she was doing the stealing. Back at the nest the larger baby did some ripping, tearing and eating of food but it appeared to be a rabbit, not the small thing the adult brought back in her beak. The smallest one didn’t eat this time, perhaps it’ll be his turn this evening.
Report from Dave and Germaine Bragonier received 18 June:
Good news! As of this morning, nestling #39A survives! A parent also arrived at the nest with a cottontail this morning. And, the eaglet continues to rapidly mature! Of late, the youngster gets to spend much more time in the nest alone. The other day, for the first time we’ve observed, two adults—likely the parents—were soaring together within range of the nest. Two dogs were also spotted for the first time, working high on the hillside about one kilometer east of the nest. Recently, a very alert mule deer doe has been frequenting the vicinity of the nest. Two of three Pronghorn does are still in the area, but have yet to see a fawn. At dark the other evening, a striped skunk was observed working a draw on the lower reaches of the hill. And, the following assortment of birdlife has been observed in the vicinity: horned larks, lark sparrows, ravens, magpies, mourning doves, rock pigeons, robins, night hawks, a harrier, at least a couple swallow or swift species. And, the other morning, a Says phoebe even spent a few seconds swinging on our pickup’s aerial! There’s never a dull moment out there!
Report from Bud and Dale Schrickling received 18 June:
We took a quick check on the nest yesterday simply because we were thinking #1 was ready to fledge and with the winds Wed/Thu it was a possibility. But, they were both still hanging out at the nest. I predicted this week for #1, I guess I still have a chance by Monday. We watched an interesting “stare-off” between the mother and a magpie. Both parents had been perched on the top of the bench when they began to be buzzed by a pair of magpies. The male flew off, but mom stayed. Eventually one of the magpies landed within a few feet of the mom and they literally stared at each other for what seemed like an awful long time. The magpie eventually flew off. Just thought it was amusing.
Report from Rosemarie Hughes and John Ross received 20 June:
There was lots of activity from the chicks in the last 1/2 of our visit. Lots of standing, moving around the nest, and we even saw them attempt to feed themselves. We also saw signs of aggression from the larger chick when they were trying to feed. At one time the larger chick, laying on the food, pecked at the smaller chick’s leg and the other time at its head. Didn’t seem like it wanted to share, not at that moment anyway. At other times the smaller chick was pulling at the food while the larger chick was just laying and watching. They’d watch the cliff swallows flying around. They’d look out into the Basin. They’d adjust their positioning. Of course they’d poop. And they stood and did a lot of preening, even before their attempt at feeding themselves. We do see a big wing stretch from time to time too.
It’s amazing, the size difference. Today it was especially noticeable. I have enclosed a photo showing the size difference.
Many thanks again to all of our Posse members. I can’t include all of your reports each week, but I do read them all and look forward to following your progress. Just a reminder, your data sheets and field journals are due when your adopted eaglets fledge. That will be soon for some of you! Stay tuned for further updates next week.
Keep soaring, C.R. Preston
