Tuesday, February 23, 2010

February in Maine!


Hi All,
I apologize for not posting sooner. Frankly, I am not sure what happened to my other recent posts from this year. More important is the fantastic activity that we have been seeing at this nest. It is clear that a pair is settling in to nest here this year. The birds have been very active adding sticks to the nest and moving them around to get them into position to create an intertwined and stable platform.

Over just the past few days they appear to be adding 'softer materials to line the nest bowl. Notably, just today the female was observed excavating a small bowl in the finer materials and then, later, settling into an incubation position. All of these are fantastic signs that these eagles are eager to nest. Last year eagles at this nest--likely the same pair--laid eggs on April 1 and April 3. That said, eagles in Maine may lay eggs as early as early March.

These photos two photos show the progress that the birds have made over the past month the initial image is from 1/25/10 and the second from just this afternoon 2/23/10.


It will be interesting to see how these birds behave as the anticipated storm passes through later this week.

Many thanks for all of you posts and questions. Please keep them coming! It looks as though we have a great deal to look forward to this season.

Until Next Time,
Patrick Keenan
BioDiversity Research Institute