A momentous week for the world's most popular bald eagles, and for hundreds of thousands of people who have gotten to know the raptors intimately during the past 10 weeks, was capped Saturday when one of three eagle chicks embarked on its maiden flight.
All three eaglets, made famous thanks to a web-cam that spies on their nest in Decorah, Iowa, on Thursday and Friday had flapped to and from a nearby branch. "Branching" typically precedes maiden flights, and on Saturday morning one eaglet flew a considerable distance from the nest and back again.
Bob Anderson, who runs the Raptor Research Project, said he witnessed a portion of the flight soon after dawn, as the eaglet was returning to the nest tree. "It looked as though it had been flying its whole life," he said. It's not known how far the eaglet flew from the nest tree. When it returned it perched above the nest, beyond range of the web-cam.
This is major news for the RRP, and for the many "Eagleholics" who have monitored the growth of the raptors since they were hatched in early April. If you'd like to enjoy some last looks at the two eaglets who have yet to fledge, check out the live feed:
Why is one of the parent eagles sitting on the nest while the eaglets are no longer there?
Posted by: Beverly Naud | May 09, 2012 at 09:39 AM