Bald Eagle - Northeast Florida / Samson & Gabrielle

[Alison]

Gabrielle laid her second egg this evening at 10:41 p.m.

[Alison]

When I checked the nest at random this evening, I did not expect to find an egg.

Congratulations to Gabrielle and Samson on their first egg together!



Very early this morning:



During the day:

[GCG]

Since there has been no sighting of Romeo and Juliet, this nest has been visited by several eagles and Yesterday I read on the NEFL. site, good news may be on the horizon.

" AEF-NEFL GOOD NEWS FROM THE HAMLET!! Unfortunately Romeo and Juliet haven’t been sighted, but we haven’t lost hope on that! However, we may have the next best thing - as the male that is “claiming” the nest closely resembles Samson. Samson (and Delilah) were offspring of Romeo and Juliet hatched in December of 2013. Through observation, this male appears to be 5 yrs of age and after serious collaboration among the AEF-NEFL Team, we have drawn our speculations by intensely reviewing photos of the male that is currently at the nest from photos of Samson. We compared details (both sides) of their beaks, nares, ceres (which are different on the left side from the right side) and they remain consistent. The male also visited the nest twice in June 2018 and once in July 2018 with dated photos to substantiate. The final indisputable characteristic is the middle toe that is somewhat flat (smashed). Many of the AEF-NEFL Cam Volunteers have been on staff since the inception of the NEFL cam program. We credit Camera Operator, cynmari_AEF, who has been diligent on the cams since day one. She knows the eagles and off-spring on cam better than anyone. She has memory of Juliet stepping on Samson’s toe when he was in the nest (see photo). The photo from June 2018, as well as today clearly show the flattened toe (see photos). Thanks also to Camera Operator, jd_AEF, for capturing many photos that helped us determine this finding and resemblance. Be certain that we are well aware that there is no way to positively ID the Male. With the insight the live cams provide combined with our diligent cam staff, we have hope and good reason to believe that we could have Samson back in the nest!"

[carly]

A lot of people were hard on poor Romeo for not being there when his chick hatched but not only were there several females battling it out, a new male is on scene now with a female.  So likely he was also having a challenger as well as trying to sort everything else out.  Their web site has photos of the new pair in the chat pane - links to photos that were taken when they were on the nest together.  The buried the remaining egg and re-arranged the nest a bit.

[Alison]

The situation at the Northeast Florida eagle nest has ended in tragedy.

Today I watched for hours as the little one struggled to free him/herself from the shell. Romeo was gone somewhere, probably with the fish-stealing adult female. After all of his devotion to incubating his eggs, he left at the worst possible time.

The little one put up a brave, valiant fight to hatch, and was almost out of the shell. Romeo should have been there to protect, assist, and keep the little one warm. He was not there.

At 5:08 p.m., the adult female returned and killed the tiny chick. It was over in moments, and she left with the chick. Romeo returned and went back to incubating the first egg, which will not hatch.

It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch the events at this nest. 

[carly]

Egg hatched, baby was alone at the time- the female kept stealing the food Romeo had for it so he was likely out getting more.   An eagle came by and grabbed the baby and flew off with it.  Likely one of the females..it's gone   

ps:  I read all this on an eagle blog site - didn't watch as I had a feeling it wouldn't end well.

[carly]

There is a pip in the egg now, confirmed by the site.  Don't know if that's good news or bad given the female situation here. 

[Alison]

Still no news of Juliet, and no sign of a pip. There are several female eagles showing up around the nest, and even in the nest. This morning Romeo brought in a fish, and the young adult female took it. Later, he brought another fish, and she stole that one too.

As if Romeo doesn't have enough problems; he is barely able to take short breaks to find food.

[Alison]

Searchers continue to look for Juliet, but so far there has been so sign of her. 

Meanwhile, Romeo has been incubating around the clock, with only short breaks. He is the best!

So far, there has been no sign of a pip in either of the eggs.

The young adult female continues to follow Romeo around. When he brought a fish to the nest today, ate part of it and saved the rest, she came in and ate it. 

The live cams are down again.

[Alison]

For the past couple of days, people have been out searching for Juliet, but no updates of any kind were posted.

This is the first update, at 12:13 p.m. nest time today.

The NEFL ground crew recruited others to assist in a lengthy search for Juliet yesterday. Several means of awareness have been exercised. The Hamlet and surrounding area is very dense and much of the mile radius around the nest is not accessible or is private property, so any search is difficult. A stranger even offered to take the crew out on a boat to search along the intracoastal for our Juliet. Thank you to Kris and her son Edan and for our on-site photographer, Tatine.

Our prayers are that Juliet is ok and healing and gaining strength to return to the nest.

[Alison]

The situation at the Northeast Florida nest has been, and continues to be, a complicated one.

Last week, a subadult eagle showed up at the nest, probably a three year old. Romeo was at the nest at that time, and there was no aggression between them. Romeo and Juliet have always been tolerant of subadults visiting the nest.

The following day, a very large mature female arrived at the nest. A territorial battle took place between this very aggressive female and Juliet, somewhere away from the nest. When Juliet returned, she had beak and facial injuries; injuries to both sides of the beak and cere, and an injury to the right side of her face, just below the beak. Romeo, in the meantime, took on all incubation duties for the two eggs.

The very large female returned and attacked Romeo on the nest while he was incubating. Romeo jumped up, managing to avoid the eggs, and battled the intruder. It was reported that he bit the intruder. He then shoved the intruder off the nest, and returned to incubating.

Juliet returned to the nest for her usual night shift on a couple of occasions very late, around two a.m. or even later. Romeo continued to do the majority of the incubation, doing an outstanding job of protecting the two precious eggs.

Juliet spent one full night of incubation on her eggs, staying about 10 hours. Her injuries appeared to be starting to heal.

However, since Monday morning, she has not been seen.

Now, a third intruder eagle has shown up, also a large female, around five years old. This intruder went into the nest while Romeo was incubating. Romeo left, in order to avoid any possible confrontation in the nest, and the intruder went right up to the eggs. She then went to perch on a branch beside the nest, which is where she continues to spend her time, including sleeping there at night. Romeo continues to incubate the eggs full time.

Pip watch for NE19 began yesterday. Today Romeo is incubating in the pouring rain, which is expected to continue, along with thunderstorms.

It is a heartbreaking situation at the nest. Romeo and Juliet are an incredible pair, so bonded and gentle with each other, and the best eagle parents anywhere.

There might even be yet another intruder in the area. Yesterday, while I was watching the nest, Romeo was incubating and the intruder was on the branch. Neither was vocalizing, but in the distance I heard two other eagles screaming at each other.

[GCG]

https://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/nefl-bald-eagles?utm_source=HDOnTap&utm_campaign=add1966ccb-NEWSLETTER_2018_12_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e3b970361a-add1966ccb-69495809

Much has happened at this site. Just days before the eggs were to hatch, this nest has had an attack by an intruder. I will share what was posted on their Facebook site.

"It has been a difficult few days for the American Eagle Foundation’s NEFL Eagle Cam.
After spending close to 10 hours on the nest Sunday night into Monday morning, Juliet flew off at 9:30 am and has not been seen since. On Tuesday evening, December 18, a young adult female flew to the nest tree. (This is NOT the same intruder from last week). She worked her way up to the nest while Romeo was on the eggs. After a brief skirmish, Romeo and this young female had a stare down. Eventually Romeo backed off and flew to a branch. The young female slowly approached the eggs but did not harm them. She actually looked like she was trying to incubate them but was fairly clumsy and acted like she didn't really know what to do. She flew to a branch to perch and Romeo returned to the nest and his incubating duties. The eggs do not appear to be harmed. This went on a couple more times and at 11 pm Romeo was on the eggs and the young female perched and tucked in for the night.
We are simply waiting and watching patiently at this point to see what comes next. The "good" news is that this young female eagle does not seem like she wants to harm either Romeo or the eggs. She almost seems like she wants to help. She may not even realize that this nest belongs to another female, since she arrived after Juliet has been gone. We hope Juliet does returns, but if she doesn't, with eggs due to hatch December 19, Romeo might need this young eagle's help. All we can do is wait and stay postive".
#nefleaglecam #floridaeagle #nefl #AEF #americaneaglefoundation #baldeagles #Romeo #Juliet #raptors #eagles #Hamlet #NE20 #NE21 #wildlifecam #hdontap HDOnTAP Good Morning America Fox & Friends Fox News WBIR Channel 10 Beth Haynes WBIR WBIR Robin Wilhoit WVLT Kyle Grainger WVLT WATE 6 On Your Side Today Show CNN Animal Planet Discovery National Geographic Nat Geo Wild Washington Post The Dodo

[Alison]

Juliet has just laid her second egg. Her devoted mate Romeo was in the nest with her once again as she prepared to lay the egg. Congratulations to Juliet and Romeo, and welcome NE21!

 

The first glimpse of the new egg, after Juliet moved both eggs in front of her. Romeo then left, perhaps to bring back a treat for his Juliet.

 

[Alison]

Romeo brought a fish for Juliet after she laid the egg. She left to take a break, and Romeo immediately began incubating as the rain continued. He loves to incubate.

 

Romeo stands up as Juliet returns to take over incubation:

 

[Alison]

Romeo and Juliet in the nest with their egg: