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Fort St. Vrain, CO
hatched April 4, 6 & 9
Link

 
Most pictures are from the Maine Bald Eagle Cam Discussion Forum's
thread on the Fort St. Vrain Eagle Cam

Additional info and pictures from the BirdCam Forum's
thread on the Fort St. Vrain Eagle Cam
and the Hancock Wildlife Channel's thread on the Fort St. Vrain Bald Eagle Cam
 

The good news is that they are hoping to have streaming video from this nest for the 2008 season starting in February, and might even have sound; the bad news is that only the overhead camera is working (there was also a side view last year, though both were still images updating every two minutes), and it isn't working very well. Once the issues are resolved, the cam is solar-powered, so will be shut down from dusk to dawn to conserve power and might be a bit uncertain on very dark days. There are also photos for the day saved in four-minute increments, so you can see what has happened in the previous 24 hours.

This nest is at Xcel Energy's Fort St. Vrain Power Station in Platteville, Colorado. Local time is Mountain time. The nest is 6 feet wide and 5 feet deep, and has been active for years. The camera was installed in 2003. This pair successfully raised 2 chicks in 2007, 3 in 2006, and 2 in most of the previous years that they've been watched.

Fort St Vrain nest
tomihawk's photo - July 20, 2007 - from BirdCam Forum

Based on past experience, look for eggs in the first half of March, chicks in mid-April, and fledging in early July.

Summary of 2008 Season :
  • eggs laid: first egg February 26 - 27 (at night or early morning); second egg February 29 - March 1 (at night or early morning); third egg March 4 (late afternoon)
  • hatched: first egg April 4 12:25 pm (37 days); second egg April 6, 7:36 am (36 days); third egg April 9 7:02 pm (36 days)
  • fledged: hard to tell from cam angle, but I think all 3 fledged by June 25 - July 2 (~ 12 weeks)
  • last seen: all 3 seen July 10; 2 seen July 25; 1 seen August 10 (~18 weeks old)
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 4, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 5, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets
PattiO's photo - April 6, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 7, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets
mariepr's photo - April 8, 2008

Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets

Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets

Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 9, 2008

Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
beckysma's photos - April 10, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 10, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 11, 2008
Littlest chick has trouble getting to the front of the feeding line, but parents make sure it's fed.
Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photo - April 11, 2008
(oldest chick is one week old)
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 12, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
soph9's photos - April 13, 2008
(middle chick is one week old)
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
Lori's photos - April 14, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photo - April 15, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photo - April 16, 2008
(youngest chick is one week old)
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 17, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
Lori's photos - April 18, 2008
(oldest one is two weeks old)
JudyB: You can really see the darker colored down coming in at this point, and I thought One [the oldest] was looking more bigger than Two than she had before - probably as much because of the additional down as the two day difference between them.
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 20, 2008
(middle chick is two weeks old)
Both One and Two are looking scruffy as their second coat of down comes in.
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
Lori's photos - April 22, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
Lori's photos - April 23, 2008
(youngest one is two weeeks old)
JudyB: Look how prickly the big ones are getting - feathers are going to be coming in fast now! And even Three [the youngest] is well into his second coat of down!
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
Lori's photos - April 24, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photo - April 25, 2008
(oldest chick is three weeks old)
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 25, 2008
(oldest chick is three weeks old)
I think the first wing shot is actually Two, not One (though it's hard to be sure, but One is slightly bigger) - and the second is clearly little Three, showing how much difference 3-5 days makes at this age (as he's 3 days younger than Two and 5 days younger than One).
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 28, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - April 30, 2008
(youngest chick is three weeks old)
Fort St Vrain eaglets
soph9's photo - May 1, 2008
Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - May 2, 2008
(oldest chick is four weeks old)

Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets

Fort St Vrain eaglets  Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photos - May 5, 2008
This was sort of interesting. The two eaglets were sitting side by side, when the bigger one (I think Two, but it might be One) suddenly pecked at Three. Three stared at the bigger one for a minute, reached up and pecked back! They both stared for a while, sort of beak to beak, then went back to grooming.

Fort St Vrain eaglets
soph9's photos - May 6, 2008
soph9: you can see how they are all at different stages of development...
Fort St Vrain eaglets
JudyB's photo - May 7, 2008
(youngest chick is four weeks old)
Here's a picture which shows how quickly the feathers come in - One is 4 weeks, 5 days, and has a lot of dark blood feathers showing; Two is 4 weeks, 3 days, and has some - but they are nowhere near as long; and Three is 4 weeks and really doesn't have any visible from this position, though there might be some at the ends of the wings if he would have done a wing stretch while I watched.
 
JudyB's photos - May 9, 2008
(oldest chick is five weeks old)
 
JudyB's photos - May 14, 2008
 
JudyB's photos - May 16, 2008
(oldest chick is six weeks old)

Bonnie in Colorado's photo - May 22, 2008
(oldest chick is almost seven weeks old)


Update from Xcel Energy Eagle Cam

"On May 22, northern Colorado experienced severe thunderstorm and tornado activity. Our Fort St. Vrain Station and its eagle's nest are located in this storm area. We are pleased to report that the nest and family of eagles, survived the storm just fine, but the camera equipment was damaged, taking down our Eagle Cam for the remainder of the nesting season. While the birds are present, we cannot visit the nest site to make equipment repairs because it could disturb their activities. The camera equipment will be replaced this fall, so we can continue the Eagle Cam next spring."



May 30 Update from GreeleyJoe on the BirdCam Forum

"Thanks everyone for your support and understanding. GOOD NEWS!!! The Colorado Div. of Wildlife allowed me to walk to the eaglecam transmitter today for a "short" visit. I found that one of our solar charged 12 volt batteries was bad, dragging the voltage down on the other two. So, I did a quick wiring change and we are back on line. The images prove the birds are doing quite well. So, with any luck at all, we should be good to go for the rest of the season."


 
JudyB's photos - May 30, 2008
(oldest chick is eight weeks old)
The first picture has at least parts of all three - I think (based on the length of the tail feathers ) that we're seeing One, Three and Two.

 
JudyB's photos - June 4, 2008
(youngest chick is eight weeks old)
 
Lori's photos - June 5, 2008
"The eaglet train is back!"
 
JudyB's photos - June 6, 2008
(oldest chick is nine weeks old)

Lori's photos - June 10, 2008
"All 3 still present and accounted for. You can just see the third one on the right edge."
 
JudyB's photos - June 11, 2008
(youngest chick is nine weeks old)

 

 
JudyB's photos - June 18, 2008
(youngest chick is ten weeks old)

 
JudyB's photos - June 20, 2008
(oldest chick is eleven weeks old)
It looked to me as if the one at the top in these two pictures was practicing perching on the stick in the nest - seemed to keep moving around and grasping it in different ways. They're likely to be fledging before too long, so it is important to learn how to perch on a branch!
 
Lori's photos - June 25, 2008
(youngest chick is eleven weeks old)
 
JudyB's photos - June 25, 2008
One of them has been in the nest most of the day, and there have been two some of the day - but I never saw three. I do think one of them (not necessarily One) has fledged, and another (not necessarily Two) is at least branching, and the third (not necessarily Three) is doing a lot of flapping and getting ready for his turn.
 
JudyB's photos - June 27, 2008
(oldest chick is twelve weeks old)
SamJennsGrandma: Adult in nest but I don't see any of the young ones, of course that doesn't mean they are not there out of view. The adult is sitting to the left side and at first I could only see the head. She was just looking around the nest. Has now turned and I see mostly her body, turned back again. Just looking and picking. Still no eaglets. Mom, I think, has moved to upper side and can only see her tail. I need to go but keep hoping one of the kids will show. I walked away to answer phone, mom is gone.
JudyB: Not sure the parent had food - I tend to assume when they don't show up for a meal, they probably have fledged. I do suspect at least one of them has fledged - possibly more. Never did catch more than one in the nest.

GreeleyJoe's photo - July 2, 2008
(youngest chick is twelve weeks old)
Only an adult was visible part of the day - it's possible all three have fledged - or at least doing a lot of branching.

JudyB's photo - July 6, 2008
(middle chick is thirteen weeks old)
 
JudyB's photos - July 7, 2008

JudyB's photo - July 9, 2008
(youngest chick is thirteen weeks old)

Linda M's photo - July 10, 2008
(This was the last picture I could find of all three eaglets in the nest at the same time.)
 
JudyB's photos - July 11, 2008
(oldest chick is fourteen weeks old)

Linda M's photo - July 15, 2008
(youngest chick is almost fourteen weeks old)

Linda M's photo - July 22, 2008
(youngest chick is almost fifteen weeks old)

Linda M's photo - July 25, 2008
(oldest chick is sixteen weeks old)
(This is the last picture I found with two eaglets in the nest.)

Bonnie in Colorado's photo - July 27, 2008
(middle chick is sixteen weeks old)

Bonnie in Colorado's photo - July 31, 2008
(youngest chick is a bit over sixteen weeks old; oldest chick is almost seventeen weeks old)

Bonnie in Colorado's photo - August 5, 2008
(youngest chick is almost seventeen weeks old)
 
JudyB's photos - August 10, 2008
(middle chick is eighteen weeks old)
(These are the last pictures I found with an eaglet in the nest.)

All images are the property of the cam from which they were taken and/or the person credited.
Thank you for letting me use the images for this compilation.