FEB 18  2012 SNOW GOOSE  ?  IN NEST

I asked our ranger about the bird, since he's near the live monitor. He said he was leaning toward snow goose. He saw some long black primary feathers earlier.

We now see two little eaglets in the nest! We're not sure when the 2nd arrived. There are egg remains in the nest, so it was hard to tell the other had hatched, although Theresa mentioned last night she thought she saw a second chick there. But we now appear to have two. It's good that they hatched so close together.

FEB 19

FEB 18     2012

Nest Update

02/18/12:
Chick Alert!
One egg is definitely hatching. The other might have some minor activity as well

chick has hatched    and grey squirrle in nest

CONTROLLED BURN IN THE BLACK WATER REFUGE

click here prescribed burns

WBOC in Delmarva recently posted a video taken from their helicopter that shows the Blackwater Refuge fire team at work in the marsh. Blackwater's fire team is one of the largest in the Refuge System, and during the winter they use controlled burns to eliminate invasive plant species and to improve the overall health of the wetlands. Watch the video, which shows the team using flamethrowers from an airboat

CLICK HERE

01/25/12:
On Wednesday, we saw one of the parents perform the old trick where they dump grass on the seated parent to get that adult to stand up so they can switch positions. And as we see, it usually works

01/15/12:
Egg Alert!
We have our second egg of the 2012 season. If we're getting a third egg, it should be here in 2-3 days.

Nest Update

01/11/12:
Egg Alert!
We have our first egg of the 2012 season

-- the earliest we've ever had an egg on the Eagle Cam.

Way to go to our parents!

jan 04

2012  SEASON HAS BEGUN

A Bald Eagle's Diet and Feeding Habits

click here

2012 Mid-Winter Eagle Survey

BALD EAGLES

• Immature: 29
• Adult: 100

GOLDEN EAGLES

• Immature: 0
• Adult: 0

UNKNOWN: 39

UNKNOWN: 17

TOTAL: 168

ROOST COUNT (PM)

BALD EAGLES

• Immature: 55
• Adult: 82

GOLDEN EAGLES

• Immature: 0
• Adult: 0

UNKNOWN: 17

TOTAL: 154

click here

Friends of Blackwater NWR

The Eagle Cam is live! We've seen both adults on the nest, rubbing each other and moving sticks around. Also, tonight we saw one adult sitting in the nest for a bit. We're having a small issue with image static due to high winds. It should improve once we permanently mount our microwave receiver at the Visitor Center, but for now you'll see some static until we can get our work finished in the new PC room. Thanks again for your patience over the last few months.

2012   A NEW SEASON WILL BEGIN

dec 30 2011

images of black water eagle cam click here

good news on the Eagle Cam front. We were working on the image quality and Internet connection today, and our eagle couple showed up, looking very much like two birds that are preparing to lay eggs in the next month. We're currently tackling our final technical issue -- improving the Internet connection -- and then we should be ready to go live.

We know folks are anxious about the Eagle Cam going live. In the past week the delay has been a sudden issue with the flag pole at the Visitor Center causing interference with our microwave transmitter/receiver, which we believe our cam technician has just fixed. Here's a diagram showing how our cam sends images to the computer. We also have an update on our website:

http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camfix.html">

Update on Blackwater Raptor Cams

December 21, 2011 Update

CLICK HERE

DEC 10   2011

Friends of Blackwater NWR

Our cam technician reports that they've installed a new wide-angle cam on the Eagle Cam tree. Here is a photo showing our old cam, the new one that didn't work, and the latest cam we just installed (the largest of the three). We'll be testing the newest cam over the next few weeks to be sure it's working well. We're also working on getting our PC up and running so we can get the Eagle Cam image on the Net. Thanks for your patience.

nov 30-

new update on the camera

after   2 new cameras  failed - they have bought

a nwe different brand- sure hope it works

We've acquired a new wide-angle cam (different model) and we're making plans to send our tree climber up to install it.

click here

Online

Joined: Feb 18 2006

up-date on new camera

We have unfortunate news to report. We've lost the signal to the new camera that we recently placed in our Eagle Cam tree. This is the second time this cam model has failed at the start of a season (it's the cam we posted about earlier), so we're ending our attempts to use it, and we have plans to send the tree climber up with a new model shortly. We've posted a more detailed update on our website.

click here

Friends of Blackwater NWR wrote: "Hi Barry: Right now the Blackwater population is under control, but officials have to work with others -- including private landowners -- to try and eliminate nutria around the Refuge and on the Delmarva Peninsula. The challenge is that Blackwater can get rid of all their nutria, but if other landowners don't get rid of theirs, the animals could move right back to the Refuge and all the gains would be lost."

nutria.

click here slide show

Breaking News: On Nov.

17, 2004, the Washington Post reported on the fact that the

Blackwater Refuge staff and their partners have eradicated

the destructive nutria.

web-footed, semi-aquatic rodent that can

weigh up to 22 pounds,

black water  nutria info   click here

click here

2011 -  november   11

"The costs of nutria removal are potentially minor compared to the costs to the state if the loss of marsh habitats continue unabated," the report concluded.

About 30 federal, state and private agencies pooled their resources in 2000 to form a management team. Congress provided a $1.5 million annual budget. After conducting an assessment, the Agriculture Department deployed 19 trappers at Blackwater to destroy nutria, grid by grid.

They killed 5,000 in 2003, then saw the number drop to 250 the next year and fall further in each subsequent year. So far this year, Blackwater has been nutria-free.

"Had we stopped after the third year, we'd be right back where we started," Kendrot said.

click here

State and federal officials are conducting The Judas Project to help rid Blackwater Refuge and the Delmarva Peninsula of the invasive nutria, which were introduced from South America. The biologists catch one and sterilize it, then attach a GPS collar and set it free, and the tagged nutria leads the biologists back to its furry friends. Blackwater has lost thousands of wetland acres to nutria, which eat the marsh root balls and turn the wetlands into mud flats.

2012  season will start  soon

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland

eagle population at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge with the highest mid-winter survey numbers being 2010 with 173 eagles.

click here

click here

images    click here

nov 14

This could very well be our Eagle Cam couple perching on the Osprey Cam nest.

photo of the osprey cam with eagles   click here