Signs Of Change

Yesterday, as Marsha flew north across Montlake Cut, it may have looked just like hundreds of other flights she has made. She landed in the old-world Cedars just north of the University of Washington (UW) Waterfront Activities Center (WAC). 

No doubt Monty called out to greet her as she arrived. Sitting on top of the cedar trees provides them an unobstructed view of Union Bay and many potential food sources such as fish, ducks, herons, and geese. 

By the way, I have heard from multiple sources that, earlier this Spring, Bald Eagles raided the Great Blue Heron colony on the UW Campus. Apparently, they have put the colony out of business, at least for this year. Eagles have to eat and adults raising young are under a great deal of pressure. 

I certainly hope the herons return and attempt to recolonize and raise young on the campus, next year.

Since early May, I believe the eaglets have grown from hardball-sized eggs to nearly as large as their parents. The Center for Conservation Biology provides a nice summary of research which says that by six weeks of age, the eaglets they studied, weighed ninety percent of their mother's weight. (Click Here to read for yourself.) I am estimating that our Montlake Cut eaglets may now be six or seven weeks old.

This photo, from earlier in the week, may be one of the last times we see Marsha apparently sitting down in the nest, at least during the current breeding season. The young eagles are simply getting too big and dangerous for the adults to remain within reach. 

The parents will still deliver food but I do not think they need to provide much in the way of protection or warmth. The young eagles are now a significant danger to virtually any creature which is foolish enough to spend time in the nest. Also, I suspect they can now generate and retain all the heat they need - at least as long as the parental gravy-train continues.

One obvious sign of juvenile development is their change of focus. Instead of sitting down in the nest, while looking up and watching for the parents to bring food, the young are now becoming much more observant of the world below.

I wonder if they are watching the boats passing through The Cut or gazing at the sunbathers lounging on the opposite shore. They might be watching the Crows, Gulls or Terns as they fly by or observing the tasty young Canada Geese following their parents around on the water below. 

Actually, I suspect their primary focus should be watching for fish migrating through The Cut. Historically, there were abundant upstream spawning grounds in the Lake Washington watershed back before The Cut completely changed the drainage. By the way, I found these spawning maps, for local Chinook, Sockeye, Coho and Kokanee, extremely interesting.

This was the first time I remember seeing one of the eaglets actually noticing my existence. In the future, no doubt this same piercing look will strike fear in the hearts of many creatures, just prior to their untimely demise.

As the curtain of leaves closes on the south side of the nest the young eagles are clearly focusing down on the world of water to the north.

I suspect that during the next few weeks we will see the young move out onto this northern branch while exercising their wings. The process is aptly called, 'branching.' It hopefully culminates with a successful flight. I am guessing the first one will fledge sometime around the end of July. Click Here to read about the fledging process.

During the next six or seven weeks, if you see one of the young eagles on the ground, and especially if they are unable to fly, please do not approach them. I would recommend keeping people and pets away while immediately calling the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Lynnwood at:

425.787.2500

They can provide you guidance regarding the appropriate next step(s).

The reason Marsha's flight across The Cut stood out to me was because it was preceded by one of her young spreading its wings and beginning to flap. Marsha immediately left the nest and headed north. Yesterday, was the first time this year, that I observed one of the young eagles executing their strength-building exercise. Marsha's reaction seemed like a significant change to me.

Even with their wings spread the young, dark eagles can be hard to see in the dappled shadows. The movement is easier to observe in person. In this photo, both juveniles are still in the nest. One is sitting to the left of the branch while the other is behind the main trunk with its wings open and visible on both sides. It will be interesting to see when they leave the nest for the first time.

Here, the northern juvenile takes a turn at flapping. 

Hopefully, by mid-Summer, they will have learned to fly. Doing so in a timely manner is critical because by Fall they will need to have learned to hunt on their own. 

Surprisingly, the most visible sign of eaglet development cannot be seen by peering through the cottonwood leaves and searching the nest for the movement of young eagles.

Their most obvious sign of development is the changing behavior of their parents. Monty and Marsha have dramatically increased time spent at their non-breeding roost, just north of the WAC. In the future, maybe we will remember this moment of change because it coincided so closely with the Summer Solstice.

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape. My hope is that we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors and local businesses to respect native flora and to support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:

1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.
2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (If natives plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)
3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.
4) If you feel you must add a new plant then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms.

Is this a native or non-native plant?

Scroll down for the answer.

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Spiraea (or Hardhack): This is a native plant. I suspect the bumblebee is a Yellow-faced Bumblebee, but apparently, there are a few other species that look very similar.

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional workaround is to set up my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is LDHubbell@comcast.net

Eaglet Troubles

This photo from last December shows Monty beginning a new nest on Montlake Cut. You can see more of the process in the earlier post, New Neighbors. Monty and and his mate, Marsha, completed the nest, laid eggs and for about two months they have been feeding and protecting their two new offspring. You can learn more about identifying Monty and Marsha in the post titled, 'Monty, Marsha and...'

A month ago the young were large enough to walk around the nest and curious enough to begin paying attention to the world beyond.

This may be the last photo I have of the whole family. I believe we are seeing Marsha with the young in the nest, while Monty is perched up on the branch to the left.

At this age, the young seemed a lot like toddlers squabbling with each other.

Luckily, they were fairly evenly matched and it did not appear like either one could or would dominate the other.

By the middle of June they were looking decidedly older. Their feathers appeared much darker and their behavior appeared a bit less childish.

The family resemblance was striking.

On July 5th, while I was out of town, Stephanie Martin sent the following message,

'Good morning. Couldn't reach Audubon and thought you might be able to respond. At the southeast entrance to the park along the Montlake Cut...there is a large juvenile eagle on the ground at the edge of the trees....There is a large branch down on the walkway...I didn't approach him. He was sitting with wings spread but watched me closely.'

I was without internet access and did not receive the message until later in the day. As I struggled to formulate a reply, I realized that one of the branches supporting the relatively new nest must have given way and at least one of the young had fallen. Having watched their development fairly closely I felt certain they were both about a month away from being able to fly.

One of my suggestions was to contact PAWs. A bit later, when I spoke with a federal wildlife agent he reinforced that PAWs was the appropriate licensed organization. Bud Anderson, our local renown raptor expert from Falcon Research Group, reinforced that without the appropriate federal permits and authorization no one else should go near the eagle.

Stephanie and I communicated back and forth. By the time Stephanie was able to get through to PAWs, she learned that the young eagle had already been picked up. Some kind soul, unknown to us, had contacted PAWS and instigated a timely response which may very well have saved the defenseless young eagle's life.

When I returned to town later in the day on Friday, it was too late to learn anything from PAWs regarding the young eagle who fell. My next concern was the status of the other eaglet. Was it injured? Was it still in the nest? Was there anything left of the nest? 

Looking from the north I could see that most of the nesting material was still in the tree, but certainly not in its previous location.

This photo from a similar angle in May allows us to compare how much of the nest has fallen.

Looking from the west, the second young eagle could be seen at the remains of the nest site. However, if you look through the leaves you can see that much of the nest is now in a vertical position and most likely functionally useless to the young bird.

The good news is there was enough horizontal space in the remnant of the nest for the young eagle to lay down and sleep.

 In addition, the parents are still tending to the safety of the remaining bird.

This close up shows how the nesting area has shrunk.

A kind neighbor suggested we call the two young eagles, Peanuts, primarily because the names Monty and Marsha could be thought of as, M&M. This idea caused me to start thinking of the remaining young eagle as Lucy and the one who fell as Charlie. 

Truthfully, I have no idea about the gender of the two young eagles. They could just as easily be Charlotte and Luke, as Charlie and Lucy.

In this photo from Friday, Lucy is exercising her wings. Hopefully, this is the beginning of her branching process. Branching is when a young eagle starts hopping and jumping from branch to branch while flapping their wings and gaining the strength to fly. As you can see from the gaps, her feathers still need a fair amount of additional growth.

In this photo, the pens of her flight feathers are still visible. Once her underwing coverts are fully developed, this attaching portion of the flight feathers will be totally hidden.

The coverts and the flight feathers will combine to make a uniformly smooth and functional wing surface. In this close up I noticed there are little pointed tips to her flight feathers. I suspect this may indicate that these feathers still need to add length, as well.

I found it very reassuring to see Monty up on a branch to the left of the nest watching out for Lucy. However, I did wonder if there would be enough space in the new abbreviated nest for the adults to set down food while they parsed and offered bite-sized pieces to Lucy.

On Saturday I was happy to see Marsha solved the problem. She held the body of a fish in a nearby crotch while she ripped off pieces and fed them to Lucy.

With the bulk of the feeding complete, Marsha offered Lucy the tail.

Sadly, when Lucy attempted to set the tail down there just wasn't much horizontal space available. They both watched as Lucy learned a lesson about gravity. 

As long as the last remaining portion of the nest stays in its original position, it looks like Lucy will have a fighting chance to fledge during the next month or so.

It would be interesting to know what Lucy and her parents, are thinking. Are they wondering where Charlie has gone? Do they miss him? Is Lucy suddenly lonely now that she is alone in the nest? Maybe she is just feeling free of her sibling pest.

In any case, we are left to wonder, what will happen to Charlie? So far no one from PAWs has had a chance to respond to my request for an update. PAWs is an all volunteer organization and I am sure they are totally swamped with all types of young injured birds who, fresh out of their nests, were quick to find trouble of one type or another. So I completely understand their not having time to respond to inquires which are not critical to a creature's well being.

However, this does leave us a bit up in the air. From the limited information we have, I'm hoping that Charlie will make a full recovery. When Stephanie saw him he was alert, so we know he survived the fall. Later, she mentioned seeing him with his wings slightly raised. I am hoping this implies his wings were unbroken. 

His stage of development was very similar to Lucy's so I expect he will still need a month or so to learn to fly even if he is relatively unharmed, possibly longer if healing is required. If he makes a full recovery I expect he will be released as close as possible to the nesting tree where he was picked up. That would certainly be exciting to watch.

If anyone has additional information about Charlie or his status, I am sure all of us would love to hear your updates. You can add them in the comments below or send them to me directly at: 

      ldhubbell@comcast .net

Thank you!

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry


Update:                                      July 8th, 2018

A kind reader reported the following message from PAWs concerning the young eaglet, Charlie/Charlotte, who fell:


'The young eaglet was initially dehydrated and had some blood in his/her mouth. There was also concern about one leg but that issue has been resolved.'

This certainly sounds like good news!



Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape. My hope is that we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors and local businesses to respect native flora and to support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:

1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.
2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (If natives plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)
3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.
4) If you feel you must add a new plant then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms.

Are these butterflies native to the Pacific Northwest? Are they the same species?

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Scroll down for the answer

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Lorquin's Admiral:

I believe they are both the same, native species. What I found particularly interesting is that the wings have similar but different patterns when viewed from the top versus the bottom. The upper surface of the wings are visible on the butterfly on the right, while the undersides are visible on the butterfly on the left. It was also interesting to note that they have four wings, two on each side.

By the way I happened across the helpful link from UW and thought you might enjoy it.

    Summer Berry Guide

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional work around is to setup my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is LDHubbell@comcast.net

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Monty, Marsha and...

Is this Monty or Marsha?

If you have not seen last month's post regarding the new pair of Bald Eagles in Montlake, you may want to take a moment to catch up. The post was titled, New Neighbors. Click on the green highlighted title if you would like to see how they built their new nest in Montlake.

I must admit, I have paid significantly less attention to my old favorite eagle pair, Eva and Albert, since Monty and Marsha built their nest quite close to my home. This week I just happened to notice that Eva and Albert have not two but three healthy-looking eaglets in their nest. 

As luck would have it, Peter Reshetniak, President of Raptor Education Foundation, sent me a link to his beautiful video which documents that Eva and Albert have three young in their Broadmoor nest. Click Here to watch his wonderful update.

Identifying individual eagles might seem frivolous, but my assumption is that to truly appreciate and learn about our new neighbors we must first figure out how we can recognize them. 

In the earlier post regarding Marsha and Monty I mentioned noticing a difference in their 'eyebrows'. I have tried for years to see physical differences in Eva and Albert, other than size, but I have never felt very secure in identifying them. This could be partially due to the height of their nest. Even with closer access to Monty and Marsha's nest my progress has been a slow and humbling process, but I think I am finally making headway.

In this photo from January, the smaller Monty is sitting in front. Clearly, he has less of an overhang above his eye. Marsha's 'eyebrow' hangs down above and slightly in front of her eye. If you look back at the first two photos in this post, which were taken in late May, you can clearly see Marsha's distinctive eyebrow. The fact that the difference has been consistent for a number of months increases my willingness to rely on the distinction.

Of course the flip side to the issue is, can we also see a consistent distinction for Monty? Here is a similar photo of Monty in May and we can see that his eyebrow has remained fairly horizontal and without the slight downward protrusion, like Marsha's.

Here is another example, with their heads in the shadows, it is less obvious that Marsha is the closer bird. However, there is just enough of a difference to tell them apart.

One of the things this distinction has taught me is that Monty spends much more time on the nest than I had expected. While this tiny distinction is sometimes helpful it is not always a functional distinction. For example, when the eagles are in the air they seldom slow down and allow me to examine their eyebrows.

Although in this case, when Monty was just leaving the nest, I did get a clear look at his eyebrow. As luck would have it, there is currently another notable distinction between these two eagles. 

On Monty's right wing, just beyond the halfway point, Monty is missing one of his feathers. In this photo there is just a tiny gap through which the sky is visible. It takes at least two years for an eagle to replace all their feathers, so while Monty is regrowing this feather we will have a larger personal indicator.

This photo from January shows Monty has been missing this feather for a few months. The missing feather is near the border (I think of it as his elbow) between his primary and secondary feathers. I believe Bald Eagles have ten primary feathers. If my counting is correct Monty is regrowing his third or fourth secondary feather.

Occasionally I get lucky. Here is a photo of Monty in-flight with both his partially missing feather and his horizontal eyebrow on display.

Of course the next question is how do we identify Marsha in-flight. This photo from late in May shows that she is regrowing two secondary feathers on her left wing. One near the mid-point and one is closer to her body.

This photo from early March shows that she has been missing these feathers for a few months. Being able to identify them individually also helps us to learn the boundaries of their territory. Previously, I have had to watch the eagles until they returned to their nest to identify them.

For nesting Bald Eagles it seems like their most consistent challenge is defending their eggs, and then their young, from crows. 

Sometimes they see the challenges coming, and sometimes they don't.

Monty seems to react to the crows a little more than Marsha. I wonder if her indifference is somehow due to her larger size or just a generally calmer personality.

If I remember correctly, Monty was a bit upset by the crows in this photo.

Still, when Monty returns to the nest Marsha can also get a bit vocal.

The most exciting Marsha and Monty moment in May was getting to see the head of a young eaglet (or two) in their nest. A kind and generous neighbor allowed me access to their strategically placed deck, which enabled this special and unique view.

These young eaglets create some new challenges for us. Will we be able to identify the individual young birds? What will be appropriate names for Monty and Marsh's offspring? Luckily, we do not have to worry about protecting and feeding the young.

In this photo, we see Marsha returning to the nest with baby food.

By the way, if you have an extra few minutes you might want to read these wonderful posts regarding, Valuing Nature and Decoding the Audio Mysteries.

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry

Wood Duck Update:

Off the top of my head, I can no longer count the number of Wood Duck ducklings that have been reported in the last week. This is a great time to be visiting the shores of Union Bay.

This duckling was already wandering around on its own, which makes it helpful to be able to tell the difference between a Wood Duck... 

...and a Mallard duckling. Not counting their size, Do you see a key difference? Answer below.

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape. My hope is that we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors and local businesses to respect native flora and to support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:

1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.
2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (If natives plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)
3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.
4) If you feel you must add a new plant then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms.

What species of butterfly is this? Is it native to Union Bay?

Scroll down for the answer.

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Western Tiger Swallowtail: Yes, it is a native. Click on the name to learn more.

(In the case of the ducklings notice the difference between their dark eye lines. Another difference is that the light-colored feathers on the Mallard duckling are a slightly brighter yellow.)

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional work around is to setup my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is LDHubbell@comcast.net

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