Hello Eagle Friends,
It was hot and muggy today. The temperature was 81 degrees when we reached the valley
and pure sunshine.
There was no activity on nest 7.
At nest 2 we found Judy feeding Terry Gail, mostly taking the first bites for herself while 8 week old Terry Gail begged. She blocked her eaglet feeding with the food facing us and Terry Gail was learning a lesson about the dominant eagles eat first.
At nest 6 we saw the twins, Freedom and Soar. Not much was out for wildlife on their pond so we moved on.
We found only one twin posed sitting up on the nest at nest 5. There were gosling's swimming through thick green algae and scum and Em asked, "How do they even swim through all that mom?"
It's an acquired skill no doubt. I think I'd get tangled up in that muck before making it to the shoreline like these little four week old gosling's and their parents.
At nest 3 we found Victory Bell up on the nest, but he was hard to see as the shadows of the late afternoon fell across his nest. I didn't see any eagles flying around or perched at nest 4.
I showed Em some monarch eggs on a couple leaves of a milkweed plant and she was entranced by the beauty contained in such a small ivory oval egg. She is anxious to watch the caterpillars hatch and follow along on their journey as much as she is on the red admiral caterpillars in the nettles.
Their are about 100 water lotus that are ready to bloom and I'm sure that will happen in the next couple days. Em can't wait to see them all bloomed as it is a sight that you only see a few weeks each spring.
The damselflies hatched by the dozens and try as she might to catch one, they eluded her efforts and teased her by flying around her.
We both tried to find the a bull frog that would call out endlessly, and within close proximity to where we were standing, but he remained hidden from our view in the grasses.
We moved on to nest 1 and hiked out after watching a scarlet red male cardinal taking a bath in a puddle with a goldfinch sipping from the same puddle. That was interesting to watch.
Daedee was up on the nest with the twins who were calling out eagerly, but we couldn't see them. From the irridescent feather stuck on her beak I was sure she had a wild turkey up on the nest.
After some time had passed, Daniels Charlie lifted his head and I was able to get a few shots of him with Daedee. Then Dancer flew in unexpectedly, as D'ODEE let out a piercing scream and ducked into the nest. Dancer had a fish and the twins literally pounced on him to take it.
Daedee intervened and took the fish and offered bites to the eaglets. Dancer flew over to Riverside North and watched over his family. After about ten minutes he began calling on non-stop.
"What's the matter Dancer?" I asked the eagle, knowing he would answer in his eagle speak. He looked down in front of us and called out and that is when I noticed what all the commotion was about.
There was a doe feeding about 20 feet away from Em and me.
"Em, quietly and slowly stand up and look in front of the tripod. There is a deer there." Em did as she was told and came back down to my knee high level and whispered, "Oh mom she is so beautiful."
She's never had a deer walk up to her before. "Be still and she'll come in."
She did, she walked about ten feet from us before realizing we were people, and bolted. Three giant leaps and she cleared the gully and was tromping through the underbrush on the other side of the gully.
"She probably has a fawn out here somewhere." I told Em.
We moved on to check the caterpillar in the nettles and he had doubled in size since yesterday which didn't surprise me.
I thank God for every moment today. What a day for exploring all the creatures, their habitats, and their behavior but mostly what a wonderful time Em and me had.
I'm looking forward to day 146.
See you on the journey--
Lisa
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