Greetings everyone.  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  Here in NJ we've been experiencing a touch of Spring the past few days with temps in the 60's.   The local eagles don't seem to mind the warmer weather.  I got out 4 times last week to check on the eagles and were able to find some to photograph each day.

John & Sandy Update

As I mentioned, in last week's post, I believe John & Sandy are expecting.  I checked in on them twice last week and one or the other was on the nest each time.  I can only estimate when their eggs may hatch.  My first observaton of them on the nest was on February 12.  Given that eagles incubute their eggs for 35 days before hatching, this would put their expected delivery somewhere around March 19. 

Once the eggs hatch, it will still be a while before I can see them.  Although, eagles grow very fast, I won't be able to see them until they are big enough to reach over the top of the nest bowl.

I will say that during this incubation time, it really doesn't make for great photo ops.  Sandy pretty much sits on the nest while John sits close by on a stick.  Fascinating to watch but boring pictures.

Sandy Hanging out on their nest keeping their eggs warm.

This beautiful Northern Flicker stopped by to say hello while I was photographing the nest

New eagles at the Pond

I have had 2 new eagles show up at my local pond and I saw them a few times this past week.  There is a very large juvenile female as well as a sub-adult male.  

John also stopped by the pond one day mostly hanging to far away to get any decent photos.  He did take offense to the new visitors ot the pond and was quick to chase them away.

Female Juvenile  arrived at my local pond this week.

Juvie & Sub-Adult chasing each other around the pond

The new visitors are fun to watch.  They will sit side by side for a while and then when one takes off, the other will give chase and often they will engage in some air to air combat.  The battles make for some great photo ops!

Juvie & Sub Adult engaged in some air-to-air combat

This sub-adult flew right over my  head and gave a nice salute

John escorting the juvie off his turf

John in flight

Another photo of John keeping a watchful from above

The weather for the next few days doesn't look great so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get out.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get out.

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, you can drop me a line in the comments below and I'll get back to you straight away!