Thursday 22 August 2013

Hatched!


A quick look at the progress of our two tracked eagles today has revealed some exciting news: the nests of both birds have new arrivals! It's been over 7 weeks since we know that Gidjee began incubating eggs on her nest, and about the same time that we noticed Wallu visiting Wurru at their chosen nest each morning, probably delivering food. This is beyond the normal incubation period for wedgies so we are safe to assume that the eggs on each nest have hatched. The behaviour of both eagles changing in the last few days provides further evidence, with Gidjee leaving her nest several times each day and at odd hours, and Wallu attending his nest or perching near it for longer periods than we've noted in the last 6 weeks. Now the challenge begins for our two pairs to feed their young and keep them alive!

Today I also received some great news that I have received approval to satellite track a juvenile eagle later this year. Provided food supply is ample and there are no extreme weather conditions, Gidjee and Mulga should rear at least one offspring each, ready to fledge around October. So hopefully if all goes well we will be able to track the progress of this bird during its post fledging period, and beyond. More updates soon!

4 comments:

  1. Simon,
    I have just caught up with your blog site and read thru from today to the beginning. How thrilling! The tracking video showing altitude is amazing. It must be very exciting to receive the data every few days and interpret the eagles' behavior. I really enjoyed the preview vid and am looking forward to seeing the finale. This blog is a great way to show how a researcher lives/loves his work.
    Congrats
    Peter Taylor

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    1. Hi Pete - thanks so much for this positive feedback, and for sharing on facebook! I'm really glad you have been able to read all about the eagles and share the excitement, it is definitely amazing technology and I'm stoked to be able to use it.
      Thanks! :)

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  2. Thanks for all the work. Loving getting the info behind some of the sightings of these cool raptors!

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    1. Glad you are enjoying the information Bill, thankyou for taking the time to read this blog and comment :)

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