Teachers, when you have that short bit of time to observe a Live Eagle Cam with your class, log into one of these two spots and have your students make observations, write about the eagle behaviours, draw them, paint them…it’s so beautiful to watch!
Either today or tomorrow or the day after that, the eggs should hatch at Duke Farms.
The weather today has been quite lovely at Duke Farms in Virginia.
Horrible weather…sleet…rain…slush and wind in Decorah.
Grade twos made amazing observations of the eagles, rubbing off their chalk every time Mom changed her posture in the nest and began to sketch again. After the sketching practice, the students added their colour with different media.
The female eaglet, #1, has left the nest. She’s done a couple of flybys at the Duke Farm’s eagle nest and parents have been diligent about continuing to bring food to the nest, but our little guy, #2, is looking lonely. I first discovered #1 was going into the realm of fledging on Thursday at lunch. I had a preparation period and saw this all on my own. I actually had a tear because of the wonderful memories the grade threes and I have shared, watching the adults birth, hatch and raise their two young ones.
February 2015 Two Eggs
Here they are on April 19th.
This was the nest yesterday on June 13, 2015.
The student observations have been so beautiful, I’ve taken a selection of photos of some of their illustrations and recorded observations. These warm my heart…absolutely precious.
Hmmm…as I’ve been downloading the student observations, little lady has been back to the nest to feast on a fish that her mama just brought. Presently, she and her sibling are cuddling on a branch and clicking their beaks together. The biologists have indicated that she’s been doing a lot of flying today and might just hang out at the nest for the time being.Now, for the student observations…read their entries…they are beautiful.
At the Decorah Nest, their #1 of three fledged today! WHOOT!
As Easter approaches and we anticipate the end of our Lenten journey; as we live in hope that snow will soon disappear and be replaced by green, my grade ones have been exploring eggs and new life.
Each morning, after attendance, I sign on to the Live Eagle Cam of Duke Farms and we see what the eaglets and their wonderful parents are up to. It is most common for eagles to lay two eggs each season, but this year we got three. I’ve been following Duke Farms for a few years now, simply because it is great entertainment to see the antics at the nest, the determination and the utter devotion. Sometimes bad things happen. Life is just like that. But in the meantime, it is quite something to observe a live fish being dropped into a nest and the amazing care that is given to these fuzzy critters that seem clumsy and disproportioned!
This was a screen shot I took after the second egg came along. A running commentary is located so that viewers can observe the scientific timeline of events.
Update 4/1/2014
The 3rd egg has hatched. The 3rd eaglet is smaller than the other 2 who hatched on the same day.
Update 3/31/2014 The 3rd egg appears to now have a pip (hole) in the shell. Hatch should occur today or tomorrow.
Update 3/29/2014 2 chicks have hatched in the nest. Parents are starting to leave food in the nest such as fish and waterfowl to give the nesting parent and young food. The 3rd egg has not hatched yet.
Update 2/24/2014 A 3rd egg was laid on 2/23/2014 in the afternoon. Thanks you viewers for your valuable observations throughout the nesting season.
Update 2/20/2014 A 2nd egg was laid the afternoon of 2/20/2014.
Update 2/18/2014 An egg was laid in the afternoon of 2/17/2014*. Snow in the nest should begin to dissipate as temps rise during the day over the next few days. The cam will remain zoomed close in on the nest bowl to aid in detection of additional eggs.
Each day, my grade one students are writing a sentence in their journal about the new thing that happened that day. Their pictures are AMAZING and I will include those next week when I record our discoveries.
This morning, I took this screen shot. Mrs. is sitting on a fish that she brought to the nest yesterday. This is the sort of thing that the grade ones love! They also enjoy when both adults spend time together with the eaglets.
This past week, in art class, we painted eggs to represent new life…all with tints. This was an exploration of straight lines, curvy lines and zig zag lines.
