Learning to be eagles

©2013 Lydia Hinshaw

Try to land on a limb too small. . .

. . . and here's what can happen

Find five eagles in this tree

 HOLLY HILL, FL -- The bald eaglets we've been watching have left the nest, but they still depend upon their parents for food, and flying lessons.
 We visit regularly and usually find both parents and all three chicks sitting in one or another of several dead trees within 100 yards of the nest.  We watch for a while, and usually see something entertaining.
 Flying is pretty easy stuff for this trio, although they don't go very high or very far yet.  But just as it is for new pilots, landing is the tricky part.  
  In the past couple of weeks we've seen some landing failures and comic successes. An eagle may try to land right next to a sibling, and stir up so much air that the sibling spectator has to fight to keep from falling out of the tree himself.  An eagle may miss an approach, and suddenly find himself dropping toward the ground, provoking more wing-flapping and then flying and then trying again to land somewhere.
 Sunday, one of the youngsters attempted to land on the very end of a dead tree limb, a thin twig that could not support his weight and broke off in his talon.  What now?  The eagle recovered, and flew several circuits of the traffic pattern carrying a piece of a tree.
 He learned something in the process.  In the beginning, he dangled the cargo with his leg extended, but he quickly figured out that holding it up close to his body is more aerodynamic and reduces the effort he has to put into flying.  We didn't see what happened to the twig, although all five of the eagles were safe in the same tree a few minutes later.
 In about five years, if all goes well, each young eagle will find a mate and each pair will work together to build a nest.  Carrying twigs will be a required skill at that point.
 More immediately, and more critically all three youngsters must learn to procure their own food, which requires spotting a fish from a great height, plunging into the water to grab it, and then hauling it to a safe spot for eating.
 We hope they'll practice fishing in the lake near the next, so we can watch.