Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
Ideally, it would be good to write separately the approximate price of each item.
camera = $ 00
panels = $ 00
cable = 0
batteries = 000
metal boxes = 000
sanitation = 00
and so, in order, everything that needs to be purchased.
As for donation services, in Russia, for example, this is considered the best and most convenient because they have the lowest commission for services - donationalerts.com
You can google "the best donate services in Romania" and choose the top best one by reading reviews of streamers. The donate service is good because you can make donations in many payment methods from all over the world, and it also has many technical features such as displaying a donate scale from a link for public viewing, and much more.
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
Zenit exuberantly drags a branch part way up the nest. A branch that Mother will not be expecting when next she delivers prey.
The eaglet branches off the other side just beyond The First Perch of Zenit.
!!!
Who put that branch there? Thankfully Mom doesn't break anything, but the prey is well lodged in place for the time being.
Whether this is a domestic cat (Felis catus), a European wildcat (Felis silvestris), or a hybrid between the two may not be easily answered. Possible diagnostic characteristics such as a thick, blunt-tipped tail with distinct bands and a black tip, four to five stripes on the nape, and stripes on the shoulder, have been stripped away by the eagles prior to the flight to the eyrie.
After the coast is clear, and there is no threat of potentially pirating parental figures, Zenit attempts to drag the cat up by the tongue.
S/he tries with all might. No use.
Initial impression is of a domestic cat, but one can easily be fooled between these species (Or subspecies depending on who you ask. Taxonomy still being sorted). Hybridization also occurs and is a primary threat to the existence of wildcats throughout Europe. Domestic cats are a non-native invasive species. When allowed to roam free, their impacts on native wildlife should be viewed as an extension of our own human footprint. For they are our responsibility. Aside from hybridization, competition, and disease, the predation threat to native species populations through additive rather than compensatory mortality, is of particular concern. If this is a domestic, being eaten by golden eagles is especially beneficial to the wider ecosystem. I say this being a responsible companion to an 18 year old cat, who is often curled up here beside me as I type.
"Domestic cats have also been implicated at broader scales, in the global extinction of at least 63 species—40 birds, 21 mammals, two reptiles—which is to say 26% of all known contemporary extinctions in these species groups (Doherty, Glen, Nimmo, Ritchie, & Dickman, 2016). Likewise, domestic cats currently endanger at least a further 367 species which are at risk of extinction (Doherty et al., 2016). In a ranking of alien species threatening the largest numbers of vertebrates worldwide, domestic cats came in third—only rats (Rattus spp.) and the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis that is wiping out amphibians around the world, are ahead of them (Bellard, Genovesi, & Jeschke, 2016)." - https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10073
Zenit tries another method.
Foiled.
The movement of the body is fluid, not rigid. Freshly dead.
Underside of a front paw.
Here is something interesting. Upon the dorsal surface of a forefoot we can just barely see a starkly demarcated tabby stripe pattern. A clear hint that this cat is domestic.
Ah good. The most powerful bird in the family arrives.
No dice.
The lower jaw is dismantled with ease, and devoured.
Mom losing her grip after another attempt to pull up the cat.
Hind paw view. No distinguishing characteristics jump out.
Dorsal view of hind paw.
The cat is in tatters, but it has made it into the nest along with the branch. Zenit has a happy crop. All is well.
Side by side with Mom again. Zenit may even be slightly ahead if we look at where the talons fall (was easier to tell with movement).
Objects closer to the lens have the illusion of being larger than objects farther from the lens. Not a large guy.
What remains of the skull.
It'll take more to fill up Zenit at this age. A fair sized meal, though. Life goes on.
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
Papa Eagle delivers a phasianid to his eaglet. The Phasianidae Family of birds includes the turkeys and chickens widely consumed by humanity,
but also peafowl, pheasant, junglefowl, francolin, Old World quail, partridge, ptarmigan, monal, grouse, and a few others.
Papa's toes will not fall victim to Zenit today. He hops into the air like a raven approaching an unfamiliar carcass.
Zenit's left eye was irritated today with a minor degree of mucus. Some of the roughened periorbital tissues were also sloughing off.
The prey's head is lifted from behind, and we can just see a bit of the pattern on its face.
Again, examine carefully, the pattern of feathering on the prey's back.
Female or juvenile gray partridge (Perdix perdix) have a similar patterning to common quail (Coturnix coturnix). The latter is a smaller bird, but the scale perplexes me with only Zenit as a comparison.
Image is of Coturnix coturnix.
However, Zenit began helpfully flashing the flight feathers. Perdix perdix has a banding on these that reaches across the full feather. So now we know that this must be a common quail.
A better view of the sloughing periorbital tissues, and film over lower portion of the eye.
There is a loud sound like a gunshot or a firecracker. It startles Zenit. We have heard the shepherds and their firecrackers as they sought to deter depredations on their flock,
but no previous reactions from any of the eagles. This must have been closer, and/or perhaps not a firecracker. Whatever it was, Z was not prepared for it.
Down the hatch.
Mama and her nest-keeping.
A butterfly visits the nest again. Zenit tracks it. We can see it here behind the eaglet, diagonally left from the head.
It is perhaps the summer form of a map butterfly (Araschnia levana) or a white admiral (Limenitis camilla). If you know better, correct me. Always, please.
A long, peaceful session of insect-watching ensues. How they must appear to a golden eagle's sharp and powerful eyes.
A mini-pounce.
Plenty of branching today.
And Eagle Dances.
Zenit letting us know when family is near.
And here she is. Mom. Nest-keeper extraordinaire.
Shoulder-bump. The nest is full, Mom. I heard it burp. Zenit's turn!
Zenit uncovers and considers the cat skull.
Yet again, branching extends beyond The First Perch of Zenit. A short stint, initially.
And then...
The scene just before the camera switches to night mode.
An hour and thirteen minutes off the nest. As the song goes...
♪ Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future
I want to fly like an eagle to the sea
Fly like an eagle let my spirit carry me ♪
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
Looking at this screenshot, now I too am inclined to believe that our proud eagle is a boy
Comparing to the size of the mother you can clearly see how a fully mature eagle is much smaller than a female mother, and as we know, all male eagles are always smaller than females.
Last edited by Roma on Sun Jul 25, 2021 12:25 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
At this moment, after Zenit branched off to the left, that butterfly species from yesterday reappeared and immediately alighted in the center of the nest.
Still can't determine whether this is the summer form of a map butterfly (Araschnia levana) or a white admiral (Limenitis camilla). Maybe you'll know better.
And then...
Zenit made A Big Leap.
It was A Big Leap, but not The Big Leap, apparently. Amid the calls of a distant raven, we could also hear Zenit scuffling around out of view, and vocalizing briefly.
Although everyone could hear him by this point, when Mom brought an immature gull to the nest, she acted a bit surprised about her eaglet's location.
It did take Zenit a pretty 14 seconds to row back. Still fast, but not the instant launch of talons we usually observe.
The upper mandible of the gull has been removed, but the lower mandible being black, coupled with pale pink legs, and mottled gray wing coverts point to an immature individual.
There are a number of possibilities. Gulls can be tricky to key. It could be a lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), common gull (Larus canus), or Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans).
I'll place this photograph by Herman Bouman of an immature Caspian gull here for comparison.
Website with identification aid and many more pictures: http://gull-research.org/cachinnans/01cyaug.html
Lower mandible.
At this point, Zenit nearly swallows a fishing line, and may have swallowed a hook. There is a shape resembling one here.
Where I live, it is sadly not uncommon to find stray fishing line and hooks littering high fishing use areas, and slowly killing birds.
This is how litter can harm an apex predator as it works its way up through the trophic levels.
Zenit is able to expel the line, but the meat has been swallowed. Did it contain a hook? Let's hope not.
Mom drops off a small bird. I cannot identify it. Our helper is much too full to pick at it.
Z hacks out a chunk of meat. This is not a pellet. Too full, or is there another reason?
The sun sets with Zenit home safe in the eyrie. Nest Sweet Nest.
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Thank you for the posts and photos. They are always appreciated, and I look forward to them every morning.
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
The power of language.
When my own dear mother began to notice gulls in a grocery store parking lot, she queried me about their appearance inland. She wondered if their increasing presence in her own landlocked county had something to do with the changing climate. The changing climate is shifting many species' behaviors, but this was not one of them. Their presence inland was not new, had not increased, only her awareness of them had crystalized. It can happen to the best of us. Our own brains can be pretty deceptive, and the language we operate with can even blind us to reality until we make a concerted effort to focus.
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Zenit has been primed for flight. He holds his wings aloft more and more, in seeming anticipation. The thought of leaping across dances through the mind.
Branching upon this Third Perch of Zenit is now a part of the daily curriculum in flight training class.
The rare and enchanting golden eagle butterfly (Aquila chrysaetos zenithii). One of a kind.
Small songbirds gather throughout the natal fir. A nice little flock, chatting away. Zenit begins tracking them one by one with rapt attention.
Well. With soon to be rapt attention.
There goes one!
And another!
Behind you again.
There!
And again!
That one's perched and watching you back, Z.
The flock moves on.
Relaxing with gull feathers.
Mama? Papa?
Full-talons?!
Hunting practice with the cat-lodging branch.
Off again across the gap? Second time out that way. Second day.
Is this adjacent tree far enough way for us to consider Zenit officially a fledgling (as of yesterday), having made a first flight?
41 minutes later, a return.
Branch!
Cat skull!
Fawn hoof!
Training session complete.
Off again to the Fourth Perch of Zenit.
Back in fifteen.
A solid, confident leap.
Nearly two hours away.
Zenit finds a cricket. It could be a Roesel's bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii), a graceful bush-cricket (Pachytrachis gracilis), or a meadow dark bush-cricket (Pholidoptera fallax).
I can't be sure. Someone like that. It is in front of Zenit's floofy-feather, climbing onto a bone.
In case anyone forgot, Zenit is happy to take anything off your full-talons.
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Some saliva is vomited up. No pellet. We observed this once before on July 17th.
All better. Eyes are cast about the nest. What can Zenit get into?
First he goes for an old pellet. Nah, that won't do.
How about some sticks? Better. They entertain for a moment.
Plop. Hmm...
The antics this morning are a real treat. Zenit's own wing is out to get him! Such a character.
Here's the winner. A conifer cone.
The eaglet makes a hunting game of tossing it ahead and trying to snatch it with the talons.
He never quite manages to do so before it hits the ground, but he has so impressed us in the past with a hare's foot, if you'll recall.
It seems that the nest has grown too small, making this skilled game even more difficult, to be fair to dear Zenit. Practice makes perfect.
According to the literature, first hunting attempts should commence 28-68 days after fledging.
At 9:24:56 he leaps out of view to the Second Perch of Zenit, which is just to the left of the First Perch of Zenit and out of view of the camera.
Super Mom. Zenit spies her with his eagle eye before the camera can see her, as we hear him vocalizing. It isn't much of a surprise if golden eagles can see prey up to two kilometers away.
I've seen this data point stated in many places, but am having trouble tracking down its original source. If anyone here knows, please clue me in.
Mom can hear him, but initially she does not see him as she peeks over the side of the nest opposite to his location.
There he is.
She prepares for impact.
The prey is a lagomorph, a leporid, a hare or a rabbit. You know the drill.
!
Zenit is not ready...
...to share! He stomps at Mom's feet and she high tails it.
Too soon Mother tries yet again, from the other side of the nest.
She moves to a branch beyond the trunk. We can barely see her feet.
An attempt is made to placate her child with a stray scrap of bunny. Zenit even accepts it.
Alas.
Despite not being willing to let Mom touch the prey, after mantling Zenit takes a respite himself.
Hunger returns soon enough.
And so does Mom. She drops straight down from the canopy like a ninja.
Her persistence finally pays off.
Sacred feathers.
Oh Zenit. 12 Weeks old or very nearly so, and still little for Mom. Still being fed. She hasn't forgotten her fluffy white chick.
Zenit gets a little carried away with his grabby beak, and is disciplined for it.
Boundaries are retested almost immediately.
He gets away with it.
As soon as Mom leaves the nest, Zenit does too.
But not for terribly long. At least not in that direction.
Goodnight Bucovina and all who dwell within. And also good morning, since this has taken this feather-brain so long to post! :>
Last edited by Raven on Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
Stelian, this is the perfect place to set up the camera for next season, this branch will have a full view of the nest, and the zoom will do for close up photography from this location.
Is it a big branch of the neighboring tree from our nest? it is worth thinking of this location as one of the good locations, especially that in any emergency situations will not have to go into the nest itself.
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The day is young, and already uncomfortably warm. Zenit sprawls, panting.
On and off the nest. A matter of course now. Confidence is only increasing.
Zenit sees a parent or two in the distance. He vocalizes occasionally and tracks their flight path.
Eventually, family flies over the eyrie. The eaglet checks the canopy expectantly, but they either carried on or perch beyond his perception.
I like to imagine a line of theropods (non-avian dinosaurs ancestral to birds) sporting these big yellow, if deadly feet. Gives me a chuckle.
Off again, on again.
Off again...
Mom alights. She has a special delivery in the form of a Eurasian magpie (Pica pica).
Four hours and twenty minutes off the nest.
The prey's head is picked up by the neck. It is upside down, beak facing to the right. It has the beak of a small crow, familially speaking. Rictal bristles extending beyond the nares.
This remex offers the clearest diagnostic sign that this corvid is a magpie, for no other crow in Romania bears these inner white markings in their feathers of flight.
Once the magpie is devoured, Zenit doesn't stay long on the nest.
It may be that he sleeps beyond. When night falls, he is not there. The darkness grows thick across the screen. No aquiline shape nor movement?
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It was noteworthy that when Mom arrived today to the eyrie, Zenit did not utter a sound. Indicating that Mom was well out of view.
Nest-keeping.
During one of Zenit's bouts of vociferous calling, this eagle (?) flashed past at 13:40:14.
Five minutes later, a probable parent dropped down from a favored perching location. These conclude the only golden eagle sightings I noticed. Do you know of any others? Do tell.
Later the staccato vocalizations of a raven (Corvus corax) on alert filled the air. Raptor-mobbing frequency. For the first time we caught a glimpse of one banking past the nest.
Probably yelling at the goldens. It is the time of year when raven pairs have fledglings of their own. *Please scroll to the end for more discussion on interactions between golden eagles and common ravens.
Then a nymphalid returned to the nest in spectacular fashion. Finally a close, clearer view. Confidence has been lost in my identification. S/he could also be a poplar admiral (Limenitis populi), and really who knows whom else I haven't considered, honestly. Romania is far, far from home. A lovely insect. How fitting that this being who embodies metamorphosis should make solid appearances right before and after Zenit has fledged. Albiet, the butterfly is attracted to carrion as sure as the flies are. In this way eagles aid butterflies too!
The sun descends on another empty nest. The last call to be heard from Zenit may have occurred at 19:22:25. Correct me if you know better.
*Johan, in chat you pointed out the keen observation that ravens can alert golden eagles to carrion. Yes, indeed, and other scavengers as well. However, I learned something new recently that may also interest you.
In 2014 the golden eagle's genome was sequenced for the first time. The researchers found more genes associated with a sense of smell than anticipated, leading them to consider that this sense may be used to locate prey. When I read that, I recalled another study... it stated: "Golden eagles and ravens were the main avian scavengers in study area. More than 95% of monitored carcasses were exploited by golden eagles or ravens during the winter season, while only half of them were used in the summer. Differences in raven exploitation rates can explain these seasonal patterns. Indeed, golden eagles fed on a similar percentage of available carcasses throughout the year (13 out of 20 carcasses in winter and 11 out of 22 carcasses in summer), while ravens used a larger proportion of carcasses during winter (65%,) than in the summer (13.6%). Interestingly, some carcasses (n = 9) were used by both species, although simultaneous exploitation was not observed. Other diurnal species such as magpies (Pica pica) were also observed feeding on some carcasses (7%). In winter, Golden eagles arrived first to 8 carcasses whereas ravens arrived first to 7." - Spatio-temporal segregation of facultative avian scavengers at ungulate carcasses, by Miguel Blazquez et al.
Golden eagles do not fail to impress! Isn't that fascinating?
For anyone curious, when ravens pair-bond they become highly, highly territorial. So in order for young and unmated birds to exploit carrion resources in a mated pair's territory, they alert other vagrant ravens to these stockpiles in order to overwhelm the local pair. A raven couple may be able to expend energy chasing off a few others, but not a whole group. Pair-bonded ravens are quiet when they find carrion. They don't wish to alert others, but vagrant ravens are noisy as it benefits them to do so. Being noisy means that you'll also inadvertently attract other scavengers too. This isn't always unwanted, though! For ravens lack talons and sharp beaks. They lack the tools to easily open up the dead. This is why they are associated with the devouring of eyes. The eyes are nearly always the most easily accessible edible part, so they often are the first to go. Among those of sharp teeth that they might wish to attract, ravens have a particularly close relationship with gray wolves.
Study download: Common ravens, Corvus corax, preferentially associate with grey wolves, Canis lupus, as a foraging strategy in winter, by Daniel Stahler et al.
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She calls for her eaglet.
We can hear him, but he doesn't visit the nest this round. Mom appears to restrain herself from gobbling up the meat herself.
We can see one of the eagles soaring, each screenshot representing a different pass. There was a fifth, but you get the idea.
Empty Talons has returned, but we are still in for a treat.
Here comes Zenit in full flight, from the best angle we could hope for! And thank you to Roma for providing the GIFs.
The Zenit Hath Returned.
A parent passes overhead. We can see them framed by fir to the right of the Wild Bucovina text. Zenit is as vociferous as ever.
Off he goes.
He's back!
He's off!
No wait, here he is again!
!
♪ Up in the air, Junior Birdman,
Flying so high off the ground,
Is it a bird, plane or Superman?
No! It's Junior Birdman upside down. ♪
And he returns yet again!
But not nearly for long enough.
Zenit just misses out on Papa delivering the 8th roe deer fawn (Capreolus capreolus) of the season.
Because our dearest void-belly is absent and not terrorizing other's talons, we can enjoy a nice long look at the family's eldest member.
By the point at which Father begins tucking into the meat himself, Zenit has alighted in a conifer to the west. Is this delicious deer out of sight?
From the western conifer, Zenit leaves his perch.
It's sprucing up the nest time with Mom! An in and out visit.
Young Z. <3
Mom is now in possession of the fawn. Not much left. Maybe Zenit ate some off nest.
The prodigal son returns.
His crop is not empty, and he isn't ravenous.
Deer fuzzies.
Zenit's flaming heart. It warms us all.
Goodnight Never Neverland.
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I see Mom, where nearly everyone else who offered a public opinion sees Dad. I see Mom feeding a red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) to Zenit, to be clear of the event in question.
Let's compare a few screenshots from yesterday. This is Mom. Note the dark covert feathers on her wing and compare.
Please keep angles in mind. Use the two dark side-by-side coverts as a guide, realizing that feathers can slightly shift and fray.
Now, let's compare Papa. It's too bad Mom didn't allow us a good view of her left side as well this evening. Regardless, note that Dad has a band of lighter coverts that Mom lacks.
If that isn't convincing enough. I have something else. Mom's Light Heart. It is usually revealed when Mom arcs her head to her left.
It morphs and doesn't always look like a heart, as you can see. If you scan over yesterday's images of Papa Eagle, do note his lack of white blotches among his breast feathering (he's an older bird than she).
Mom is speckled with more than just this "heart", and at least a couple of these white flecks tend to be visible at any given time.
July 27th:
July 23rd:
June 27th:
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Zenit of the unruly feather brows. Why is there often a fluffy rolled up stringy down feather plastered to this side of his face, one might ask? Well, under all those contour feathers is a fluffy layer of insulating down. This is present in eagles young and old. As we well know, Zenit's left eye has been ill since he was a hatchling. It is itchy and otherwise bothersome, and the surrounding tissue has thickened and roughened (Please see previous post, here: https://wildbucovina.forumgratuit.ro/t2p200-aquila-chrysaetos-2021#227). It snags down feathers easily. The eaglet can daily be seen to rub this side of the face on the shoulder or wing, and voilà! It also happens whilst preening as we shall see momentarily.
Here is the case in point. Zenit preens behind his left wing, and this down feather sticks to his eye until he is able to rub it off.
Sunlight streams through Zenit's flight feathers. As if war paint of light and shadow.
Playing with sticks.
A balancing act.
Amid the antics, as close to a bow as we might hope for. ;>
Farewell for now.
Approximately two and a half hours later.
Mom arrives to an empty nest. She has brought a fellow accipitrid as prey.
This is going to be disappointing, but sometimes identification can take more time than is available. If it doesn't immediately ping something in my brain other than "bird of prey perhaps the size of a Buteo sp.", it's going to take me hours of researching raptors in a distant country and trying to dig up enough quality resources for comparing feathers, etc. So these screenshots are mostly for Stelian who is most familiar with those raptors in his region. Hopefully they can help him identify this bird now or in the future. Mom used to help us out by bringing prey parts close to the lens for better inspection too!
The underside of some remiges visible here.
View of the talons.
Another view of a foot as it rests up against Zenit's leg. Have the leg feathers been plucked or can we rely on this pattern as coming from the outer feathers?
Interesting patterns on some of the smaller feathers, here.
Another delivery. We can only ever see the talons of the deliverer. The parent remains a mystery to me.
Once the contour feathers are plucked, the soft grey down of ravens (Corvus corax) can be confused for the grey contour feathers of hooded crows (Corvus cornix).
I'm not honestly sure if this is a raven, a rook, or a hooded crow. Once again we only have the feet and size as identifying features. Here is what I know about raven feet. It applies to tracking and should be visible in the foot itself, but would require intimate study. One can read the difference between raven and crow tracks, aside from size, by examining the imprint left by the hallux, or great toe, their backward facing toe. In footprints left behind by ravens, the base of this toe appears to widen, flaring out toward the forward facing toes.
I suspect this is the third raven brought to the nest (there have been four, more obvious hooded crows), but my sense of scale is off, Zenit has grown, and there isn't enough left of this bird.
Mom arrives with empty talons, and Zenit doesn't want to share what's already in the pantry. The raptor and corvid are mantled over until she leaves, and she doesn't stay long.
Zenit has a siesta. Leaves the nest at 16:22.
Returns for a short time.
Away and back again.
Z leaves again.
Mom arrives with a delivery of Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).
Prepare for impact.
Squirrel claimed.
Off he goes.
Mom.
Lens angles distort size. Remember to always look to where Zenit's talons are in the nest compared to others'.
Also keep an eye on stances. Zenit can seem smaller one moment and taller the next without having moved an inch forward or back.
Just another bone swallowed with ease.
Squirrel tail squabble. Similarly devoured.
Mom flies off to roost elsewhere, whilst we enjoy another night with the eaglet sleeping in the eyrie.
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Re: Aquila chrysaetos 2010-2022
https://stirileprotv.ro/divers/viata-unei-familii-de-acvile-din-romania-transmisa-in-direct-in-toata-lumea-imagini-rare-cu-maiestuoasele-pasari.html?fbclid=IwAR2jBZZjyYoAy9RiiASURa5kSqXg4xPkPZKtEHt5gkG0whB5EYGukbiNP3A
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Page 12 of 15 • 1 ... 7 ... 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
» CUIBUL ACVILEI DE MUNTE NR. 2 - THE NEST OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE 2 (AQUILA CHRYSAETOS) 2023
» CUIBUL ACVILEI DE MUNTE nr. 1 - THE NEST OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE no.1 (AQUILA CHRYSAETOS) 2023-2024
» Tetrao urogallus 2021, 2022
» WILDLIFE FEEDER 2020-2021, 2021-2022
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