CUIBUL ACVILEI DE MUNTE nr. 1 - THE NEST OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE no.1 (AQUILA CHRYSAETOS) 2023-2024

12.10.2023
Urc la cuibul nr.1 unde a crescut Zenit, pentru a repornii camera video, pentru a schimba bateria cu una mai mare si mai buna, pentru a schimba controlul cu unul profesional, pentru a suplimenta cu inca un panou solar sistemul de captare a luminii. O zi intreaga a durat toata activitatea la cuib. Din seara aceastei zile am dat start streamului live.

Urmeaza detalii din aceasta zi...



I go up to the nest no. 1 where Zenit grew up. I restarted the video camera, changed the battery with a bigger and better one, changed the control with a professional one, completed the light capture system with another extra panel. All the activity at the nest took a whole day. From the evening of this day, I started the live stream.

Details from this day follow...

16.10.2023
The live stream stops. I don't know what the cause is.

22.10.2023
I go up to nest no. 1 again to see what the problem is. I find that the router is not getting internet. Cause? The internet network operator does not send internet even though I have a new contract with the same company for unlimited internet. I will talk to them tomorrow. On this occasion, I also changed the metal box where all the transmission equipment is because the other box remained small due to the fact that last time I changed the battery with a large one that no longer fits in the small box.

Hello!
Din 16.10.2023 streamlive a fost întrerupt din cauza înșelăciunilor celor de la compania de internet care, în urma contractului încheiat cu aceștia, promiteau internet nelimitat dar în realitate erau doar 30GB de internet care s-au încheiat după 4 zile de transmisie. A urmat  anularea contractului și reînnoirea unui alt contract cu o valoare mai mare, care sper să aibă internet cu adevărat nelimitat. Tot acest proces a durat atât de mult si a trebuit să merg la cuib de 3 ori pentru a reseta routerul.

From 16.10.2023 streamlive was interrupted due to the deceptions of those from the internet company who, following the contract made with them, promised unlimited internet but in reality it was only 30gb of internet which ended after 4 days of transmission. After canceling the contract and renewing another contract with a higher value, which I hope will have truly unlimited internet. This whole process took this long because I had to go up to the nest 3 times to reset the router.

26.10.2023 A treia oară am urcat să resetez routerul.
                The third time I went up to reset the router.

27.10.2023

Lucina comes to the nest at 07:42:20, inspects the nest, arranges the dry branches a little, calls her partner by vocalizing, then leaves at 07:48:20. I think that from now on it will be decided which of the two nests needs to be refreshed and prepared for use in the spring.

Thank you Stelian. What a wonderful surprise to see Lucina visit this nest!

I hope to see both Lucina and Caliman visit occasionally...a little "fix" to keep us going until the new season begins

Wow! Thank you, Stelian, and the rest of the Wild Bucovina crew. You are amazing, sir. I have immense respect for your skill, and dedication. Hiking heavy equipment in with plenty of elevation gain, I imagine, and then facing that climb. A true feat. Multiple climbs.

Lucina does appear to be having "egg thoughts" again, even as early as it is. That careful way she moves her feet, coupled with repeatedly staring down into the nest bowl.

I wonder when the Buteo buteo was plucked here? Hmm.

Raven wrote:Wow! Thank you, Stelian, and the rest of the Wild Bucovina crew. You are amazing, sir. I have immense respect for your skill, and dedication. Hiking heavy equipment in with plenty of elevation gain, I imagine, and then facing that climb. A true feat. Multiple climbs.

Lucina does appear to be having "egg thoughts" again, even as early as it is. That careful way she moves her feet, coupled with repeatedly staring down into the nest bowl.

I wonder when the Buteo buteo was plucked here? Hmm.

Thank you very much! Buteo feathers are from Zenit's time of growth.

29.10.2023

Lucina and Caliman visit nest no. 1 then Caliman brings dry branches to refresh the nest.

Wild Bucovina wrote:Buteo feathers are from Zenit's time of growth.

While I do recall those deliveries, I was considering how much nest building occurred since. They really made you have to put in extra work adjusting the camera! ;>
It would be a little unexpected for prey to be processed at an inactive nest, but wondered if it still could have occurred post-fledge (Alunu/a), since the eyries aren't terribly far from each other. Hmm.

On another note, happy to see the clip from the 29th. Thanks. I wasn't around at all. Caliman is back to it with three sticks. The male contributing more to this role seems to be a solid sign, and they're playing "beaksie" again. As in, it's been a while since we've seen the pair gently beak sparring. Low intensity, intimate barks. Sweet. And my, aren't they looking handsome in their new feathered cloaks? All ready for winter.

Raven wrote:

Wild Bucovina wrote:Buteo feathers are from Zenit's time of growth.

While I do recall those deliveries, I was considering how much nest building occurred since. They really made you have to put in extra work adjusting the camera! ;>
It would be a little unexpected for prey to be processed at an inactive nest, but wondered if it still could have occurred post-fledge (Alunu/a), since the eyries aren't terribly far from each other. Hmm.

On another note, happy to see the clip from the 29th. Thanks. I wasn't around at all. Caliman is back to it with three sticks. The male contributing more to this role seems to be a solid sign, and they're playing "beaksie" again. As in, it's been a while since we've seen the pair gently beak sparring. Low intensity, intimate barks. Sweet. And my, aren't they looking handsome in their new feathered cloaks? All ready for winter.

Yes, they changed their plumage... If they chose this nest, I think we will see Caliman bringing branches until winter comes.

Lucina și Caliman la cuibul nr.1 / Lucina and Caliman at nest no.1 - 06.11.2023

08.11.2023
Alunu și părinții lui (Caliman și Lucina), îi vedem la cuibul nr. 1 în detalii așa cum nu au mai fost văzuți până acum.
Alunu and his parents (Caliman and Lucina), we see them at nest no. 1 in details as never seen before.
Caliman comes to the nest bringing dry branches, then Lucina comes and finally Alunu comes landing on top of the nest. Lucina pulls a fox or rabbit spine from the edge of the nest. After Caliman leaves the nest, Alunu also lands. Lucina leaves the nest and Alunu plays with the skeleton and branches in the nest. Lucina returns with a branch, then Caliman. We have the whole family at the nest. There are different gestures between Lucina and Caliman, between Lucina and Alunu. Caliman leaves. Lucina is imitating incubation. Alunu looked at her curiously. Alunu plays nicely with Buteo's feather. Lucina then leaves Alunu. Lucina turns and sits making room in the nest and imitates incubation. It stays like that for a long time and then leaves. It was a wonderful day. I think this is Alunu's first visit to this nest. It looks so precious when we see it so close. The parents think they intend to prepare this nest for the next season.

What an unexpected treat that was! I made a plethora of screen shots. I'll share most. How interesting to see a juvenile visit an alternate nest site, and for Lucina to assume the incubation posture with Alunu present. I don't recall coming across other's observations of similar behavior in the literature. Definitely feeling spoiled by Stelian's hard work maintaining the tech at two eyries, and actively managing the zoom.

Well, my energy is low, thus this isn't going to be a record of events in my usual manner. Thankfully, that is not needed with a superior video recording on hand. Just some pretty pictures.

2023-11-08 - Day 184; Week 26. Post-fledging: Day 113.

Nesting material deliveries. 3 sticks - Caliman. 2 sticks - Lucina.











Proximity protest.



A disciplinary peck is met with talon-strikes.







Caliman is near.



































12:03:59 - Lucina excavates the nest bowl by raking it with her feet.



What a beauty.

Wasn't it the best surprise Raven! Thank you for posting all the pictures..... they are such a beautiful family!
Alunu is looking absolutely beautiful, and just as I thought, becoming a gorgeous adult eagle

Stelian has done an amazing job maintaining the cams at both nests and I for one, cannot thank him enough

Look after yourself Raven, and thanks again

As usual Raven gives us detailed details and for that I thank him very much. Good health to you and everyone!

It certainly was, Tigress! Gratitude and well wishes all around.

2023-11-09 - Day 185; Week 26. Post-fledging: Day 114.

Nesting material delivery. 1 stick - Lucina.

16:34:13-16:37:19 - Lucina delivers a stick from the left, behind the lens. It is carried in her beak.
16:40:57 - Soft barks of a golden eagle.

17:24:26 - The same barking faintly heard at Nest #2 at this time stamp, is louder from this location.

What is most interesting about this visit, is that Caliman is also on an overlapping delivery mission. See Nest #2's forum.

2023-11-10 - Day 186; Week 26. Post-fledging: Day 115.

Nesting material deliveries. 3 sticks, 1 European larch (Larix decidua) spray - Lucina. 1 stick - Caliman.

1st stick. 08:34:45 - Lucina arrives from the right with a stick held in her feet.
08:35:28 - She settles into incubation posture, and readjusts a few times.
08:48:41 - There are soft vocalizations, though the audio is out of sync. She begins raking the nest bowl with her feet.
08:49:40 - More raking.
08:50:01 - And again, offering us a good view. Then back to incubation posture.



08:50:53 - Rakes, and stands.
08:51:24 - Rakes, then rests on tarsi, moving debris with her beak.



08:51:58 - One more bought of raking. Incubation posture.



08:52:45 - Lucina stands to meet Caliman, who alights from the back right. It seems his talons are empty, but confidence is not 100%.
08:52:55 - He moves a lichen-covered stick that was already in the nest.
08:53:02 - The fairly gentle, tolerant beaking begins.

















09:00:11 - Caliman leaves towards the right.
09:00:26 - Lucina leaves towards the right.

During this interim they both visit, and deliver one stick each to the second eyrie.

09:10:37 - Caliman returns from the left, behind the lens. 10 minutes away. Empty talons. He barks.
09:10:44 - Upon alighting he had bumped a stick into an awkward position. He tries to move it now, but accidentally knocks it clean out of the nest.
09:10:37 - He moves another stick.

2nd stick. 09:11:59 - Lucina returns from the left, behind the lens. She is speaking softly, and carries a stick in her beak.
09:12:14 - Caliman tries to help with placement.



09:13:53 - They both move sticks. Caliman first.
09:15:03 - The stream skips. The audio is now definitely back in sync. Caliman is perched upon the lower left branch. We can hear Alunu in the distance.
09:15:38 - Lucina leaves towards the right.
09:19:44 - Caliman leaves towards the lower left corner.

3rd stick. 09:20:16 - Lucina returns with a stick from the left, behind the lens. 5 minutes away. She barks.
09:21:56 - Primary coverts of the left wing are preened. Then feathers under the right.
09:23:09 - She leaves towards the right.
09:30:52 - A large eagle-sized shadow passes over the eyrie. Its maker is briefly visible in the upper right window of sky.

1 stick. Caliman delivers his first, and only stick of the day. 14 minutes away. He still has a couple of his white-based remiges in the left wing. Lucina has since molted her own, but these youthful feathers also once aided in quickly distinguishing her back in 2021 when she was raising Zenit.



09:35:04 - Caliman takes his turn excavating the nest bowl.





09:36:08 - He leaves towards the right.

1 spray. 09:40:27 - Lucina delivers the larch (Larix decidua) spray. 17 minutes away.



09:41:30 - She rakes the nest bowl.
09:42:27 - Again, whilst gripping the spray in her beak.
09:53:15 - Lucina leaves towards the right.

15:40:37 - Alunu's vocalizations can again be heard.

10.11.2023
Vocalization of Lucina with her partner Caliman. You can hear the smallest vocalizations between the two. At 08:59:32 they touch beak to beak.

@Raven Good evening! Thank you very much for the detailed captures and description of what happened. All my esteem and respect.

2023-11-14 - Day 190; Week 27. Post-fledging: Day 119.

Nesting material delivery. 1 stick - Caliman.

13:25:27 - Caliman arrives with a stick in his beak. Audio is out of sync, as we can't hear him land until about 8 second later. We can instantly recognize him by the white-based feathers in his left wing (screen shot below). Also, take note of his rectrices (tail feathers). While I don't have a good screen shot of Lucina's current rectrices, and will try to remedy this in the future, I have noticed that the bands in Caliman's tail are starker.

"The adult tail-feathers have a broad, blackish terminal band, and the ground colour at the base of the tail is dark grey. In some individuals the grey base is relatively uniform, and others it is interspersed with three or more blackish bands. An identification guide covering North American Golden Eagles has suggested that this difference is related to sex, and that the uniform grey base to the tail is a characteristic of females (Wheeler & Clark 1995). This putative sex difference may also hold in Britain (Keith Brockie, pers. comm.) and would appear to merit further investigation. To date there have been no reliable plumage criteria for sexing Golden Eagles, although there is a substantial size difference between males and females." - Jeff Watson, The Golden Eagle (Second Edition)


Female's above, male's below :copyright: Keith Brockie

"In many adult female golden eagles, the pattern of alternating pale and dark bars is disrupted with streaks and blotches replacing bars." - David H. Ellis, Enter the Realm of the Golden Eagle


Journal of Raptor Research 40:13

Caliman's approach. His visit is silent. No announcing barks.



Compare white-based wing feathers with those in this image from 8 November.



Back to today. Now we will compare his markings of the dorsal left wing.



I have superimposed his wing beside himself in this screen shot from the 8th. The scale, angle, and resolution are imperfect, and some feathers have shifted with less or more overlap, such as those above dot 3. But, hopefully this helps.



Here is the same superimposed image beside Lucina. Lighting can make Caliman's tawny bar of pale median upperwing coverts more or less obvious, but generally this region is starker.



13:26:17 - Caliman leaves towards the lower left corner.

2023-11-16 - Day 192; Week 27. Post-fledging: Day 121.

Nesting material delivery. 1 green spray - Lucina.

07:13:40 - Lucina arrives from the right. She has a green conifer spray in her feet. She barks.



Her crop is full.



Lucina assumes the incubation posture, and adjusts nesting material around herself.



07:17:03, 07:17:22 - She makes snaking down motions with her neck to aid food farther along the digestive tract.
07:18:19 - Upon a detached section of the yellowing larch spray (Larix decidua), there clings a down feather that grabs her attention. She reaches for it, but does not pluck it free.
07:20:39 - After observing unknown activity behind the lens, Lucina stands, and prepares to leave.
07:21:02 - Off she swoops towards the lower right corner. 8 minute visit.

01.01.2024 Today, the first day of the year, I spent most of it in nature. My brother found a deer hit by a car and I took it and took it to the mountain eagle hunting area. I installed two video cameras with a motion sensor and now I'm waiting for the pair Lucina and Caliman to come to feed. When I was setting up the video cameras, I saw the pair of eagles flying above me in the area of the nests. I did not see Alunu. If I had a stronger lens I would have better photos. The photos are taken in the afternoon these days.

Thank you Stelian. How wonderful to see our beautiful eagles flying together I feel sad for the deer, but happy that it will provide food for Lucina and Caliman. I hope Alunu is still around, in that he's safe and growing stronger.
It won't be much longer now before the new season begins...I can't wait and am looking forward to watching this beautiful family again.
I am really enjoying your other videos, showing the diversity of animals you have living there. Your son is so lucky to be growing up in this environment!
Thank you again Stelian for all your hard work, and it'll be great to see everyone here at the nest cam again

A day after I left the deer, Lucina comes and feeds on it for 15 minutes.

Thank you Stelian for these beautiful photos of Lucina She is such a magnificent eagle! It's wonderful to see her so healthy 🥰
Can't wait for the new season to start