On a snow-dusted nest, a bald eagle tends to an egg, occasionally rolling it and settling back upon it to keep it warm. The Vermont Institute of Natural Science has installed two high-definition webcams to watch a pair of eagles raise an eaglet. Since they were activated there have been more than 13-thousand hits to watch the duo. Alden Smith, the Executive Director of VINS, tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley last year was the first time the couple nested at the VINS property.
We got to watch them build that nest and then from a distance, using binoculars and using spotting scopes, we got to watch the eaglet grow up. But it was so far away, we decided that we would try to put a camera up in the tree. And this year we've been able to have that very close view of them bringing sticks to the nest and arranging them and building it 100 feet high in a white pine.
You have two webcams focused on the bald eagles, one from above and one from the side. What have you been learning and what do you hope to learn by monitoring them this way?
I think we hope to learn, and hope anybody who wants to tune in, to learn about the habits and the resilience of bald eagles. I thought I knew something about bald eagles, but there was a lot that I didn't know. For example, it's been amazing to watch the partnership between the bonded pair of eagles; the ways that they each take turns sitting on eggs; how they bring food to the nest. Right now, the female, whom we call Windsor, after Windsor County where we're located, she's sitting on the eggs most of the time, including overnight. And then Dewey the male, we're situated on Dewey's Pond, will come in and for a few hours here and there will spell her. He'll also bring her gifts. A squirrel I think I saw came in today, a couple of fish yesterday. And the ways that they sort of express their bond with each other, the ways that they both are able to take care of the eggs. And I think they're managing to do something that requires both of them their full engagement to try to raise young in such an inhospitable place in March in Vermont. We're learning a lot about them individually and learning a lot about bald eagles as we watch them so closely.
There's at least one egg in the nest. Can they lay more?
Bald eagles will typically lay between one and three eggs and they also stagger the laying of those eggs. She laid one egg on St. Patrick's Day, and typically it would be between three and four days that the next egg would come if there is to be a next egg. We noticed about 12 hours after having laid that first egg, they did copulate. And that is not unusual because they want to make sure that if there's another egg coming that that's going to be fertilized and have the best chance for success. It'll be about 35 days from the time an egg is laid to the point at which it would typically hatch. So we're sort of looking at later in April, at this point, before we would have a hatch. It takes a lot to raise these young birds. By the time they fledge, they'll be almost the size of their parents. That's a lot of food to be bringing to the nest day after day to feed them. So all of that drama has still yet to unfold.
People can also come to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science to see the eagles. How is the view from your location?
At VINS we have a forest canopy walk, which is like a glorified tree house, where you can walk at mid-canopy and then even climb a tower above the canopy so you can look out over the Ottauquechee River, over Dewey's Pond. This is just above Quechee Gorge and this is their domain. This is where they hunt for food. So we very frequently watch them fly about and hunt and catch their food and take it back to the nest. The story of these eagles is really about why they might have selected this place to nest and how they provide food and the live stream, while fascinating, really just tells the story of what happens in this one little spot. I love to walk out and climb the tower and talk to people about the habitat that they've chosen. It's also just a beautiful view up there on the river and the pond and the mountains beyond and to be able to see that view and think of it as the place where eagles have chosen to raise their young and to make their home. We definitely are going to want to see all of the drama of young eaglets hatching and then being fed and growing and learning to fly and seeing them take their first flight. We're hopeful that this is a bonded pair that's relatively young and that may come back here for some years to come. And we're hopeful that this is just the beginning chapter of a longer story that we're just lucky to be able to tell.
The bald eagles can be viewed on the Vermont Institute of Natural Science’s webcam at www.vinsweb.org