Eagle chicks survive storms
Two pairs of nesting crowned eagles are being closely monitored.
WILDLIFE photographer Jacques Sellschop of Marina Beach, who monitors two crowned eagle nests near his home, has been most concerned about the effect recent bad weather might have had on the nestlings.
“We have had such appalling weather at such crucial hatching times that I feared neither chick would survive. However, despite incessant, pelting rain and winds that swung the trees back and forth like a metronome, the chicks have survived,” he said.
The Paulsburg baby was two or even three weeks ahead of the one at San Lameer but both seemed to be doing well, said Jacques.
According to his observations, the female mantles protectively over the chick when the San Lameer male flies in.
The male drops the food and flies off in under 45 seconds and only when he is out of range does the female start to feed the chick.
The other parents have a different attitude about child rearing. Yesterday, when Jacques checked on the Paulsburg pair, the parents were acting in ‘happy family’ tandem, with both of them feeding the chick.
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