Fort Meyers Eagles
We took the 3 hour drive down to Fort Meyers to visit the world famous Bald Eagles M15 and F23. About a month ago they had an Eaglet, E26. There was another egg that was not viable and did not hatch. The family was very active in the morning while we were there and then again later in the afternoon. After a lunch break we went over to nearby Cape Coral to see if any of the Burrowing Owls were out. It was very hot while we were there so only one was briefly out of its tunnel.
F23 was calling out to M15 to come back to the nest
F23 was really getting into it
F23 takes off from her lookout branch
F23 coming in to land on a tree not far from the nest
F23 didn’t wait long before taking off again
M15 returned with an addition for the nest
M15 now doing the calling out
M15 now taking off
Now that’s a very happy E26!
E26 looking around for where everyone went
E26 looking to see what I’m doing
F23 making some more Eagle calls
F23 shaking things out
F23 watching over E26 as it wingersizes
E26 getting into the winugersize routine. Gotta get ready to fly soon!
E26
F23 opens up his wings
F23 flies past
F23 flying off in search of lunch
F23 returns with a fresh fish
F23 landing with her fish
M15 returns with some kind of roadkill. He has a bad habit of getting dangerously close to traffic to pick up roadkill
M15 is bringing another stick for the nest as F23 eats some of the roadkill he had just brought back
M15 and F23
M15 takes off past the webcams
F23 with E26
F23 and E26 looking at the photographers all pointing lenses at them
E26 looks hot as F23 looks on
F23 flies up to on of the nearby dead trees
F23 sticking the landing
F23 calling out
F23 flying back to the nest
E26 calls out to F23 as she returns to the nest
While this was going on, there were several Bald Eagles flying about 500-700 feet above the nest challenging each other. Not the best photo, but it was very high in the air.
An odd look by F23 with E26 in front
The lone Burrowing Owl that we saw after lunch in Cape Coral
M15 returns with a tiny fish in his talons
M15 takes off again
F23 feeding E26
F23 cleaning her beak by rubbing on a branch
Photographing Bald Eagles is so much fun! This nest is particularly good as it’s close to a parking lot and an open field that gives some great flight shots as well as looks into the nest. It’s also very rewarding to see in person the famous Eagles that we watch on their webcam. We’ll be back as E26 gets a couple months older and begins flying.