

And the difference between different years for the same pair is very small. There can readily be a two week or even a month’s difference in the above time of the cycle between two next door pairs. The synchronization of all of this is more marvelous than the small variation witnessed.ĭifferent pairs are more closely synchronized from year to year than necessarily from neighbor to neighbor. This means that the chicks hatch 3 days apart.
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Each egg also takes 35 days of incubation - plus or minus a few hours.
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This is likely to offer full protection to the egg from encroaching crows or ravens and to ensure that the eggs don’t hatch at the same time. Incubation starts with the laying of the first egg. Other instances of 4 eggs were known to result from two females laying in the same nest during the same season.Įach egg is laid about 3 days apart.

One to three eggs are laid by bald eagles though there is at least a record of four eggs appearing in a Montana nest. It never takes place in the air.Įgg Laying: Eggs take 3 or 4 days to move from the ovary through the oviduct where they collect the surrounding protein and membranes and finally the shell.

Mating always takes place with the female standing on a branch, the nest or some solid sub-straight. As the intensity and head throwing becomes more synchronized there seems a greater likelihood of the male immediately mounting the female. Usually the pair break off this courtship flight, return to the area of the nest tree and proceed with loud unison calls where the head is thrown back. Large loops are flown over a considerable distance of the territory. The most intense repair period is January through March.Ĭourtship & Mating: Mating can also take place from the day both birds return from the north in October and proceed with a build up in intensity and frequency as egg laying approaches in late February and March, but can still be engaged in through the nesting season.Īerial courtship is spectacular with the pair often flying in tight unison with one bird slightly behind and above the other. Nest Building & Repair: can start the day of the birds’ return and last through the entire nesting season. Occupancy of Territory: The adults arrive back from the wintering grounds from October through November. Timing in Southern British Columbia: the Sidney, Delta & Lafarge Nests. Along the California, OR, WA, BC to Alaska coast, this season can have almost a 5 month difference in starting date for egg laying - one of the more specific and easily defined times. To a large extent it is driven by both weather and the availability of food, particularly for feeding the young and for the fledged young to find. Of course the timing of the above cycle to the local situation is something that has been worked out between the eagles and the young’s survival for millenia. This cycle covers 10 to 11 months from territory occupancy or re-occupancy, territory defense, nest repair and building, egg laying, incubation and feeding of young through fledging, to also include a short post-fledging period before the territory and young are abandoned. The shoals club down the street offers several dining options, 2 pools, and beach umbrella/chair service.Ĭatherine was very responsive and helpful with the reservation and any issues that came up during our visit.Recap of Bald Eagle Nest Sequence: territory defence, egg laying, hatching & fledging.īald eagles occupy almost the entire calendar year with their breeding cycle. The turtle conservancy headquarters is around the corner- there is a sandwich and Italian ice window there. We did not end up using the crofter, but fit 2 families of 3 comfortably in the main house. The house is well-equipped with games, beach toys, boogie boards, etc… The back entrance of the house leads out onto a maze of boardwalk paths through the forest.Įverything in the house worked as described, and Catherine generously arranged (and paid for) extra rental bikes for us when hers went missing. Located in the thick jungle-like maritime forest, offering shade and peace in between beach trips. Close enough to the most beautiful beach on the island to run back when we forgot something, or to take the bikes instead of a golf cart. Catherine’s home was the perfect spot for a family vacation with 2 toddlers.
