Alcoa Davenport's Bald Eagle Nest

School Kids

I was just with a group of middle-school students this morning as part of a visit to our plant. I was impressed by the show of hands when asked how many of them had visited the Alcoa EagleCam to check on our little eaglet. The students were very enthusiastic about the nest. I was watching this morning and saw the eaglet getting a bit more brave by getting closer to the edge of the nest and looking around at the world below. There is still some water below the nest but the Mississippi continues to recede.

 

Thanks for all of your votes on the name for our eaglet. We will keep the poll open until May 12th.

Little One Continues to Grow

I have been out of the office for a couple of days and just now getting a chance to catch up with our nest. The coloring of the eaglet keeps changing as he/she is growing. We have seen a steady supply of food in the nest and for those of you wondering, the Mississippi River has crested, dropping over a foot since the beginning of the week. Our eaglet is coming up on five weeks old and the growth rate is amazing to see.

 

If you have not yet voted, make sure you cast a vote in the name poll located just below the video box on this page.

Happy Easter

It has been a good Easter weekend in the nest at Alcoa. We have seen multiple deliveries of fish this weekend and more and more alone time in the nest for the eaglet. At a couple of different times we have seen the eaglet stand up and extend its wings. It kind of looked like someone getting up from a nap and doing a big stretch with their arms. It is also nice to know the Mississippi River has crested and is now slowly receding.

We have had over 2,000 votes so far for the eaglet name since we opened the poll on Thursday.

Busy Couple of Days

There has been a lot of activity in the nest the past couple of days. The weather has improved, but that could lead to some more rain tonight and Friday.

This morning we saw both parents in the nest with the eaglet (don't forget our naming poll is now active if you scroll down just below the video box). At one point it looked like Justice perched himself up on the branch in the foreground of our camera view. This gave us a great view of him, but blocked most of the rest of the nest for a while.

This Saturday will put our eaglet at four weeks old. It is great to see him continuing to eat and grow. He is looking more like an eagle every day.

Another Raw Day

Today will be another marginal day for the eagles here at Alcoa. The weather calls for on and off rain and maybe even some hail at some point. It is a windy day and the high temp is only going to be in the low 40's. Yesterday was cool but sunny and the adults spent a fair amount of time off the nest letting the eaglet stretch his legs a bit. If we don't get too much rain the next few days the Mississippi should crest at the end of the week and begin to recede starting this weekend.

River is Rising

We just saw Justice arrive at the nest with a fresh fish for the morning. The Mississippi River is still rising and expected to crest on Thursday this week at about 5.5 feet over flood stage before beginning a slow fall. Even though there is a chance for rain in the forecast just about every day this week, we are hoping not to see much. The temperatures are supposed to remain cool all week too. The eaglet continues to grow at an impressive rate!

Fish Market

When we finally got the camera back up and running this afternoon we had to do a double take. The nest looked like a fish market. It appears Liberty and Justice have been busy fishing today. It looked like at least four or five fresh fish in the nest this afternoon. While the fishing must have been good earlier today, the weather is taking a turn for the worse. There is a chance for rain the rest of the day and overnight, along with colder temperatures for the weekend.

Camera Down

We have noticed the camera appears to be offline. We are working to troubleshoot the issue and hope to have it back up soon.

Growing and Growing and Growing

It is amazing how much the little one seems to have grown in just the last few days. If you see the eaglet up and get a glimpse of his/her legs the talons really look like they belong to an eagle now. When he/she is up and waiting to eat with its back to the camera you also get a good idea of just how big the eaglet is now compared to the day it hatched back on March 26th. Coming up on three weeks old and looking good!

Nice Day For A Stroll

We were able to watch the eaglet take a stroll around the nest this afternoon. All the time under the watchful eye of Liberty. The little one got all the way to one edge of the nest, taking a peek at the ground below before mom convinced him to move back to the main part of the nest. To top off the afternoon Justice dropped in a few minutes ago with a fresh fish for an early dinner or a late afternoon snack.

Sunny Day In The Nest

It is great to see the eaglet growing and beginning to show signs of a little more independence. Instead of staying on the eaglet, mom seems to be spending time with the eaglet tucked up next to her. The eaglet can poke his head up and look around or retreat back to the safety of mom at anytime. Baby is now 17-days-old.

Back In Business

Our camera is back up and running after a "GFI" reset this morning. Hopefully we have eliminated that issue as the Mississippi River is set to rise another foot or so this week. We believe we can keep the power on, but if we do have a camera issue after the water comes up, we may not be able to get back to the location until the water begins to recede.

We have seen both Mom and baby moving around since the camera came back on. It looks like there is a fairly fresh fish on the left side of the nest today.

Alcoa employees accessing the EagleCam this afternoon from inside the Alcoa network will see the video stream blocked from 3-6pm EDT as we utilize our internal network for the quarterly earnings report.

Camera Still Off

We are still working to bring the camera back on-line. We lost the feed late Sunday afternoon and we are still not sure why. It may be a power issue. As we have told you over the last few weeks, the area where the nest is located is prone to spring flooding. We hope to get the feed back up as soon as possible and if we can't for some reason, we will post an update.

Camera

Sorry the camera went off line this afternoon. We will get it back on line in the morning.

More "Me" Time Every Day

It seems each day brings a little more independence for the eaglet here in the nest at Alcoa. Parents, Liberty and Justice, leave the nest for longer periods of time every day. Even though the eaglet is still small and many of you visiting the site refer to him as looking a bit like a bobblehead, it is easy to see the rapid change in size over the past two weeks. Thanks to all of you for checking in and leaving comments on the things you see while you are watching.