We have a new online video to check out.  In the National Arboretum in Washington DC, a pair of eagles have parented two hatchlings. There are two video cameras focused on the nest and we can all watch in real time as the parents do their parenting - keeping the chicks warm, feeding them, etc. There are two cameras to provide two different angles on the nest and you can switch cameras. Someone at the arboretum zooms in and out as appropriate for us to follow the action.  

Of course, feeding is the most interesting as the two chicks vie for food that is pushed into their mouths by a parent. It is live and in real time. It is a new way to waste time on the internet, or it is highly educaational or it is just plain fun to watch. Whatever it is to each of us, it is amazing to be able to watch eagles so close and even intimately. One cannot help but be in awe at the gentleness of these large fierce birds towards their couple ounce chicks. 

The secnd chick was just hatched on Friday. And today, Sunday, is unusually cold in DC, being 41 degrees this afternoon, where the normal is 57 for this date and in Bellingham today we have 54 degrees. The parents are keeping the chicks warm, letting them out only for feeding. The cameras provide high definition video, so going full screen provides incredible detail. We are indeed, quietly sitting on a branch about 5 feet from these eagles and they don't even notice us. I guess for young folks this is not as amazing for those of us who are older and remember the early nature films.

Update:  3 pm feeding has replaced the 2 pm pic. Googling this you will find several websites with more information. And all this is is courtesy of several orgainzations, but foremost the American Eagle Foundation at eagles.org