I have been thinking and re-thinking of how to put this last blog for 2015 together and I just don't know where to begin. So much has had happened this season.
We start Jan 1, 2015 with 2 beautiful bobble heads, E5 & E6. Oh how we fuss over the two new ones Ozzie and Harriet have and at the same time we hope and pray we don't have a repeat of the year before when we lost E3 to unknown cause. It might have been from respiratory problems but we'll never know for sure .
Sadly on Jan 20 th we lost E5 to unknown cause. Oh the heartbreak of another eaglet loss. Then Harriet having her imbalance issue for a short time. Now we all worry and wonder what else could happen. Harriet's issue left as quick as it showed up.
Better days ahead as E6 grows and is moving about the nest. Days past and E6 is now getting taller ,more feathers and really giving Ozzie and Harriet the business. More food , someone to talk to , many selfies were taken, I think E6 saw himself in the cam and what a ham he was, learning to take the food from Ozzie and mantel the food. We are getting closer to branching. Then E6 branches for the first time..Woohoo . He's getting so big now fledgling will be next on his learning list .
As we all wait for the big day , Ozzie doesn't come home. This is not normal for Ozzie at all. He has never stayed away from the nest this long,never!
On March 17 th news reports of an injured Eagle that was found on the ground in Fort Myers by the railroad tracks. The local news station shows video of our beloved Ozzie . My heart just skipped a beat knowing he was found but yet again for the fact he was hurt and you could see his wing was not working right. Authorities were able to catch Ozzie and take him to CROW where Ozzie was ID by his lost claw on his left foot. Ozzie stayed for 3 months healing,
In the meantime E6 and Harriet had a few visitors to the nest nest. From the age of 3yrs on up. Some tried to impress Harriet which she wasn't. Some tried stealing food from E6 which E6 himself did a wonderful job of protecting his nest. Others just stopped by to try and run all others off. But one 4 -1/2 year old stood out from the rest and was able to run everyone else off. Even tho he himself had been run off by Harriet several times and would go behind Publix. This is How he got his name of PublixBoy..His first name. He stayed around and cleaned house. E6 was not pleased with him at all ,but Harriet didn't seem to mind him around and I'm sure she was very thankful for the help this young Eagle was giving her. He sure freed up her time defending the nest and the area for her to continue raising E6 . By this time E6 had fledged on March 23,2015.
E6 continued to learn and learned a lot about keeping your food covered so others can't steal it from you. PB was very well known for his one talon steal.Oh to see that one foot reach into the nest and take E6's food whatever it was , was just too darn funny to watch. The look on E6's face was even better. Of course one time PB went a bit to for with the stealing and Harriet went after him to get back the fish he took. Oh how I wish we could have seen all of it. We did get to see Harriet chasing PB around the nest tree from the cam's. Harriet did get the fish back and took it to the nest to finish feeding E6. A lesson well learned for E6... Keep your food covered.
Evening times were very interesting to watch as they all went to a spot in the nest tree. E6 on the nest or maybe he would sleep on a branch.PB would find a spot the Harriet would fly up next to him while E6 just not liking it at all. The vocals out of him every single time PB would land and Harriet would sit next to PB were something else . E6 sure didn't like this new guy in "His " nest tree let alone by his Mom. I truly believe that Harriet and PB started staying in the front pines just to keep E6 quiet...LOL
The more I watched the more I saw Harriet being the one to move closer to PB . This is when I believe a bond was starting to form between PB and Harriet. Harriet was very accepting of PB.
More learning for E6 over at the Publix pond. Fishing , bathes which he never really did a full complete bathe before he left and yes there was protecting "His" pond from an Adult Eagle and it's fledgling. That just totally surprised me that the Adult didn't go after E6.
Soon it was time for E6 to leave us and start his adventures. E6 left us on May 4th 2015. This one I'll miss the most out of all of them. I spent the most time with E6 and to watch his progress was soo awesome. E6 in my opinion was the most prepared fledgling Ozzie and Harriet had.
The months go by and Harriet and PB spend their time getting to know each other. Somewhere along the line,PB's name was changed to FV for Frequent Visitor . Ozzie is still at CROW getting better each day. We all wait for the day he will be released and hopefully take back his nest and territory. Little did we know or pay attention to how much Harriet and PB were bonding even during the summer months. They were at the nest together, the pond ,the poles by Bob's . Sometimes I would see just Harriett for a short time then in PB would fly . There was a small amount of nest work being done.
I would watch as Harriet leaves and PB would right behind her. Then things slowly started to change. PB would leave and Harriet would follow him. I started to noticed how things between the two of them was changing and that it really had been this way before E6 left and I just didn't see it. There was a bond between these two.
Ozzie was released in the back part of the property. Ozzie flew to the poles then left heading NE and wasn't seen for 3 months. The joy of his release was great but then the worry of where he was for 3 months outweighed the joy. I wasn't sure if he was ever going to come back and if he was alright. The only thing I knew for sure , was that Harriet had moved on with FV. I worried and wondered everyday where could Ozzie be? Is he ok ? What will happen if he does come back? So many questions and not one answer.
It's now nesting season and Harriet and now known as M15 are working on the nest. M15 's nest building skills are not Ozzie's but he is getting there. He's a 5 yr old just starting out so the instincts take a bit to kick in.
The nest is slowing taking shape. Some days they work on it ,then other days they leave early and don't come back until late. Oh are we ever going to have the nest ready for eggs? Well we have time We should be alright.
Then 9/19/15 all changed again. Our sweet Ozzie has come home from wherever he was for 3 months. The joy and the tears cried by so many . Welcome home Ozzie !
Little did we know that this joyous occasion would turn to sadness and the most profound grief again in 10 short days.
As I finally made it to the nest that great night Ozzie came home , the only Eagle there was Ozzie.. OMG Hello Ozzie where have you been? He looks great ! There was no doubt in my mind that is was Ozzie. I would know him even without the ban he now has on from being at CROW. I was told by Desiree, Wilbur and Alice of how Ozzie came into the nest area and went right for M15 who was sitting in the nest tree with Harriet. There was a chase then there was also a chase by Harriet after Ozzie. Hmmm
Ozzie was in and out of the nest area .It looked to me like Ozzie was looking for Harriet but I can't say that for sure. I get some photo's of Ozzie before it gets dark and I leave.
I arrive back at the nest the next morning . No one is home. Then we see Ozzie coming in from the NW lands in the nest . Here comes M15 and Harriet .Vocals the whole way from the NW also. M15 flies up in and thru the nest after Ozzie . Ozzie flies out of the nest heading towards the NW as he does Harriet turns and goes after Ozzie . M15 flies past Harriet , Harriet breaks off the chase then heads back to the nest and lets M15 chase Ozzie to the NW and beyond. Then Harriet heads off in the same direction.
Now let me tell you. You could hear every single one of us there that morning go "Oh " when Harriet turned around and went after Ozzie. That's when most of us knew for sure , Harriet and M15 were now a couple. As heartbreaking as it was, we knew. Harriet had moved on.
The rest of the day is just a blur of a memory . Not sure how things went but a lot of in and out by Harriet & M15. Ozzie wasn't seen again until Sept 27 th 2015 when he was found in a North Fort Myers backyard entangled on a barbwire fence then got himself fee and was on the ground.
The call for help went out on SWFL facebook page. Myself and another was able to get to Ozzie and take him to CROW for help. Little did we know, Ozzie was in very ,very bad shape. Ozzie would pass away at CROW Sept 29th 2015.
My heart was broken. I cried for days along with the rest of you. The world mourned Ozzie death. And I do mean the world. I never knew how many people from all over the world was watching and loved Ozzie and Harriet until then.....
In the meantime M15 went missing for about 2 weeks and we had another young fellow come in and kept Harriet company. Donna and I called him slim. Harriet didn't much care for him but she tolerated him. Then one day as we were there at the nest taking photo's of who we thought was Slim turned out to be M15 .We all started whooping and a hollering . Ya M15 was home again! Even Harriet was happy. He must have come home later in day... the day before and no one noticed it was M15.
So now I will fast forward. There is so much more to tell but I'll just get on to what is going on now.
Harriet and M15 are very well bonded. They have their first eggs as a couple. M15 has shown everyone he does know how to do this...his instincts have kicked in big time.There was no teaching here at all. Well there never was any teaching of any kind. M15 knew all of this. Yes even how to catch fish without Harriet showing him.
From that Young Eagle to an adult ready for his very first clutch to be hatch.
To watch M15 first thing in the morning so ready for his turn on the eggs is heart warming. It's like he can't wait for his turn...lol
Now we all wait for hatch time in the middle to late Jan to see how Harriet and M15's story continues. Hopefully there will be two healthy bobbleheads to watch and a brand new Dad doing his job as he was hatched/ born to do.
Harriet , you couldn't have picked a better Mate !
So as this year comes to an end,I hope for healthy Eaglets and for M15 and Harriet's bond to grow even stronger and may they have many wonderful and joyous years together raising lots of Eaglets.
For all of you that have been here following my blog and my photography page, THANK YOU ! If it wasn't for you , I wouldn't be doing this. May all of you and yours, have a very Happy New Year .
RIP E3,E5 and our beloved Ozzie. Miss you with all of my heart. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you .
