I absolutely LOVE these photos! The best thing I've seen in quite awhile. What
a thrill to see those babies learning to fly!
MB Griffith
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 3, 2017, at 8:48 PM, Tina Nauman <tinanauman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Boone and Dee have now become the parents of the first confirmed natural
cliff nest fledglings in Kentucky history!! And, what great parents they
are.
The older eyas fledged on Monday, May 29 and flew so close to me at head
height that I could see the little remaining down on her rump. I didn't see
the leap but believe it was her first or second flight. No photos. Over the
next few days she practiced touch and go flights on the cliff face and
finally returned to the nest site to aggravate (encourage) her sister to fly.
They had fun playing hide-and-seek with left-over prey parts and steal the
left-overs from each other. Food was coming in so fast they couldn't eat it
all. Yesterday she learned to soar and it was a beautiful sight!
But, as hard as she tried the younger chick just couldn't make the leap to
flight....until this morning.
My daily 4:30 am rising to get to the site by dawn was finally worth it. She
was very agitated and flapped, hopped and ran. Then she'd stand by the edge
and lean over and her wings would twitch but she just couldn't go. Finally
the elder sibling flew just out of reach and it drove the younger eyas crazy.
On June 3 at 8:11 am she took the leap and I was able to capture the moment.
To say we won't name her Grace is an understatement. She threw her feet out
in front of her and hurled herself off the cliff. But she gained altitude
and flew up the river, more confident with every wing beat. I lost track of
her for about 5 minutes but finally found the two siblings and Boone upriver
on a wonderful section of cliff. They played, ate and rested the remainder of
the day and I'm guessing that will be tonight's roost.
6 photos here (of 1800+, most to be deleted)
http://tinanauman.zenfolio.com/p231163199
Tina Nauman
PS When I can't see what's really happening on the cliff other than seeing
movement I take LOTS of phots to zoom and crop to see what I actually saw.
But, this was a record by more than double.
