Eggstra! Eggstra! Mr. President & The First Lady Are Expecting a Second Eaglet Any Hour Now!
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Get the President on the phone…we have eggciting news! The other Mr. President and his faithful companion The First Lady welcomed their first eaglet of 2017 into their Washington DC nest yesterday. Now, as of this morning, the eaglet's younger sibling is on its way!
This first new hatchling, known as DC4 – as this is the fourth eaglet hatched by this Bald Eagle breeding pair from their National Arboretum nest – began the hatching process Tuesday, March 28th. The first crack in its shell was noticed by American Eagle Foundation (AEF) volunteers at around 9:58 a.m. EDT. Not even 24 hours later, at 7:21am EDT on March 29th, the eaglet fully pushed out and detached itself from its shell. Videos of the hatching can be viewed on the AEF's Facebook and Youtube pages.
"There's nothing quite as endearing as a newly-hatched eaglet! Soon after DC4 arrived, Mr. President swooped into the nest with a nice big catfish," says AEF representative Carolyn Stalcup. "He and The First Lady appeared to talk about who would take over brooding duties, but she won and Dad flew off."
This morning, at around 6:14am EDT, AEF Volunteers confirmed a "pip" (hole in the shell) on the second egg in the nest. This eaglet will be known as DC5. It could take anywhere from 12-48 hours for this eaglet to fully emerge from its shell. A video of this morning's pip can be watched on the AEF's Youtube page.
"DC4 is pretty adorable and has stolen the hearts of viewers. Newly-hatched eaglets are sometimes referred to by our cam viewers as 'bobble-heads' because they can't fully support the weight of their own heads," says AEF founder and president Al Cecere. "We are elated that the first eaglet hatched successfully and that DC5 is now on its way! We can't wait to view the antics and cuteness of these siblings."
The hatching of these eaglets is live-streamed to hundreds of thousands of viewers thanks to the DC Eagle Cam project (dceaglecam.org), which consists of two live-streaming, high-definition cameras and microphones installed above and around this Eagle nest located at the top of a Tulip Poplar tree at the U.S. National Arboretum.
For all of the DC Eagle Cam fans around the world who have fallen in love with watching this eagle pair, there is now a beautiful hardcover book documenting the pairs' first two nesting seasons in the National Arboretum. The book can be purchased on www.eagles.org or by visiting www.dceaglecam.org.
ABOUT THE D.C. EAGLE CAM PROJECT
In 2015, the American Eagle Foundation (AEF) staff traveled to D.C. to install state-of-the-art cameras, infrared lighting, and other related equipment in-and-around the nest tree with the help of volunteers and experienced tree arborists and climbers. This past year, the AEF added microphones near the nest to further enhance the viewing experience, and a team of arborists and eagle experts affixed natural tree limbs beneath the nest to provide added support. The USDA's U.S. National Arboretum ran a half-mile of fiber optic cable to the cameras' ground control station, which connects the cameras and microphones to the Internet. The entire system is powered by a large mobile solar array (containing several deep cycle batteries) that was designed and built by students and staff from Alfred State College, SUNY College of Technology and was partially funded by the Department of Energy and Environment. USNA has implemented a backup generator that will kick-on if prolonged inclement weather causes the solar array to provide insufficient power to the system. In 2016, APEX Electric Inc. (Kenmore, Washington) traveled to D.C. to assist the AEF in successfully installing audio equipment in and around the tree. The AEF uses Piksel to stream the video images to viewers around the world, and AEF volunteers are trained and coordinated to pan, tilt and zoom the cams, as well as educate the public via LIVE chats while viewers watch the eagles via the cams on the Internet.
SOURCE American Eagle Foundation
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