Hog Island Maine Osprey Cam ~ Bald Eagle Takes Osprey 8.1.16

This afternoon, a bald eagle attacked the nest and grabbed Spirit HD. Bierre HB accidentally fledged to avoid the attack. Eric HC is safe in the nest. We are all heart broken with this news and hope for Bierre's safe return soon. UPDATE: Bierre has been found today & is being taken care of by Steve & Rachel!!! 8.2.16 Little B. triumphantly returned to the nest 8.3.16.
Video captured and edited by Ladyhawk
Courtesy of explore.org/live-cams/player/o...

[@mac916mccann]

How much sadness will this nest endure,stunned

[@ladyhawk]

It is heartbreaking.

[@joshuacarter713]

The one on the right played dead😂 smart little guy

[@SamtheMan0508]

Poor little guys, just exercising their wings one minute and then subject to a brutal attack. I've never seen anything like this before, I had no idea eagles were so fast and accurate.

[@erikchicom]

Scary to see the two eagles approaching fast among the fog. Very little time for reaction! 😨

[@lemonator8813]

One eagle was chasing the one parent Osprey and she led it right to the nest.

[@PinkeeLee]

thank you for posting the explanation. i am devastated. i was watching and didn't realize it was an eagle. i thought it was a collision with rachel or steve. i kept hoping to hear one or the other but didn't. they all looked so stunned and quiet.

[@ladyhawk]

I am devastated beyond words. All of us are deeply saddened by this horrible loss. I can only hope and pray that Bierre is found and is okay and that Eric fledges right away in case the eagle returns tomorrow.

[@rabbitnz8072]

Wow!! That’s amazing, the speed of it.

[@harryberry474]

This is something I wish I had not have watched...I didn't read the title...shocking. I watched this nest a few years after this (2019 I think) and watched 3 eggs hatch and grow into birds almost the same size as the ones here and each one got picked off over a week or so but a Great Horned Owl.

[@uncleboog]

I just want to point out that the overspray on the right pretended it was dead when the eagles attacked

[@heronboy]

Wow! Incredible! I always feel empathy for the prey but I also feel good knowning the predator gets food and nothing is waisted.This is how nature works. There is no bad or good, there's just balance. These ospreys were young and are vulnerable so it's almost guaranteed for one or more of them to be preyed on. I do hope the osprey didn't suffer much but what can you do? I get a mix of feelings when witnessing this type of stuff. Sorrow, shock, disbelief, amazement, and luck for witnessing a natural occurrence! Again there's no bad or good in nature, just BALANCE.

[@PinkeeLee]

thanks for the additional update on the little ones. i was so traumatized last night i had trouble sleeping. a dear neighbor, a veterinarian and biologist researcher, warned me about the absolute horror one can feel. i am going to cut way back on watching and really hope they make it from here on out. again, thanks for the update.

[@ladyhawk]

Your welcome, it is very difficult to not only watch but try and come to grips with the reality of these wildlife cams. I share your pain - your neighbor is a very wise man.

[@sterlingwalter5971]

You two are unreal.

[@marlenegarcia957]

Gracias por compartir

[@Jarzula]

That one gets very low and hugs the nest was pretty amazing. The fact that they went into defensive positions just shows this wasn’t their first rodeo. Also, seeing the eagles in the distant, probably chasing the parent was very spooky and fascinating.

[@wina018414]

Was not expecting that wow

[@raybueno5261]

Sadness, devastation, heartbrake... these feelings are what we should have. We all know these things happen in nature often, everyday for that matter, but I truly appreciate peoples empathy here in the comments. There are some people who say "why are people sad" or "it's just part of nature" but my guess is that they haven't really experienced much in life, their views are shortsighted. We don't say such things when we lose family, friends, pets, anything we care about for that matter because we understand the fragility and rawness of life. People who mourn understand that life is delicate. We are not robots, appreciating the struggle makes us better humans. We are all right to feel some sorrow for the little one and the parents who tried so hard to help em... empathy

[@imfightinfire2899]

such sadness

[@scottlewis5521]

Didn't this happen last year except they were much smaller and all of them were killed? Why are Steve and Rachel leaving the nest at the same time? And why are the bald eagles going after them all of a sudden? someone said it's because there is less human traffic near the nest now?

[@ladyhawk]

Last year two bald eagles attacked the nest and it was impossible for Steve & Rachel to protect both chicks. Usually, one parent will stay close by the nest most of the time as Rachel has done. The eagle population is increasing in the area and they are opportunists and will hunt osprey chicks for food. Steve was seen chasing after the eagle in this video, but was unfortunately not able to save Spirit.

[@mongocain813]

Was Eric HC playing dead after the attack? He's not moving at all, afterwards. I'm a novice watcher so please excuse my ignorance.

[@ladyhawk]

Yes, Eric instinctively knew to flatten out and pancake to avoid the danger.

[@magrnyx3657]

1:22 is that bird knocked out?

[@ladyhawk]

No, not at all. Eric's instincts were to flatten out and lay low until the danger passed. He got up a few minutes later.

[@magrnyx3657]

+Lady Hawk o ok

[@yankeexpress]

Very sorry this happened again, 2 years in a row. This situation is the exact reason why it is a better idea to number the chicks, rather than attach human names to them, as the emotional toll on us watchers makes natures reality more difficult to handle when stuff happens.

[@ladyhawk]

It really is heartbreaking and I agree. Names & nicknames makes it very personal and harder to get over.

[@erablaktv]

Had no idea eagles where this ruthless and go after other raptors.

[@gerryvalliere3243]

It saddens me to read the comment further down of the 'nasty eagle couple' that takes the young from this nest. Yes, it is sad to see the young taken from a nest we are watching, knowing they will become food for another. I wonder if this person has ever contemplated how all the creatures on this good earth are fed. To call an act of survival a nasty deed is to have no understanding of the workings of nature, should not be watching live nests, and should refrain from making uninformed comments. Live nests are not for the squeamish.

[@nicolashunter4131]

are you idiot? this is nature,no place for feelings or emotional point of view,it´s about survival,stop being so cringy and stupid,of course every creature in nature is food for another,did you go to school? you speak like an ignorant person,what a waste of oxygen!

[@MysteeriusFrend]

I'm not sad at all, nor am I a heartless person. It's called nature! All types of animals do this to other animals.

[@MzChelxoxo]

Exactly!! It’s not like these birds have a full refrigerator they can open whenever they’re hungry!!

[@lfjgill6042]

including us.

[@wickedred389]

These eagles and osprey are wild and gorgeous creatures. We should NEVER name them as if they are pets.

[@MzChelxoxo]

Wicked Red agreed! I’d feel responsible for them if I named them. There’s no way to be responsible for a wild animal you have no control over! That’s nature for you.

[@austin1839]

No-one has made them their personal pets. They are given names so that viewers can recognize each bird.

[@lemonator8813]

​@@austin1839 more like researchers. Steve sounds a lot easier to remember than a tag number

[@javairflorez7889]

@@austin1839we don’t need to recognize shiiii they just want donations

[@babygirl0363]

i saw this on tomonew us

[@XX-uw2nl]

😨😰

[@crittercrazy3805]

Sad to see the cold fish icy comments from the heartless hunters added to the mix to make all feel better...😔

[@Hlainsworth1]

UGH.

[@johncraddock4303]

Amazing footage: watched it again at 0.25 speed: I don't suppose the "jumper" survived, either. Sorry, folks, it's how eagles make a living! Consider what goes on in a egret's nest...siblicide.

[@markt857]

The jumper did survive, he (or she) returned to the nest the next day.

[@ladyhawk]

Yes, the jumper - Bierre survived by fledging early and returned the next day.

[@johncraddock4303]

That's good!

[@ericgunnison590]

I feel none of these sad feelings and maybe it's because I don't"know" these bird's. I'm a realist, a Hunter, a poet, a fisherman an outdoorsman. Got off track. I work for the largest energy provider in the country. You want to see ospreys? Come to my plant there are platform's built all over the place you have to drive by some of them. We have deer everywhere too standing in parking lots etc... I have been taking my girls to watch the deer in the evenings. A doe with three fawns is always there. Other day her entire stomach was torn and skin hanging everywhere. If she dies So do the fawns. It happens. If it was a nature show on Eagles and the Eagles were starving then when it takes the I osprey we cheer. Eagle feeds babies and we eat popcorn don't feel so well because lots of popcorn makes us feel terrible but we can't stop. But if the show is on a hapless fawn that the baby momma died from a torn stomach and the Eagle kills it, then the Eagle is the bad guy. In one of my poems about a grandfather telling a story to the grandchild, "And to this day he never did die, I see him still just before he lie." He killed a buck with a bow and passes him down through the generations, he lives. But if the buck died in a briar thicket alone of disease or old age, who remembered him? Don't we revel at the cave paintings? Man killing beast. The Eagle is my old man Hunter and the caveman.

[@Coastie1548]

Wow that is deep, Eric but true. Who are we to say what the roles of nature should be when we can't look at ourselves and definitively say what our role is in nature? Who are we to judge what is 'good' or 'bad' in the wild when we can't even discern that in our own species? We may have come from nature but most of us only see true nature on the TV or internet and distance themselves as far as possible from the experience of exploring the vast wilderness of our planet.

[@ericgunnison590]

+Coastie1548 The in thing now in our society of out of touch with nature and reality crowd is a judgement based on feelings not a conclusion. In general today unfortunately we are stuck with not too many objective people and well intelligent for that matter also. I fish and hunt. I have had negative response on the killing of a deer, but not on the fish. Why? Because of how the deer looks and it's innocent from what I've heard. Where the guilty animals are I have yet to find. But they don't blink an eye if I kill a king mackerel. It doesn't count somehow the king maybe it's not innocent. The taking of life is the same no matter of the animal. Its size, shape, color, species. The quicker society can figure that out the better we will be.

[@melissamcclain34]

​@@ericgunnison590 🤦‍♀️

[@nujissjiss885]

Those are babies not full grown they get bigger than egales

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

These young birds are osprey and are already full grown and will never get as big as bald eagles. Look up a bird book and educate yourself.

[@lukemelvin6976]

AMERICA!

[@MegaCokamo]

Philadelphia Eagles vs Seattle Seahawks

[@charzpak7173]

Mom always have 2 female chicks and a male.

[@chrysology]

Bad ass. Hopefully the eagle went back and ate the rest of them.

[@redhummingbird171]

Is the other flying bird an eagle as well or one of the parents? I sure hope it doesn't happen next year and become a tradition for that nasty eagle couple

[@ladyhawk]

The other bird is one of the parents in pursuit of the eagle. I hope it doesn't happen next year too.

[@aboltonskydivejunkie]

Lady Hawk so far nothing has happened this year atvthis nest as far as I know. seems like all has been going smoothly! Yes last yr watching that Eagle snatch the lil' Osprey was a shocker. Hard to accept the fact that it IS NATURE. We,have to accept it as it is, unfortunately.

[@sharonnelson3397]

Until now when the GHO showed up--took 2. Rachel is still trying to protect the last one. Brave bird.