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The History of the Nest of the Eastern Imperial Eagles Altyn and Altynay. Part 3

174
7 мин

A lot of thanks to Max Sonthonax and Maria for the translation

Текст на русском: https://dzen.ru/a/ZDW4usmcCkoDtynr?share_to=link

Part 1: https://dzen.ru/a/YufBsOE-0V3BV7m5?share_to=link

Part 2: https://dzen.ru/a/YugsVWdkDzJydzI7?share_to=link

2022

August

On 1 August, Batyr mastered two branches in one day! At the beginning of the month, the chicks were still using the nest for resting, eating and training. Some of the prey brought by parents, they managed on their own, and somewhere they needed help. Then caring Altyn and Altynay stepped in and patiently fed their grown-up youngsters as before. Now they ate everything to the last crumb, because they need to gain strength for the future migration.

The chicks were more reluctant to let their parents into the nest, probably afraid that the latter might encroach on "their" prey. The brothers continued to practice jumping and grappling, gradually mastering both branches, trying to jump higher.

First flight

On 8th August the eagles were very active in the morning. Almet tried to climb higher up the branch until he succeeded. He disappeared from the camera's view at 10:56. Immediately Batyr began to show signs of anxiety: he had never been left alone in the nest before. Batyr looked at his brother, flapped his wings, circled around the nest, but did not dare to climb after him.

At 14:22 Batyr, perhaps seeing one of his parents, started calling him. At 14:27 we heard sounds indicating that Almet was still sitting nearby.

At 14:38 Batyr made his first flight: https://dzen.ru/video/watch/62f1394f6963c357e90d4842?share_to=link

At 14:39 there was a noise like the flapping of wings. At 16:51 Altyn flew into the nest.

It is impossible to say exactly where Almet was from 14:39 until Altyn arrived. He could have spent all this time on the upper branch, or flown after Batyr, or flown before him.

The eaglets used to have to wait obediently for their parents in the nest, but now that they have learned to fly, they can chase them and demand food directly. Which the chicks have been practising. In the second half of August we observed Altyn and Altynay still feeding them in the nest. But Almet and Batyr rarely stayed in the nest overnight.

Nor was wit alien to them)))))

The fights were also taking place between the brothers, but without using their claws and beaks:

At the end of August there were days when no one was seen, but only the Altynychi’ presence nearby was heard. Almet and Batyr rarely delight our eyes with their roosting time in the nest in the camera’s field of vision.

Tryapichnik (Ragman)

On August 31, Almet brought the first prey to the nest. He held it tightly in his left paw and tore it bustily with his beak, then suddenly lost interest in it and flew away. Noted that Almet had flown away and the prey was still there, Batyr joyfully jumped to it. And now when the youngest had picked it up, it became clear why Almet didn’t like the prey anymore. It was not a bird, as the observers thought, but a piece of black rag. So the broadcast had a new hero - the ragman, in Russian tryapichnik. Because "the rag" has the meaning “tryapka” in Russian language.

Altynay wanted to clean the «room» of the teenagers and throw out all the garbage, but Almet and Batyr immediately explained to her why the ragman should stay.

Later, on October 5, Altyn tried to get out the ragman. The ragman was able to defend himself - the head of our family could not get him out of the branch, and he gave up this idea.

Autumn

In early September, the parents still brought foods to feed the eaglets, but Altynychi were seen less and less often in the nest. On September 5th, the noticeably lame Almet arrived. After him - Batyr, who then flew in and out several times. Later Altynay twice and Altyn one time brought prey, so the brothers had no shortage of food. For several days Almet spent his roosting time laying in the nest. We consulted with other ornithologists and veterinarians about Almet’s paw. According to them, such damages occur with young birds because of their inexperience and don't necessarily lead to the death of the bird. We weren't able to track Almet’s fate since the broadcast had stopped. Rinur Bekmansurov visited the nest several times, but there were no eagles nearby.

On September 13 the brothers visited the nest together last time. On September 14 the camera last recorded Almet, on September 17 – Batyr. On September 18 one of them came to the nest late in the evening, but we couldn’t identify who it was.

In September and October we still heard the voices of Altynychi and saw them flying over the nest. On October 5 Altyn visited the nest. Because of the broadcast interruption, we can’t be sure if anyone else visited the nest after him anymore.

How many branches does it take to repair one nest?

Our volunteer- observer Valde Laizane managed to calculate how many branches and other building materials Altyn, Altynay and Amir had brought to repair the nest before laying the first egg. 314 branches were required in total. In addition to the branches, the eagles brought manure, hay, moss, lichen, bark, root and rag. Total Amir brought 18 branches, Altynay - 149, Altyn - 178.

The Guests of our nest

Green lacewing, May beetle (melolontha), spider, jay bird, magpie, raven, kestrel, owl, redstart, tit, woodpecker and marten were caught on the camera during the observation of the nest in 2022. Some of them were supremely confident and fearless, and some waited for the owners' leaving to eat the remnants from their table.

On September 14, at 5:48, observers spotted a jaybird sitting under the nest and imitating the voices of magpie and buzzard.

Maintenance

As the camera was constantly attacked and shelled by the residents of the nest, it was necessary to make several trips to it and carry out the additional maintenance works. And all because of these naughty boys)

Rebroadcast

In 2023 our volunteer Max Sonthonax proposed to organize a rebroadcast of 2022 breading season on «YouTube». And we agreed to this experiment. Firstly, this is a good opportunity for those who joined the surveillance of the Altynychi nest not from the first day to catch up. Secondly, it is a chance to see the nest in a wide format. Due to the errors with the settings, viewers of our YouTube channel saw the cut-off image while the broadcast on «Vkontakte» had a wide format. So our rebroadcast is a reloading of the season 2022 from «Vkontakte» to «Youtube». For this purpose we created a separate YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@orlanbeloxvost.replays

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank our volunteers, partners and subscribers. Without your participation, this project would not have taken the form it has now. And it was only thanks to you that you were able to collect a complete list of eagles' diets, learn a lot of interesting things about their behavior and their lives in general.

Come and join our friendly observer team!

More screenshots of season 2022 from our observers you can find here: https://vk.com/album-205817899_284114280

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Whole family to gather. 07/14/2022
Whole family to gather. 07/14/2022