The good news is that both eaglets appear to be growing and healthy. Here is a video that shows their growth up until about three weeks ago:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFu7tinNVWg?rel=0]

However, it now seems that there is a problem adult entanglement issue: my hunch, based on the relative size, is that it’s the female parent. We got a call Sunday morning from Captain Tripp, who was very alarmed to see a struggling adult eagle in the water. The eagle managed to swim to shore, and was resting on the point in Dewees Inlet. attended by its mate. Tripp called the Birds of Prey Center, and the Kennedy’s and Mosers. We also got a call, and gathered a crate for transport, a camera, gloves, and Ted. We met Bobby and Art and Ginny right off the dock. After consultations with DNR and the Birds of Prey center, we tried to approach the pair, but they wouldn’t let us get close enough to try to help. Every time we approached the shore, they would fly off a short distance. The larger bird appeared to be caught in some sort of fishing line, and although she had trouble flying to start with, she seemed to be able to gain some altitude.

We would never be able to just sneak up on her and throw a blanket on her or help. We couldn’t tell exactly what she was carrying. I snapped some photos to see if we could see what she was tangled in later (with the benefit of digital zoom.) Again, after speaking with the experts, we decided to watch from a distance, and were gratified to see that she moved off to a snag right in the middle of the island across from Dewees, where she would be relatively safe, there would be little boat traffic, and predators are few. Bobby surmised that the eagle had grabbed a fish that had escaped someone’s grasp, and had somehow been dangling a lead. Since eagles have pretty sharp talons and beaks, we are pretty hopeful that she’ll be able to free herself.

And now we watched. Ginny sent out an email with a description of the problem, and Bubber mentioned that he had seen the eagle on the beach Saturday, so we now know she has been entangled since Saturday morning. I flushed a large eagle off Big Bend dock, and it wasn’t dragging or dangling anything, but I was unable to differentiate size without the other bird for comparative size. Both adults have been seen on their regular perches around the island. Bubber saw an adult feed the eaglets on Saturday, and it’s not uncommon for the adults to be very scarce on the nest at this time of year, so the babies are good for a few days. In retrospect, I think it was the male I saw.

I have just spent an hour or two with the photos I shot yesterday, and I have come to the conclusion that what has gotten this poor bird all tangled up is a dead seabird: possibly a cormorant or loon, which may have swallowed the fishing line, so we have a problem making its way up the food chain. I noticed in the photos that there appeared to be a bird foot sticking up out of the ground near the eagle, but until I blew up the photo of the eagle flying, I couldn’t see that the foot was part of the problem. However, in these photos you can see that she is carrying a large piece of detritus, and the real question is whether it can hurt her foot.

Tonight, as the light was fading, I set my scope up to see how the eaglets were doing. To my relief, there was an adult on the nest, and they weren’t begging and clamoring for food, so I am assuming that she fed them already. At first I thought she was eating, but when I looked more closely, it looks like she is working hard to free herself from some line. Here’s the video I took tonight, with apologies for the wind shakes on my double tripod system:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oETWYFq5eTg?rel=0]

We’ll keep you posted on what happens next.