Five weeks ago, the Lake Hemet bald eagles gave birth to two eaglets, a male and a female, which weigh about five pounds now. The nest weathered the winter well with its new, strong refurbishing of its foundation last summer. Above, Joel E. “Jeep” Pagel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raptor ecologist from Carlsbad, is holding the female eaglet with John Ehrenfeld, Forest Service volunteer and eagle nest monitor. On Wednesday morning, the two young eaglets were banded with light weight size 9 aluminum alloy bands. They are banded to identify the birds, their migration patterns, and age. Below, Peter Bloom, and Joe Papp, biologists, complete banding and gathered feathers, blood samples, and fragments of egg shell to track genetics, any presence of DDT, lead, or other toxins, This is the first banding done to eaglets born here on our mountain.
