Baby eagles learning to fly in Llano

LLANO, Texas (KXAN) - The eaglets have landed.

Two baby American bald eagles are nesting in Llano and spectators are flocking to see them before they take flight in about a week.

Athena Stinson drove in from Fredericksburg along with her girlfriends to take some photos.

Video at left: Mother eagle feeds her babies

"It is just impressive," said Stinson. "We have been to Alaska and seen them up in Alaska where they are just everywhere. To have them here in Texas, where you can see them, is fabulous."

Stinson was among more than 30 people who pulled over on State Highway 29 to take in the birds and their growing nest. Most were equipped with cameras with high-powered lenses, binoculars and ordinary digital cameras.

"It is just so neat to see what they can create. That nest is just beautiful," Stinson said.

Wildlife experts said the nest can get up to 800 pounds and big enough to fill the bed of a pickup truck.

These eagles have been nesting in Llano for more than a decade and recently began building a new nest. They abandoned their old one when it started falling apart.

While the nest will remain, spectators only have about a week before these eaglets learn to fly and migrate north.  Both eaglets hatched in January.

The nest is on a private ranch so it must be viewed from the roadside. This is why Jeff Cohen brought a camera with a super-sized lens when he drove in from Austin.

"I've been shooting the babies learning how to fly and waiting for the parents to come back," said Cohen.

Cohen did get the money shot of the mother eagle bringing back a bass to the nest for her babies to eat. He took more than 300 pictures.

"Good ones, I will blow up and put on my wall," he said.

AMERICAN BALD EAGLE FACTS

• Bald eagles take four to five years to reach full adult plumage, with distinctive white head and tail feathers.
• The bald eagle is not really bald; it actually has white feathers on its head, neck and tail.
• Bald eagles mate for life.
• Bald eagles will often use the same nest year after year, adding more twigs and branches each time.
• The bald eagle can fly 20 mph to 40 mph in normal flight and can dive at speeds faster than 100 mph.
• Bald eagles can actually swim. They use an overhand movement of the wings that is very much like the butterfly stroke.