Eagles and Chicks

I’ve become obsessed with watching a pair of eagles hatch and raise two baby chicks from a dedicated camera at the Duke Farm.

Daily, I check in to see what’s happening. I’m riveted. I can’t turn off the footage. One adult stays in the nest protecting the chicks. The other goes out hunting for food. When an adult returns to the nest with food, there is chaos. The chicks are chirping, “flapping” their young wings, and begging for food. It’s adorable.

Last night included a special dinner—a huge fish! The adults were breaking off small, digestible bites of the fish—it even looked like they were chewing the bites at one point—and then tenderly and carefully presenting the bites to each of the chicks. One chick is dominate and hogs the food. I was getting frustrated and wanted to reach out and feed the little one, when suddenly the adult reached out to feed the little one.

Today the chicks were play fighting, trying to “flap” their wings, staggering around the nest. It looked like they wanted to get away from each other—and the adult eagle protecting them. It looked like they wanted to be free, to test their wings.

A feeling I’m sure we all have at this point in the pandemic. I can’t wait to see what “launch” will look like. According to the Duke Farm website, “launch” will be in late May or early June. How does this happen? Does the chick just take off and fly away? How do they know how to fly? Do they practice and get rescued by an adult?

All this made me think about how much nurturing is necessary to help a startup company or even an established company grow and continue growing. It takes a lot of effort, passion, and dedication to ensure success, whether you’re a company or a baby eagle.