They fly!

The eaglets have fledged. I showed up this morning (Tuesday the 16th) and noticed the nest was empty. Then saw two of the eaglets (now referred to as fledglings) on the top of a nearby electrical powerline tower. They would periodically launch themselves from the tower (from my viewing angle they looked like cliff divers) gain speed, level out, circle the immediate area a couple times, then return to the tower, or the nest, or one of a variety of nearby trees, including the perch the mom prefers. They also landed along the creek below the nest tree. A nearby resident noticed the fledglings flying short hops last Thursday; today they flew with confidence, banking sharply, clearly able to gain and lose altitude at will and skillfully maneuvering, to include cruising just above the creek looking for prey. I did not see the third one; one of the adults did appear, perching on various power towers. This photo includes a tree swallow performing acrobatics around the fledgling.

Nikon D7000 DSLR, Sigma 100-300mm lens at 300mm, f/7.1, 1/2500th second, ISO 3200.

Sharpened.