No, it is not Mr. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama we are talking about here. We are talking about two Bald Eagles named Mr. President and The First Lady.
In 2014, two Bald Eagles made their nest in Washington, D.C. at the U.S. National Arboretum, the first pair of Bald Eagles to nest here since 1947.
A “nest cam” was set up to allow all of us to view them 24 hours a day.
Although this fact, in and of itself, is very interesting, Mr. President and The First Lady did not capture the attention of the media, and this Grandma, until they became parents of two eaglets.
When they became parents, more than a million people were watching the “nest cam” livestream.
Now, here is where the activities begin for grandmas everywhere. With our grandchildren, we can learn about Bald Eagles and watch videos of them on National Geographic’s website.
Of course, the Bald Eagle is the national bird and symbol for the United States since 1782. We can learn they are huge – some having the wingspan of a 6′ tall man! We can learn that they fly very fast– reaching speeds up to 100 miles per hour. We can learn they were almost extinct, and discuss a new vocabulary word, and talk about animals that are near extinction. We can learn more at a website geared for children.
This website directs us to The National Bald Eagle Foundation.
We can learn that Bald Eagles mate for life, and have two eggs. That is what happened at the Azalea Collection in a Tulip Polar tree at the U. S. National Arboretum. Then we can talk about the two baby eagles, called eaglets. We can learn why eaglets do not look like their parents and when they will get the distinctive markings of a Bald Eagle.
Now the fun really begins, with our grandchildren, we can watch the eagles LIVE here. When I looked just as I was writing the link, I saw the babies being fed.
As said on the website, regarding the birth of the two baby eaglets, “DC2 hatched at 8:27 a.m. March 18, 2016 Eastern Daylight Time. DC3 followed 2 days later, hatching March 20 at about 3:00 a.m. EDT.” Please be forewarned, as also advised by the American Eagle Foundation, that Mr. President, The First Lady and DC2 and DC3 are wild birds, and this is a wild eagle nest that you will be watching with your grandchildren, and anything can happen, including injury and other obstacles that may befall this eagle family, difficult for children to watch.
But, how wonderful is it that we have a national bird family to watch—any time of the day or night. Maybe we will be lucky enough to see one or both of the eaglets learn to fly. What a wonderful way to introduce grandchildren to the Bald Eagle and spend quality time learning and sharing together learning about a different kind of caring family.
Joy,
Mema
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