July 11-13: During the busy two weeks since the June entry above, the eaglet has grown a great deal, and it has gotten much more active. It has also learned (after much crying/squeeling) to tear apart its own food once it has been delivered. On July 10th, after days of flapping wings, hopping around in the nest, and studying locations of branches, the eaglet finally made it to a branch a few feet above and to the side of the nest. Since then it has spent several hours each of the last few days sitting in this location along with practicing hanging on and getting up and down. Since this resting place is partially in the path of the adults who operate the "Meals on Wings" program, there have been some minor mishaps with slight collisions and missteps as the youngster hurriedly races to get back into the nest when deliveries occur.

July 26 - August 1: The eaglet left its tree for the first time on July 26th as expected. He/she can frequently be seen flying and heard squeeling as it makes the adults aware it needs to be fed. Although flying now, it still appears to be dependent on its parents to catch its food. The eaglet was soon seen learning to catch its own food once it had sufficiently mastered its takeoffs, flights, and landings.

August 5:  While watching the eaglet that had returned to the nest for the first time since it first left on July 26th, it became apparent that it sounded a little different and it looked darker. A closer examination revealed two eaglets were at the nest. The one hatched in the nest this year was somewhat hidden in the corner, while the darker and slightly larger one strutted around as if it owned the nest. The Gratiot Lake eaglet was obviously not happy and jumped at the invader and tried to push it unsuccessfully and retreated back to its corner.