NORFOLK -- The oldest of three eaglets born earlier this month at Norfolk Botanical Garden was banded on Wednesday.
Dr Bryan Watts of the Center For Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary banded the second one, but it fell off. The youngest was too little to be banded.
The three were weighed and measured.
The purple band identifies it as a Chesapeake Bay region eagle. It has a larger number so that the birds can be identified at a longer distance.
The effort was watched by thousands on the WVEC.com Eaglecam, including first graders at Great Bridge Primary School in Chesapeake.
Many others chose to go to the garden to watch in person.
"We watched them since the eggs were laid and hatched," said Maryann Kleeber.
The researchers made sure the crowd got a nice long look at the eaglets, which were born March 11, 13 and 14.
The best news was that all three eaglets are healthy.
"All three chicks look great. They're chirping, so we really couldn't ask for anything better," said Dr. Watts.
Banding for the other two eaglets will be done later, along with attaching a satellite transmitter to one of them.
There are now more than 600 active eagle nests in Virginia.
