Ithemba has officially moved on to bluer skies
On 22 December 2018 it was officially declared that the juvenile eagle had left the immediate nesting ground.
After three months of preparation to leave Makatsa and Thulane’s nesting area, Ithemba officially departed from the area just shy of a week before Christmas.
Ithemba hatched from its egg in June last year after its parents Makatsa and Thulane narrowly managed to breed within their annual breeding season after a storm had devastated their nest earlier in the year. Ithemba finally fledged the nest in September, and in preparation for life after the nest it had been undergoing training from Makatsa and Thulane for three months up until the day came for Ithemba to officially vacate the area.
This training, which to the untrained eye may seem like fighting between the three, was actually just a bunch of mock attacks that Makatsa and Thulane carried out on Ithemba so that Ithemba is able to defend itself after leaving the area.
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https://roodepoortnorthsider.co.za/285888/ithembas-training-has-begun-early-print-rr-rn-makatsa-and-thulane-begin-ithembas-preparations-for-life-after-the-nest-web/
It’s typical for the juvenile eagle to completely leave its parents’ breeding grounds at the end of December every year, which leaves Makatsa and Thulane four to five months before the next breeding season comes around and they prepare to welcome another chick. Ithemba’s time came with less than a week before Christmas Day, with the Black Eagle Project Roodekrans officially declaring that Ithemba left the area on 22 December. According to Johann van den Berg, BEPR decided that they would wait for three days of no sightings before declaring that Ithemba had moved on.
“We had mixed feelings this morning [22 December],” Johann said. “Deep inside we hoped to get a glimpse of Ithemba, but are also glad that we did not.”
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