Royal Albatross ~ WATCH ĀWHEO'S FLIGHT PRACTICE! BEST HOVERING & JUMPS TO DATE! 👑 💕 8.18.26

Āwheo began his day very early in the morning while it was still dark outside. With favorable winds blowing, Āwheo begins his flight practice with feeling the wind beneath his wings, taking jumps and hops and feeling that moment of exhilaration being air borne for a few seconds! Āwheo then walked down the hill out of view and remained out of view for a few hours. When Āwheo re-appears, we see him close to his nest and North Plateau chick to the far right. Āwheo begins more flight practice with hovering and jumps for a few minutes before going back down the hill. A few hours later, Āwheo returns and he walks over to his neighbor North Plateau chick to visit. She is not feeling social and defends her nest and clacks at Āwheo. He then will head back towards his nest and gets airborne with his best hover to date! More wing exercises are in order as he begins to build up his chest muscles for fledging next month! No weight was taken for Awheo today due to the strong gusts of wind. The weights on the chicks will start to drop slightly now until they fledge in September. Awheo weighed 11kg two weeks ago and was fed 7 times this week. Thank you for watching! Read more about the work the rangers do with the toroa here: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native... Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk Please join the official facebook group Royal Cam Albatross Group New Zealand for up to date information on the albatross family and to share information on albatross conservation, photos and comments!   / 991026361293354   Courtesy of Dept of Conservation Royal Cam, Royal Albatross Taiaroa Head, New Zealand Watch the livestream here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/ro...