[SBB] Golden eagle nest near Calero Reservoir

[Mark Bohrer <[[email protected]]>]

I finally went out to check out a reported eagle nest sighting near McKean 
Road and Schillenburger Avenue in southeastern Santa Clara County. Going by 
the directions I'd gotten I scanned the east side of both McKean and 
Schillenburger without seeing anything on power towers or utility poles. I 
stopped near a pond on Schillenburger surrounded by very green grass to ask 
some guys doing weed control with weedwhackers if they knew where to look. 
They didn't but I did photograph a great egret hunting as if no one was 
there while two Mallards bobbed for food.

As I headed back to McKean, there it was: a white cone with a golden 
eagle's flimsy stick nest on top of a tower west of the street. Most eagles 
reuse their nests every year but this nest isn't thick enough to be more 
than a couple years old. The parent bird made a magnificent landing: 
http://tinyurl.com/5ahbs
Goldens have one clutch of one to two and rarely three young a year. I only 
saw one in the nest when the parent flew off for more food: 
http://tinyurl.com/5cbhq

Even though a red-tailed hawk soared past nearby, mourning doves, juncos 
and jays perched and sang as if there were no predators around.

I prefer to be much closer for photographs but eagles don't usually 
tolerate you even when you're in the next county. And the tower sits behind 
barbed wire on private land posted no trespassing. On the other hand, the 
great egret concentrated on hunting and ignored me: http://tinyurl.com/4og7k

I've gotten close to raptors where they're used to seeing lots of people. 
This red-tailed hawk http://tinyurl.com/63s6s and white-tailed kite 
http://tinyurl.com/7yapw both took their ease in the treetops at Shoreline 
Park.

(Thanks to Janna Pauser for helping me locate the eagles.)

Mark Bohrer
Mountain and Desert Photography
www.mountain-and-desert.com
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