I went to see the Bald Eagle nest for the first time at lunch today. What a treat!
As I drove up and stopped at one of the very few pullouts on this somewhat
scary road (good thing there's hardly any traffic), an adult eagle flew off from the
nest. I was disappointed but I enjoyed watching the 2 eaglets stomp around and flex their
wings for about 10 minutes. (Those wings look pretty big and powerful at this point....
any idea how long until they are ready to fledge?)
I had to drive ahead to find a safe place to turn around. When I passed the same spot
on the way back I could see that an adult was there so I stopped again. The adult was
perched on the top crossbar of the tower, preening. At first I couldn't see the eaglets
at all, they must have been feeding on something in the bottom of the nest. After a
while they appeared again, seeming relaxed -- no apparent begging behavior. I must
have just missed the parent bringing a meal.
The adult stayed there until I had to leave to get back to work. A nice lunch excursion!
Laurie Bechtler