BALD EAGLES NESTING ON MY PROPERTY

A pair of Bald Eagles started seriously building a nest on my property last April (2014) after their original nest on a neighboring property blew down in a wind storm. It was late in the nesting season last year, so they did not lay any eggs at that time. They don't spend much time near the nest between nesting seasons, but they returned to work on the nest in November. I rarely see the male and female together except at twilight when they roost near the nest. They spend time together working on the nest, but I don't have a good view of them up there.

Here is one of the best photos I have, when one of them perched on a tree overlooking my living room window.



This is a bad photo of the nest; I don't know what setting I had the camera on. Anyway you get some idea what the nest looks like. It is at the top of the pine tree to the left. See the darker spot at the top? That's about 50 feet up and it over looks a river. It Probably has a four foot diameter. I can only see the eagles land and take off from the nest.


The Eagles use big branches to build the nest. I bet the Eagle is testing to see if he or she can pull this branch off for the nest.


The pair usually roost near the nest in a deciduous tree. I can see them fly up to their roost in the distance from the front window of my house. Oddly every now and then I noticed a third eagle roosting with the pair. It is fairly dark out so I can't really tell if it has the dark head of a juvenile bald eagle. I decided go outside after they roosted once to take a photo. My husband got a camera that has a night vision setting, but it still just looks like a silhouette. The last time I saw the third eagle roosting with the pair was as recently as February 12.


I will try to keep updating this thread as nesting season progresses.

I saw a few flying over the highway one day. They were migrating somewhere. There is one thing, I can tell ya. You don't fully appreciate just how big they are, until you see them in real life. Truly magnificent birds.

Totally gorgeous eagles there.
I see them sometimes on my drive to work in the summer. Spectacular in flight.
I am glad you appreciate them and have a nice safe coop for the chickens.
Keep posting pics when you get the chance to take one.

I have just subscribed to this..my first ever on BYC..

I am fascinated by your writing and photographs of these Bald Eagles....

Thanks so much for sharing such an amazing event...I am sure we will all be better educated in understanding of their behaviour due to your dedication in enlightening us of their ongoing lives in close proximity to your home.

Your photography is incredible...you must spend quite some time and devotion to capture these images!

Those are amazing birds! No wonder why they are Americas National bird

That is really cool and they are amazing birds. Thanks for posting the pics. )

Suzie said:

I have just subscribed to this..my first ever on BYC..

I am fascinated by your writing and photographs of these Bald Eagles....

Thanks so much for sharing such an amazing event...I am sure we will all be better educated in understanding of their behaviour due to your dedication in enlightening us of their ongoing lives in close proximity to your home.

Your photography is incredible...you must spend quite some time and devotion to capture these images!

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Thanks Suzie, but I must admit the best photos were largely due to luck. The Bald Eagle chose to land on the branch outside my big window, and I happened to have the good camera handy. Although I did make a point of cropping the photos so the details of the talons etc. were clear. Overall, I am lucky that this pair chose to build a nest near my house. They were likely already familiar with my routine around here like when I went to the coop and when I went to the barn. I would not see them watching me necessarily, but when they had a juvenile around, I heard a lot of eagle chatter around the barn, so I knew they were near. The first year that they were in the area, one of them landed on a tree when I was out at the coop, my big bachelor roosters were out free ranging at the time and raised some warning. I stood with the roosters and calmed them down. The Bald Eagle and I were watching each other for a couple minutes. It was surreal, and it was one of those times I wish I had a camera.

As you can see in this photo where the Bald Eagle is looking right at me, there is little reason to think he or she does not recognize me.

I too have predators here that appear to accept my presence...it is amazing to me that some are not afraid of our routine movements...I am enthralled with this incredible thread...I cannot wait for further news...although I will of course...!

I had an Eagle here some three years ago that tried to take one of my Muscovy ducks, she was swimming in the river...it managed to use its talons to pick the duck up and had started to fly off with her...somehow it dropped her and she came home damaged but safe..luckily she landed back into the river water...she has survived to this day...I witnessed the happening...it was very scary and there was nothing I could do...I guess nature took care of my girl...!

Suzie said:

I too have predators here that appear to accept my presence...it is amazing to me that some are not afraid of our routine movements...I am enthralled with this incredible thread...I cannot wait for further news...although I will of course...!

I had an Eagle here some three years ago that tried to take one of my Muscovy ducks, she was swimming in the river...it managed to use its talons to pick the duck up and had started to fly off with her...somehow it dropped her and she came home damaged but safe..luckily she landed back into the river water...she has survived to this day...I witnessed the happening...it was very scary and there was nothing I could do...I guess nature took care of my girl...!

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I'm glad your duck survived her raptor encounter.

I have looked for information on line about eagles a lot lately, and there are quite a few Bald Eagle nest cameras set up, so you can get your eagle fix any time. This link is really great: http://berry.edu/eaglecam/nest2/ If you hold your cursor over the bottom of the nest camera screen, there is a DVR feature so you can find the times when there is more activity in the nest.

I have also been following this nest camera: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Raptor-Resource-Project/103786266324668 I like it because they update with Youtube videos. I warn you that nest cameras can be kind of addictive, but these two are good options because you can view highlights without necessarily watching the live feed all day.

Wow! That's great. Thanks scratch'n'peck. Love, love eagles.