Friday December 21 2012
It's always a thrill to see the pair of Bates Creek Golden Eagles, and never more so than when they're on their nest early on, fixing up the house, tidying things up to get ready for a new nesting season.
This pair successfully raised one young on this nest in 2011, and one young on this nest in 2012. Often eagles will have several nests in their territory, and switch to a different nest each year. This pair of eagles has only this one, but it's big and sturdy and solid in a cottonwood tree - a good house to come back to year after year.
Last year the pair occasionally visited and worked on and kept an eye on their nest throughout December, January, and February, before the female started sitting, and laid her first egg on March 7 or 8.
That the eagles are here so early is a good sign there might be a new golden eagle or two in the neighborhood in 4 months.
What a marvelous "capture"! This is truly exciting! I'd be tempted to sit there all day and night and watch them even if I had to use night vision goggles. Oh wait! It'd be way too cold to do that. You're right!
ReplyDeleteit would be way cool to get a video camera on the nest! Hmmm...
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