Occasionally, a perfect weekend manifests itself, transcending the ordinary. I experienced a weekend like that in early April. I went from a bomb ass concert to a clutch NBA game, to watching my first total solar eclipse in complete awe, to photographing the release of a rehabbed juvenile bald eagle, all in four short days.
I discovered eagle watching during the pandemic, and it was lifechanging. It made me a more astute observer of nature. Nature was balm for many during that difficult time of lockdowns and uncertainty. Seeing these magnificent birds reconnected me to a world that was rapidly contracting. It filled me with hope and wonder.
Watching bald eagles would’ve been difficult just 50 years ago. In 1963, bald eagles, the symbol of American freedom, were on the verge of extinction. Less than 500 breeding pairs existed in the lower 48 states. Eagles landed on the federal endangered species list in 1978, after their populations were decimated by the pesticide DDT, which was banned in the U.S. in 1972. Bald eagles are apex predators, so the pesticide concentrated up the food chain, pushing eagles to the brink of extinction.
When I first began to see eagles in my area, I had no idea where their nest was. Then one afternoon, an eagle flew overhead with a massive branch in its talons, and I watched its path across the sky. It landed in a nest as big as a child’s saucer sled, perched in a tall stand of pine trees. Once I knew the nest’s location, my near daily observations commenced.
As spring passed into summer, I watched the activity near the nesting site increase, and I noticed two adults feeding a pair of fledglings. According to a June 2024 article in Field and Stream, bald eagles mate for life, and if one dies, the surviving partner will quickly find another mate. On numerous occasions I experienced the rare treat of seeing all four eagles together. I took my family to the nest one summer evening, and they got to see the whole flock as well. It was breathtaking!
Somehow, this flock always knew when I was carrying my real camera, not my cell phone camera, and they evaded me accordingly. Did they also understand the difference in quality between optical and digital zoom?
Knowing the nest’s location allowed me to observe the eagles closely and to see their everyday and sometimes odd behaviors. On an overcast fall day, I could tell there was one perched in a tree well before I could see its white head. Once you know their body shape, it’s easy to tell an eagle from another bird of prey, such as a hawk or an osprey.
As I approached, I would talk to them in a sing-song voice, telling them of their magnificence and beauty. On this day, the eagle began making noise, but not in response to my flattery. It proceeded to vomit up a bunch of what appeared to be bones, probably from feeding the primo meat to the fledglings. I wasn’t disgusted. I was astounded to be watching nature up close.
One winter afternoon when all open water in the area was frozen over, I observed an adult eagle on the snowy ground, tearing into a deer carcass. I knew it was watching as it braced its talons on the bones and pulled at the meat with its massive beak. Every few seconds, it would turn its head a full 360 degrees so it could observe any impending danger. Again, instead of disgust, I felt privileged to make this observation. I had no idea eagles ate carrion, and I learned it was probably due to the scarcity of food from the frozen water and prey that was hunkered down for the winter.
As spring returned, so did the prey, and I got to see the most spectacular site of all: The two adult eagles hunting in tandem. As one eagle dropped from its perch, the other swooped low across the field coming in from the flank. Suddenly, one of them ascended with a rabbit in its talons and both flew back to the nest. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
These majestic birds have come so far since their days on the Endangered Species list, but they still need protection. The one I photographed that perfect April day had recovered from being hit by a car. It was released on protected land that had open water. Could it have been one of the juveniles I’d observed that extraordinary year when the nest was full? Wherever that gorgeous bird is now, I hope someone is observing it and experiencing the wonder I did in my year of daily eagle watching.
