Since 2014, I’ve been watching an eagles’ nest. It’s cradled in the boughs of a tall pine, above the North Inlet of First Roach Pond, about four tenths of a mile from my cabin. Over those years, the resident adults have raised six eaglets.
In 2021, I followed the progress of the eagle family closely, from the return of the adults in early spring, to the fledging of the chick in August: https://www.wendyweiger.com/the-eaglet-has-fledged/. But to my dismay, the nest collapsed that September. Would the eagles rebuild?
In April 2022, I rejoiced to see a pair of eagles near the remnants of the nest. I had high hopes, but as the breeding season progressed, there was no sign of a chick.
This July, a fellow eagle-watcher messaged me with exciting news. She had spotted two adult eagles, and an eaglet in the nest! I was eager to see the new arrival myself. So last week, I paid a visit to the nest tree. As I approached, I heard short, harsh, gull-like shrieks – typical eagle vocalizations. I waded out into the water of the North Inlet, craning my neck for a view of the nest, which remains smaller than before the collapse. The shrieks continued. “Show yourself!” I thought, trying to will the eaglet to appear. Finally, to my great delight, I saw a brown head with a large hooked beak emerge from behind the pine boughs.
According to a longtime summer visitor, the nest has graced the tall pine for more than two decades. How many more eaglets will find a home there in the decades to come?
[I took the photo of the nest in April 2021, before its collapse that September.]
