It started the other morning as I opened my kitchen curtains. At least 12 pair of Mallards frantically taking off out of the creek right by my home. I know curtain movement can scare them, but they were at the wrong angle to see these curtains. Ah . . .suddenly a Bald Eagle flew low over my house. That will definitely scare them! But now the geese are acting up and leaving too.
Poured my coffee, settled in my chair for a nice early morning wide-open back yard view. WOW, I did not expect to see this!
Although Bald Eagles’ nature is to mate for life, they perform courtship rituals annually to stimulate their bonding hormones reinforcing their lifelong bond. Both mom and pop eagle incubate the one to three eggs which hatch in about 35 days. Eaglets leave the nest when 10-12 weeks old, but depend on and learn from their parents for another 6 weeks.
Female eagles are larger than the males. This allows them to better protect their nests and young. It takes about five years for a juvenile eagle to be fully mature with adult coloring of white head and tail.
Eagles build nests larger than most any bird, up to 8-feet wide and 13-feet deep. The pair will build the nest or repair one they built in the past. Nests are often repaired and reused for many years, some ultimately weighing 2 tons.
Of the two visitors, the eagle sitting higher in the cottonwood is larger, the female. She stayed about two hours!
Eagles are excellent fishers and that is their preferred food, but will eat almost anything including carrion. I watched an eagle flying around a lake full of small diving ducks. Eagle would swoop down, ducks would dive, but 40 minutes into the action the eagle made a catch. They also steal fish from the talons of osprey and other eagles in flight. One reason Benjamin Franklin did NOT want the eagle to be the U.S. emblem. “He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly.” These days the eagle may be the perfect emblem . . . . sigh. Well, I still like the bird, not so much the rest.
There is something about being watched by an eagle that’s a bit unsettling. This male left after about 45 minutes but certainly had me pegged through the picture window!
This is one special way to start the day! Until next time my friend, slow down and look up . . .
