Friday, May 20, 2011

Eagles aloft, mama eagle in aerie

I spotted two adult bald eagles flying over the road to my house, so I pulled over to photograph them.

They must be part of the extended family of the nesting pair in our neighborhood. When eagles are nesting, they keep other eagles up to two miles from their nest. This pair was flying a couple of blocks from the nest.

I watched for a few minutes as they danced in the air with each other, then lifted high into the sky and out of sight. I wondered if these were older children of our prolific pair that have been producing broods for at least the past six years.

We visited the nest on our woofie walk this evening. Mama eagle appears to still be working on hatching eggs high in the aerie. When the babies start showing up, I'm planning to rent a longer lens. Without the 300mm lens, I can barely make out her white head. 

Later in our walk along the ridge, I spotted two, then three juveniles. I suspect these are our nesting pair's last brood. One of the three has a wing that has some shorter feathers, like something cut it off. One of the adults had a notch in his wing too. For more favorite raptor images, visit my Talons Gallery.

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