Bald Eagle Update

Adult Bald Eagle with chicks (Audubon image)

Yesterday (November 11, 2015), one of my organization's members observed "our" two adult Bald Eagles mating - three times!  Of course, there's no guarantee that the birds will attempt to nest in my preserve again this winter, but it's a good indication that they might.

After last year's pair of eaglets fledged on June 16, 2015, we occasionally observed the adults and the immature birds throughout the spring and summer.  The fact that they stayed in the area was another good indication of their intent to attempt to nest again, but we couldn't be sure.  After all, Bald Eagles nested at the mouth of my creek along the Delaware River for several years and then abandoned that location, so they could have done the same here in the preserve.

Now, we just have to make sure that we have a sufficient number of roadkilled deer to sustain them through the winter.  Fortunately for the eagles, but unfortunately for the staff and the deer, retrieving enough roadkilled deer is not usually a problem.

Springtime in My Preserve

Virginia bluebells and violets on a fence line

The Bald Eaglets nesting in my preserve have hatched two chicks.  Both of the eaglets seem to be doing well.  The parents have switched from feeding on roadkilled deer to fish taken from my creek - most likely hatchery-raised trout that our Fish and Boat Commission stocks for anglers.

There's a camera that takes still images every two minutes trained on the nest; the camera is about 500 feet from the nest, so the image resolution isn't always great, but some of the images clearly show two rapidly developing eaglets.  These are the first eagles nesting along our section of the creek in at least 160 years (other eagles have nested at the mouth of the creek adjacent to the Delaware River over the last few years, but they aren't nesting there this year).  If you enlarge the image below, you'll see the female to the left of the upright trunk and one of her offspring to the right. 

Bald Eagle mother and one of the eaglets

A Real Coup!

 

We've managed to attract a nesting pair of Bald Eagles to my preserve.  The nest is two miles from the Philadelphia city line in the most densely populated portion of the third most populous county in Pennsylvania.

There are other nesting Bald Eagles in similar situations in Pennsylvania; in fact, eagles are nesting in areas even more urban than my preserve.  The difference is that those nests generally are along large rivers that can provide a reliable source of fish.  My creek is far too small to be a dependable food source, and the fish in my creek are too diminutive to feed eagles and their offspring.  Furthermore, the creek ices over if it's really cold.

No, the draw isn't fish.  It's roadkilled deer.  Our organization collects deer struck on the roads surrounding our preserve - both as a courtesy to the municipalities and as a way to get biological information about the deer herd.  Once my staff has collected the carcasses, we place them in a an open field where they are quickly devoured by coyotes, foxes, black and turkey vultures, crows, and (this year) ravens and eagles.  We've seen eagles availing themselves of deer carcasses in the past, but always individually and always for just a day or so.  This is the first time a pair has decided that there's enough food to sustain a family.

The eagles took over a Red-tailed Hawk nest in a huge white pine tree and augmented it significantly.  There's no evidence of eggs yet, but there's still time.  The Game Commission said that the birds may be a young pair constructing a "practice nest."  Naturally, we hope they use it to raise a brood.

The image above was taken by a photographer who only identified himself as Frank when he sent it to me in an email.  The nest and this dead tree are about a third-mile from the best location for photography, so it takes a photographer with good equipment to capture a decent image.