I have been watching this nest for a few years. There was another nest up river I was also watching. By watching I mean monitoring, just drifting by without stopping. The current by these nests was too strong to stop anyway and I found watching nests can be boring and one may not want to see what is brought back to the nests.
The nest up river was disturbed by people so much they moved to a new nest, that nest fell and so they came back to the one along the river. Someone kept harassing those eagles causing the nest to fail for 2 years and then the eagles gave up on that nest and now it too fell. So I extended my drift to check on this nest down river.
One day I noticed a red mark on trees by nest, so I got out and walked up to the nest tree and it too was marked. I ran into a logger and showed him the nest and they then decided not to log the area.
Since I have been watching this nest I have seen hundreds of geese and ducks with chicks in that area. Birds do that, they nest in colonies and protect each other’s chicks, even if that means sacrificing a few chicks to the eagles, but I never saw anything like that, they can catch chicks at will anywhere. Except this year, the chicks are missing. I think the wild spring weather killed caused nests to fail. So they have to go for fish, which are mostly large carp, which is dangerous.
While catching these large carp, the male eagle came up missing. The female, picture here, has been doing it all. She again has 3 chicks and they are full grown now and will fledge soon.
Last year and the start of this year, the female sleeps with eyes closed a lot. She naps when I drift by. Sometimes her head hangs down like a wet noodle. Last year she got sick and was down for 2 weeks and the male was feeding the 3 chicks. This year she looks good and has been doing well feeding the chicks. I am not seeing her with eyes closed as much as she keeps an eye out for fish.
In this photo I think she is looking at my little dog who is under my chair where its safe. When I run up river, he goes up front with nose in the wind. One day I looked over and that eagle was flying up river along side of us, pretty close. She was just sharing a moment of enjoyment with my little dog (a Chin), then she flared up and perched on the branch where they sit and watch me run by.
The nest in this location has a gravel bar in front with large rocks, so boats can’t get close. A new owner of the land lets their hunting dop run loose around the nest and causing the eagles to be stressed. That and the dump trucks slamming the boxes down to rattle gravel loose also causes stress. With all that chaos, they still use that nest which has been successful for years. If I see people walk in there an fish under the nest, I will let them know about the nest with eaglets in it and they usually respect the eagles by not returning. In all the nests I know of, most have been pushed out by land owners.
This year is the slowest year yet for wildlife. Everything is missing, or way down in numbers, not just the waterfowl. I think it is the weather, but poachers take their toll as well. Last year there was more waterfowl hunters around and that could be what happened to the geese and ducks. There are also guys who ride around running over wildlife for fun. That is why it’s important to keep an eye on the river.
