March 8, 2018
Pacific Northwest
No news really on my local eagle nest, except that the pair has been around regularly. You may remember that I saw the tail end of their nesting season in 2017, after which the nest was empty until the end of October. They began showing up intermittently during the winter.
Anyone new to this pair’s backstory who’s interested in it, I wrote up a Dawn Chorus diary in January about them, and the local eagle situation in general: www.dailykos.com/....
On January 9, I saw them doing nestorations. That was a very exciting day!
Since then, there’s been one or both at the nest most mornings when Mr O goes by on his daily circuit. These are photos from my outings on occasional afternoons.
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Seen from a distance, the small copse of mixed conifer and deciduous trees is surrounded by an actively cultivated hay field. The eagles have been there for years and obviously don’t mind the agricultural activity, or a nearby road. I’m actually taking this photo from a different road, further away. The nearby road is on the other side of the hill and pond, between us and the copse.
At no time have we seen either of the eagles lying down in the nest. That means they aren’t incubating — no eggs yet.
Eagles in this area lay eggs starting around the end of February. By the end of March most eagles are incubating, with most eaglets then hatching by late April. They are nestlings for three months, typically fledging in early to mid-July.
So I’m expecting to see incubation starting any day now!
It looks promising, seeing the pair at the nest so often. I’ll keep checking on them, and let you know of any developments in future Buckets.
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Bucket’s open now for your reports of nature in your backyard or travels.