My Final Season With the Bald Eagles...Season 4~

I originally shared this summary on my blog post dated April 20, 2018.  

I will add updates below~

Long Story...Must Share...

Four years ago I happened to see a Bald Eagle carrying a fish across land where I was taking pictures of a Red-Tailed Hawk. I never could quite figure out where the Eagle flew and then someone invited me to go see a Bald Eagle 17 miles from home. It had to have been one of two that I had seen a few weeks prior as it was really close to where I had pulled off the road to snag a few shots of the Hawk. I would go to the land the Eagles were on and just sit in my car and observe them. One day a truck pulled up beside my car and a man rolled down his window..."Hi there... are you getting any good pictures?" he asked. "No not really, they are out of my camera's range." He said "well then, follow me, let's drive on back." He opened the big entry gates and I followed him. Robert had done renovations on historical homes and he had put in a whole lot of love and work into this property, along with his father and son at times. His heart was very attached to this old home. He talked with the Property Manager Juan and another gentleman and allowed me to come and just sit in the quiet of the beauty of this place. Not only were there Bald Eagles, there was a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks, Coopers Hawks, American Kestrels, Baltimore Orioles, White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkeys and so much more. The home was absolutely gorgeous and I was blessed in being able to photograph the interior twice and that meant so much to me. So many take vacation journeys to the beach, the mountains, but for going on 4 years, this was my place, and I spent hundreds of hours there, alone and quiet and taking in His nature. In 3 seasons with the Eagles I was blessed to watch 2+2+3 Eaglets go from young fluffiness into beautiful soaring birds. In fact last season Kentucky Fish and Wildlife sent a plane over all of the nest sites to see how many eggs were in each nest and last year they thought this nest site had two. It was me who got to officially make the announcement that there were three on the nest and everyone was delighted, but probably not any more than I was. I met some wonderful people along the way and I am forever grateful for having this beautiful blessing given to me. Last year the Governor wanted the property SOLD and I knew that it was just a matter of time then and I would no longer be able to sit on the porch and observe. Last July the nest that had been used for 3 years suddenly broke away and most of it fell to the ground. The birds built a nest in one of their original nest trees, where they had enjoyed perching. It kind of slopes towards the back and it's still under construction. From the first time I observed it I thought...please only a single bird this season and as far as I can tell, that is exactly what there is. Last Tuesday I got the text message that I knew would come...Juan alerted me that the house had been SOLD and they had closed the deal. A family with five children will move in and I am happy for them and filled with some sadness for me. Grateful for the opportunities I have had in this and hoping that I can see the finality of this season and get to observe the young one soar in coming weeks. My heart is full of mixed emotions. This is what I do, this is who I am and for me this is huge. Ever since I was in the 6th grade these large Birds of Prey have been in my heart...since 1978 and having had a Federal permit along with my husband to rehab and release them for a couple of years and then watching them in our area, it is something that is in my blood and this has been so rewarding, and precious for me. 

 

August 13, 2018 update on the Bald Eagle nest site in Prospect Kentucky.  The property owner of the land that the trees have rested on for the past 9 years has also placed her home on the market this past early Summer.  Elaine has been so kind to me in allowing me to walk upon, drive back on her property these past 4 + years now.  I made my final trip today.  Every year for 4 years I have taken my best images of over 3,000 every season and brought the number to the about 275 to 350 to share with those people who have made it possible for me to have this blessing and burned a special DVD as a gift for them.  I learned that there had been two eaglets on this nest before I could have been able to see them from the very high nest rim.  One had fallen and the groundskeeper arrived to observe sadly one of the adult Eagles fly down to try and save the still alive bird and scooped it up either in it's beak, or talon and well...that is just not a good thing...the young one perished.  Thus I really rallied the single Eaglet to thrive, survive and fly.  Due to the situation of one property now sold and another on the market, I had not arrived to be able to ever see this eaglet fly, but I know that it did well, because one day when I was crossing the bridge from Indiana into Kentucky I saw it perched near the nest tree and it looked wonderful...happy tears rolled down my face.  It was a farewell for me and the today when I arrived to deliver my DVD's, I learned that the nest tree from this season had fallen three weeks ago when we had a severe wind and rain storm.  The Eagles have been seen flying, but so far no one knows where after 9 years they will settle and build their new home.  I hope that I can locate it, but if I don't this shall be a season with Bald Eagles that has blessed me to the depth of my soul~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after    you have read the narratives~

I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:

http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

Saturday's Critter

Anni at:

http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 

I'd Rather Be Birdin'

 Linking to I'd Rather B Birdin' 

   

Maggie's  MOSAIC MONDAY

https://normandylife.blogspot.com/

 Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global 

   http://communalglobal.blogspot.ca/

& 

Stewart for:

http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Wild Bird Wednesday

Even after the eggs had been laid, and after they had hatched the adults would work on nest building and redecorating~

I have really loved watching these two for the past 4 years...really quite delightful~

They seem to enjoy each others company~

One day while one of the adults was preening pretty far away from me, I noticed a feather float slowly to the ground...an Eagle's feather...my thoughts...maybe another bird shall use it for feathering it's nest~

The hen with her only surviving Eaglet~

A late Winter/early Spring snow fell~

The hen watches from above, the eaglet from the nest as the male brings in the fish~

Planes fly past quite frequently as well as helicopters~

Incoming meal...watch out below~

This sequence is special to me, not sure exactly why...but I like the look of the images~

This is one of my favorites of the whole set~

The adult female is stunning~

From this image you can see to the left what is left of the nest the Eagles used 2016 and 2017 before part of it fell away in July of 2017.  They then built the nest they used this season to the right~

The eaglet almost looks larger than it's parent in these images~

The hen cleaning her beak after feeding her young and herself~

The eaglet must get quite bored spending most of it's time now on the nest alone.  In the top left picture of the mosaic it is chomping on the stick that helps hold nest together~

Another meal offered, but this time the adult female was having supper too and the eaglet begged for more than it received this trip~

The hen~

The young eaglet is doing a whole lot of jumping and rising a bit above the nest rim, though still a week to 10 days from first flight~

I spent hours upon hours watching this activity some three to four days a week, for I knew my time there was just about over and I was not wanting to miss anything if possible~

As it would turn out, for the first time in over 4 years and 4 seasons of watching eaglets that had fledged, I would miss seeing this one in flight...  There were obstacles now that kept me from being able to get close, I just had to begin to break myself away and it was not easy~

The nest ready for egg laying, the young Eaglet trying it's independence from the nest before fledgling a few days later and the tree as it was following a severe rain storm, that brought the old Pine tree to the ground.  

It was almost like it would have to take something like this for me to accept that the season with the Eagles was now over and I could drive away knowing that it was one of the most wonderful times of my life in nature and it had come to an end~

Thankful to: Robert, Juan, Elaine, James and Nancy for their kindness and generosity~