The Sign
The Pres has been telling me that he thinks we should be hearing more chatter and squawking from the eagles. He's been telling me that it seems to be so much quieter than last year. He has me worried about the success of the nesting eagles.
All his words sit in my head and then I wonder...then wonder turns to worry.
There has been a lot of activity in our neck of the woods. The third home is being built by OS and his crew. Another homeowner is having a three car garage built after re-doing their driveway. The young couple who bought the house down the gravel road is having trees cut and limbs chipped.
Hmmmm? I wonder if I haven't heard the eagles because of all the noise??? I am concerned that they are having a difficult time this year and that they'll move elsewhere.
Did you know that eagles are easily disturbed by unpredictable human activity?
Did you know that disturbances at/around the nesting area may cause adult eagles to abandon their nest even if there are eggs or young in the nest?
Did you know that adults are more easily disturbed than juveniles?
This week Monday was very rainy. Silence from the woods.
Tuesday and Wednesday were beautiful days and I heard chatter....a good sign that there is still activity around the nest!
Thursday the silence re-surfaced.
And today, again...silence so I decided to see for myself.
Walking in towards the clearing, I heard nothing from the eagles. No chirping. No alarm. Nothing. I even walked up closer toward the nest and using zoomer, snapped a pic. As I hit the shutter button, I said out loud, "The nest is abandoned." I saw nothing. Heard nothing.
It had just stopped raining when I walked in and now there was a slight breeze. While looking at the concentration of poop at the base of a tree not far from the nest, I noticed something floating down from the cluster of pines.
Keeping my eyes focused on it until it landed in the tall grass about fifty feet away from me, I headed toward it and carefully tucked it in my right pocket. It gave me hope.
A feather, a fluffy perfect little feather about two and one half inches long, had been blown from the nest. Watching it spiral down riding the breeze told me not to give up.
Right after I tucked the fragile specimen away, I turned to head home. An there, about twenty five feet over my head, was an adult announcing it's presence as it then headed straight for the nest.
I left smiling, feeling renewed and hopeful, anxious to share the moment with the Pres.
Sitting out on the deck as I told him what happened, the silence ended. There was continuous squawking for almost two minutes and my smile was back.
Yes, activity is a good sign!
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Comments
I can imagine they are going to be a little put out and cautious with so much building going on and one can only hope they won't be driven from their home.
Our city of Perth has spread out alarmingly over the past 20 years and many wild birds have lost their homes. One sometimes wonders where it will all stop.