nursery watch

When I asked E. where he wanted to walk today and he replied ‘the golf course,’ I knew why. For the last few years a scraggly tall pine tree at the end of the hole nearest the path has been the focus of our attention on our walks there. That’s because in a crotch of branches near the top is a large eagles’ nest.

Last year for the first time we saw signs that it was active. In early spring a pair of eagles hung around it. Then later we saw only one, but sometimes from a distance we noticed a bump in the nest’s silhouette that made us pretty sure there was a bird inside. Finally we actually saw the eaglet peeking over, then later standing on the nest’s edge. Late last summer the juvenile, now almost as large as its parents, was still hanging around that tree. Then all three disappeared.

Photo: Eaglets at one week.

Every time we’ve gone to the golf course this spring we’ve searched the tree and all its neighbors for any signs of the eagle pair. So far we hadn’t been rewarded. We were beginning to fear they may have perished. There are all kinds of hazards hidden in our ‘pristine’ environment. At Judson Lake near Abbotsford, for example, lead shot that has accumulated in the water from years of hunting has been killing trumpeter swans in large numbers since 1999. Birds of prey are also threatened by lead. And last spring there were the horrible discoveries of eagles killed by poachers for claws and feathers near Squamish.

Photo: Eaglets at four weeks
But today we saw that the eagles have returned! E. got a bead on them from the parking lot There in the distance sitting on ‘their’ tree were both dark birds with their gleaming white heads. It’s a good thing he looked when he did, though, because when we got close, they had disappeared again. But we have seen them and both of us are feeling – well... relieved. Now for another season of nursery watch!


Photo Credits - Eagle cam - Northeast Utilities Systems

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