Lorna with a Spotting Scope

The leader of yesterday’s PGT bird walk, Lottie Bushman, took a closer look at some snapshots of one of the old Great Blue Heron nests and realized it is now a Bald Eagle nest.

The nest is far enough from The Point that it’s hard to see clearly, so Lorna and I returned today with a spotting scope. From a distance, the nest looks like a big pile of sticks high in a sycamore tree. Through the scope, we were able to see much more.

There were two good-sized eaglets in the nest. They were active, awkward, and fascinating to watch. Their bodies were mostly dark, but they still had patches of grayish-white down on the head, belly, back, and under the wings, giving them a scruffy, mottled look.

At times they bounced up and down on their legs, as if practicing for takeoff. One moved to the edge of the huge stick nest and flapped its still-developing wings. Another briefly climbed onto a nearby limb, which may be the beginning of “branching,” the stage before young eagles actually fly.

I wish I had an adapter so I could show what we saw through the scope. The nest is far enough away that the image was softened by distance and heat shimmer, but the view was still good enough to see the eaglets clearly.

Based on their size, behavior, and feathering, I’d guess they may be around eight weeks old. If that’s right, their first flights could come in late May or early June. Even after they fledge, they may stay near the nest for several more weeks while the adults continue to feed them.

We never did see the parents, but they must have been nearby.

For PGT, this is a remarkable first: the first Bald Eagle nest we’ve documented here since moving to the property in 1970.

It is exciting, and also a little bittersweet, because the old Great Blue Heron rookery is now gone. When we moved here, the rookery was already established. At its peak it had about 60 nests, with roughly 20 usually active in a given year. Most of those nests were in one huge sycamore tree. After the drought of 2012, that tree died. Over time it broke apart, the nests disappeared, and the herons left.

Seeing Bald Eagles nesting there now is thrilling. But it also marks a change in a place we have watched closely for more than 50 years.