In the midst of our lovely island in a tall tree overlooking the marsh and the water there is a Bald Eagle couple that raises a family each year. They are doing so in an increasingly developed area. This year the lot that holds the tree where their nest is located is being developed. The process is now well underway. The tree with their nest won’t be taken down but many adjacent trees were cut down in May, 2024 and this may pose a danger to the future of the nest.
Below are photos of the couple returning to the nest in the fall and raising two eaglets. The photos range from November of 2023 to March of 2024. The eaglets started flying on their own on March 27, 2024 and now that it is June all four eagles have left for the summer. We await the return of the adults in the fall of 2024 to start the process once again.
Please enjoy scrolling through the photos which are arranged in chronological order. They are not technically for sale, but if you are interested in purchasing a photo for use in making a print you can make even a small donation to the National Audubon Society (https://www.audubon.org) and send me your proof of payment and I will give you a temporary free link. You can send proof of payment to:
jprice@islandmagicphotography.com
1. November 3, 2023. Adults have returned to the nest and have been repairing it. No eggs laid yet.
2. November 19, 2023. One adult sits above the nest. No sign that eggs are being sat on yet.
3. December 17, 2023. One adult sits in the nest and appears to be incubating eggs, a process known as brooding.
4. January 5th, 2024. The two adults like to sit in this “observation tree” (as I call it). From here, one often perches to watch over the nest while the other adult is brooding.
5. January 5, 2024. Same bird as in photo four. What an expression on the eagle's face!
6. January 8, 2024. No sign of eaglets yet.
7. January 8, 2024. In the meantime the other adult is in the observation tree, observing.
8. January 11, 2024.One of the adults perches on a tree between the observation tree and the nest. Its stern expression suggests, "What are you doing here?". The tree the bird is perched on is now gone due to development of the lot. Many of the trees between the nest and the observation tree are likewise gone due to development in May of 2024.
9. January 16, 2024. One of the adults is singing from atop the observation tree. Back at the nest this same day was the first proof I had that they had at least one eaglet. See next photo.
10. January 16, 2024.Just a few minutes after photo 9, the other adult fed an eaglet, my first sighting of an eaglet there this year. It was too small to raise its head above the nest.
11. January 16, 2024. About 10 minutes after photo number 10 the adult doing the feeding flew over to the observation tree to join the other one. That is the Eagle to the right. They both then sang together as you will see in the next shot. I guess they were proud parents!
12. January 16, 2024. Here are the two parents singing away on the observation tree after the little ones were fed. Yes, there were two eaglets, however they were still sight unseen, at least by me, at this point.
13. January 22, 2024. This is the first day I was able to capture shots of at least one of the two eaglets. Just a little fuzzball on that day, but soon this one and the sibling will be much larger.
14. January 22, 2024. A second shot of an adult and one of the two eaglets.
15. January 26, 2024. Another parent-and-child shot. Look carefully. The second eaglet is partly visible in front of the one whose head is higher.
16. February 1, 2024. The price of bearing eaglets is eternal vigilance. Here, one parent on the observation tree patiently watches over the nest.
17. February 3, 2024. One parent and one eaglet. Note how much bigger the eaglet has grown since January 22. It is now testing its wings. There will be lots of flapping before flight to build up wing muscles.
18. February 3, 2024. Eaglet takes a break after flapping away.
19. February 3, 2024. The nest and tree from a distance.
20. February 9, 2024. Some big time flapping going on. Parents are away. I guess they trust the kids not to fall out of the nest. This one sure is getting big.
21. February 16, 2024. For the first time, I captured both eaglets in one shot. Just to the left of the flapping birdie, you can see the sibling’s beak.
22. February 19, 2024. Both youngsters are quite large. It is almost impossible for the whole family to be in the nest at once.
23. February 19, 2024. A typical shot with both eaglets. One flaps away while the other sits there. They seem to take turns. Just behind the flapper to the right, you can see a little of the sibling.
24. February 19, 2024. The two eaglets are slightly separated. You can glimpse the non-flapping eaglet, though a branch partially obscures it.
25. February 19, 2024. The flapper has finally finished (he was flappergasted). It moved to the left, and the sibling's head appears. It’s rare to see both eaglets test their wings at once. The nest may be too small.
26. February 19, 2024. Here you can clearly both eaglets. They look big and strong but are weeks away from flying.
27. February 23, 2024. It is early afternoon. One adult and the eaglets await lunch delivery. It’s coming soon…
28. February 23, 2024. February 23, 2024. Ten seconds after photo 27, the other adult flies in bearing food. Ah, the excitement. It’s hard to distinguish the four birds now or see their lunch. They all chow down for quite a while.
29. February 23, 2024. We can see one eaglet, the adult that brought lunch, and possibly the beak of the second eaglet. Lunch was bloody. Look at the red on the adult's beak.
30. February 23, 2024. After lunch, one adult flew away. The siblings are alone. Soon after this shot was taken, they disappeared inside the nest. Perhaps for a nap?
31. February 26, 2024. One of the eaglets is testing out its wings again. As usual, the other eaglet does not appear until the flap is over.
32. February 26, 2024. Flapping time for one of. them is over so the other one resurfaces.
33. March 8, 2024. A week after the last photos, the eaglets are almost as large as their parents. They’re not ready to fly yet but flapping up a storm.
34. March 8, 2024. A parent leaves the nest to let the kids flap away and play video games.
35. March 12, 2024.I am almost right underneath the observation tree and one adult.
36. March 14, 2024. One parent sits near the nest. Both youngsters are flapping, on one of the rare days when I saw them flap at the same time. They are almost ready to leave the nest. But not quite.
37. March 19, 2024. The next 14 shots showcase a bald eagle lunch delivery. One adult swoops in clutching a fish in both talons. It releases the fish from the right claw first, then the left claw, and lunch disappears inside the nest. Look at the eaglet's face!
38. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 2
39. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 3.
40. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 4
41. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 5
42. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 6
43. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 7
44. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 8
45. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 9
46. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 10
47. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 11. Note that the right claw has released the fish but the left claw has not.
48. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 12. Left claw still has the fish.
49. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 13. Left claw still has the fish.
50. March 19, 2024. Birdie lunch delivery 14. The fish has disappeared and dropped into the nest. A few seconds later one of the eaglets brought it into full view and the chowing down began.
51. March 20, 2024. The siblings are big. It’s time to start flying. The adults spend less and less time in the nest and more time in the observation tree. Perhaps a hint to eaglets… .
52. March 23, 2024. A big day. For the first time, an eaglet sits outside the nest. This means that flying will come soon. Note that the eaglet on the left is flapping while perching on a branch outside the nest. The eaglet to the right stands on the edge of the nest.
53. March 23, 2024. A few minutes later, note how far the first sibling has moved from the nest.
54. March 23, 2024. Still later the other sibling has moved away from the nest too.
55. March 23, 2024.Here is yet a closer view of the second sibling on a branch outside of the nest. Soon they will both take to the air.
56. March 23, 2024. This wide-angle shot shows the tree and nest in the center. If you magnify it greatly, you can see both siblings. To the left of the nesting tree, the tops of two other tall trees have dark green leaves. Those are the trees the siblings will fly to when they test their ability to fly short distances. These trees are also stopping-points on the way to the observation tree and back while the youngsters build up their strength. Those two trees (and many others) were cut down in May 2024.
57. March 27, 2024. The observation tree. One adult perches at the top right. One eaglet stands at the bottom left. It did not walk to that tree. It flew.
58. March 27, 2024. Sibling 1 sits in the observation tree while Sibling 2 perches on a branch outside the nest, preparing to fly.
59. March 27, 2024. Sibling 1 sits in a tall tree that acts as a stopping-point on the way to the observation tree and back..
60. March 27, 2024. Here is the first sibling flying over head on its way back to the observation tree.
61. March 27, 2024. Sibling 1 lands on the observation tree, right where one parent had perched. The adult quickly scrambled to get out of the way (not caught on camera).
62. March 27, 2024. Sibling 1 flies home from the observation tree. It flew directly over my head.
63. March 27, 2024. Sibling 1 is about to land at the nest.
64. March 27, 2024. Sibling 2 flaps its wings mightily before take-off. In a surprise, Sibling 2 flew off in another direction and disappeared before returning to the nest.
65. March 27, 2024. Sibling 2 returns to the nesting tree after flying to parts unknown.
This ends our eagle family journey for the 2023-2024 season. We hope that the two parents return in fall 2024 to raise their next brood. However, due to extensive development around the nesting tree in May, perhaps this was the last year that an eagle family will raise eaglets on Crane Island.