Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Empty Nest

Sadly, after 3 months of anticipation and weeks of observation, there is no eagle baby. The female eagle sat on the nest for 3 months and then one day left and didn't come back. Raccoons may have climbed up the tree and ate the egg or killed the baby chick. The nest and around the tree has a strong odor of fish and raccoons love fish. Dozens of people have been watching the eagles since the snow melted. I saw the eagle pair bringing big clumps of soft nesting material to the nest every day in April. The male eagle also brought large branches to stabilize the nest. I bought new binnoculars to watch all the activity. I hardly missed a day.
Two years ago owls took over the nest and drove the eagles out. This year no chick survived. Eagles have a tough time here in Vermont. But there are an incredible amount of eagle watchers here. Hopefully other eagles in the area faired better.

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