Free Range Photography

It is so hard to see into the new-last-year Benbow Bald Eagle nest, partly because of distance (significantly farther awaythan the old one), and partly because of its placement in the tree, where it is supported by a branch whose green parts obscure about half of the nest itself, that I just point my camera and shoot, and hope for the best.

I can tell when there is an adult present, but as far as any tiny recent hatchlings? I don’t know until I get the video and images up on my computer and lean in with my nose almost touching the screen whether any little ones are present or active. So, apologies for the poor image quality.

It wasn’t until I studied the video taken on my most recent visit on May 6 that I realized there appear to be two young eaglets in the nest. I’m guessing they are about two weeks old at this stage and it looks like there is ample food in the nest as I saw one of the parents feeding the young from what looked like some kind of mammal remains, plus I saw a nice fresh fish delivered by the other parent.

Mere fuzz balls with huge appetites, it is a thrill to see these two babies, but I am only cautiously optimistic about both of them surviving. Watchers of various eagle nest cams and web pages will be familiar with the sad fact that not all Bald Eagle hatchlings survive, and when more than one hatches, sometimes only the stronger one makes it. The last couple times the Benbows have hatched two, only one has made it to fledging. I have seen them fledge two a couple times in sixteen years, and it is quite a spectacle to see two huge juveniles on the brink of flight vying for space in the nest, a thousand pound structure now dwarfed by the practice flapping of their 7 foot wingspans. But more often I have seen two reduced to one for any number of reasons, and so I am steeling myself for that possibility.