Eagle Family 2017 - 2018
Living in the Ozarks, we are fortunate to see a few Eagles beginning in the late fall to late spring seasons. For the past several years, there has been a pair of Bald Eagles that have been coming back to the same nest and starting a new family each year. This year I invested in a wildlife lens and have had the privilege of watching this beautiful family. It is so awesome to watch them and how they communicate with each other.
This season, they arrived a little early. We think it was about early October when we started seeing them. They mated around Valentine's Day week (typical for this couple), and then their 2 babies were born a month later. While waiting for the eggs to hatch, the adults are very protective. They never leave the nest unattended and would switch out about every couple hours. When they did switch, they would also turn the eggs while the other kept a look out. If there was ever another bird in the area, they would let them know they were not welcome.
Once the babies are born, they are still very protective and don't leave the nest unattended for about 6 weeks, and then they would get a little more risky and leave the next only for a short time if the other adult hadn't come back soon enough. Most of the time it was to just spread their wings and fly around the area, or to snatch something they saw moving around for dinner for the babies.
During this time, you can literally see the adults teaching the babies how to make a nest, talk, prepare dinner, and flap their wings. As the babies get older (approx 6-10 weeks) they really become active in testing their wings. They would jump up and down to see how much air they can get. It's really fun to watch. It's like a couple of kids playing.
Also at this age, the parents start getting antsy and wanting the babies to start flying so they fly around showing them what they can do with those wings. They also start leaving the area and are gone longer and longer as the babies get older. This year, one of the babies left the nest early. It was about 8 weeks old. We were worried it didn't make it but then we saw it again a week later. That day the last baby was in the nest and the adults were not around. Then we saw what at first we thought was a hawk, but when we zoomed in, we discovered it was the other baby. A group of vultures started flying a little too close to the nest at the same time. It didn't take long for daddy to come to protect both babies. He let those vultures know they were not welcome and would squawk at them and fly around until they left.
Finally the other baby, after about 12 weeks, started flying. The parents seemed so happy because at the time, they were only bringing it food once a day. You could tell they were tired, and frustrated that the other baby was afraid to fly. Once it did start to fly, that baby stayed close by so we got to watch it learning to fly. Sometimes it would miss the nest. Takes a lot of timing on their part.
They are such amazing animals to watch. I hope to see them again next season. I have a few photos from this season uploaded to my Animals Collection and will be adding more. Feel free to take a look through my animals collection to see the various photos of the Eagles. Animal Photo Collection.
Jennifer White
Timeless Moments Photography
