This is my proof that spring is absolutely in the air here in south central Illinois! We have a resident pair of bald eagles that have a nest about 5 miles from my house. I drive by it on my way to work, but never noticed it until last year. I took pics of the eagles and the eaglet (I never saw more than one, but a professional photographer was also watching the nest, and he said there were two, and had proof!), throughout the summer, all the way until the juvenile began to fly! The pair has been around all winter off and on, but I've been seeing them more and more often lately.
So, the first picture is one of the eagles that I spotted about 1/2 mile from the nest area this morning on my way to work. I watched it swoop down toward the ground, but I was far enough away I'm not sure if it picked up its meal then, or if it already had the squirrel. Then it flew through the wood on the other wise of the road from the nest area, to the trees near the nest. The other eagle was already perched near the nest, and was quite upset the eagle with the meal wasn't sharing! Making lots of noise!
The second picture was the eagle without food. LOL He or she looks quite put out!
Tonight, the female was on the nest! Woohoo!
The last photo shows this evening, the male eagle is the large spot on the left side (then there is a nest to the right of him) and the female was sitting on the huge eagle nest on the right.
Lots of dead trees are necessary for a good nesting area, as the eagles need open branches to land on in the summer when the leaves are filling out this empty spaces.
Enjoy!
