How to use this Page

The only chance I’d have all weekend to get out on the lake was early, early Saturday morning.

Sleep in an extra hour . . . get out on the lake . . . sleep in . . . get out on the lake . . .

Yeah. There was no contest.

My first stop was to check on the nesting loon, as many campers mentioned hearing them  call Friday afternoon.  Just seeing her on the nest, had me breathing a sigh of relief.

I snapped a couple photos, and just when I’d decided to move along, she rose back to push the grasses up against her egg.

I sure hope this one hatches!!  It would be wonderful to have a loon chick on the lake again.

I dipped my paddle in the water and turned to head down by the state park area of the lake (there’s a cove down there that’s always humming with birds when the sun comes up) Suddenly, I noticed something splashing in the water on the shoreline.  Using my camera like binoculars, I zoomed in just as it took off . . .

Sure wish I’d seen it sooner to get photos of it bathing!

I followed .  . . at a respectful distance of course.  The eagle landed on a branch and hung its wings to dry.

He preened for quite awhile. As I looked around, I realized the nest was in sight from his  perch.

They are ever watchful of their little ones.

It was such a beautiful morning to be out on the lake, gliding along, listening to nature rising with the sun.  I’m looking forward to many more mornings just like this one . . .

Just a couple days ago, I was lakeside, when suddenly, the female eagle cried out several times.  I looked up, down, and all around, but I couldn’t see anything more than a lone goose, swimming along in front of their island.

Then she stopped and looked up expectantly.

And I saw him, in the distance. He circled and circled and circled the nest, eventually coming in for a landing.

He stood watch while she ate and cared for the eaglets.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating . . . eagles are great parents!

Our eagles seem to be doing well, in spite of the 50+ mph winds taking place today.

I sure hope she doesn’t get sea sick up there!

I think I may have witnessed our eagle laying an egg!!

The behavior was something I hadn’t seen before.  When I arrived, the female was sitting on the back edge of the nest facing me.

As I watched, she turned.  Her body straightened. Then she cried out sharply, once, twice.

She did this a couple of times.  I was too far away to see what might be happening, even with my camera. But I didn’t spy any predators, or the mate.

Eventually, she turned back around to face me.

She began picking at the nest, before slowly making her way into it  . . .

and sitting in the position I know so well.  On the eggs!

I went back an hour later and she was still sitting low on the nest.  The eggs are here!!

Back on November 1st, I’d promised to keep you updated on our eagles as they got closer to nesting season.

Well, that time is here.

Yesterday, I donned my snowshoes to trek to the lake. The very first thing I do, is take a picture of the nest to compare.

Here’s the nest last April.  The nesting eagle had been quite upset at a juvenile eagle who’d been flying around the lake that day.

Here is what I saw yesterday . . .

They’ve been adding a stick here and a branch there.

Every year I worry about the weight.  The wildlife biologist who’d come to band the eagles a few years ago had said it weighed approximately 700 to 800 pounds!  Can you imagine!?

I saw no sign of the eagles that day, but they’ve been here.  These pictures prove it.

I’m looking forward to documenting our nesting pair this year!  To give you a timeline, they were sitting on eggs March 24th last year. I happened to be at the lake during one of their mating attempts a few weeks before that. And the eaglets were born a week before we opened the campground May 1st.  We still have a few weeks to go!

But it’s worth the wait.

I will be selling my wildlife calendars and notebooks through the Holiday Season for as long as supplies last.

In the past, I’ve used them for hostess and teacher gifts.  I’ve given the notebooks to kids with Storycubes or a writing prompt book.  Here are some pictures of the items I test printed.

Notebooks with line pages $15.00

Desk Calendars 8″ x 3″ $12.00

Wall Calendars 8×5″ x 11″ $17.00

The photos in both style calendars are as follows:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

I’m also ordering 5.5″ x 4″  notecards, blank inside, with the bear, hummingbird, fox, eagle, and loon with chick, photos.  The price for 10 (2 of each image) will be $15.00.  Envelopes included.

For shipping, add $3.50.

To place an order:

1. Leave the Item(s), and number ordering in the comments below with your name only.
2. Tally your total due, remember to include shipping.  For more than 5 items shipping may be more.
3. I will reply to your comment when I’ve received payment and mailed your items, so you can expect delivery. Let me know if  you have any questions. And thank you for your orders!

I almost left this as a wordless post – and let the pictures do the talking . . .

But this author doesn’t always know how to “do” wordless, loving instead to give the background on what I’ve witnessed ‘in the field’.

While kayaking last August, I saw in the distance an eagle on the edge of the lake, in the shadows. It appeared to be bathing. The splashing water is actually what caught my attention at first. Well, that, and an eaglet up above on a branch hollering down to it, probably looking for its next meal.

Bathing pictures are on my bucket list, so I slowly paddled forward, hoping to get close enough, but alas, it took to the air.

In my direction.

Landing on a branch, almost directly above my head, it spread its wings, and left them there! In the back of my mind, I realized I’d read about this while doing research for Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, but it was a first for me to see it.

I sat in my kayak, watching this photographic eagle for forty minutes!  Mostly, it stayed in that one pose. Eventually though, it began to preen . . . .

Before hanging its wings again.

They’re so regal looking, aren’t they?

Right now, in October, November, the eagle pair do still hang around the lake. Just last week, I wandered to the shoreline for sunrise photos, to find them adding branches to their nest!

They will come and go for the next couple months, with me not seeing them for weeks at a time. But when I do, I’ll post photos here and on Facebook. In mid-January, I usually have to don my snowshoes to get to the edge of the lake to see them. In March, the pair stay closer together, near the nest, and I see them every time I trek down. If I’m lucky, I’ll even witness  them mating, which is  a sure sign we’ll be having chicks.

In April, we typically find one eagle sitting down in the nest, with just the tip of her white head showing. This means they’re on the eggs for the next 35 days.

During the very last week of April or first week of May, my campers and I point our cameras toward the nest, hoping for a sign of little gray chick heads bobbing up and down. They aren’t able to hold up their heads until they’re about two weeks old.  At this stage we’re looking to snap pictures of two or possibly even three, gray heads up all at the same time as proof of how many chicks we’ll be following that summer.

Click on the Eagle tag on the right, and you’ll see previous years posts showing their nesting.

Come back often this winter and I’ll keep you posted on this years chicks! I love sharing my findings with all of you.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

I’ve often seen birds harass the eagles, driving them from trees and even away from their own eaglets.

But on Friday, I managed to catch a series of photos of it!

I was watching the eaglets , and talking with one of our campers when the eagle swooped into view.  It was being chased by small birds who were screaming their frustration.

By the time I’d unpacked my camera, the eagle landed with its eaglets. I’m not sure if it had something for them to eat or not. Regardless, the little, tenacious birds kept swooping and pecking like pesky mosquitoes until the eagle took to the skies again, its tiny bullies in hot pursuit.

I was quite a ways from all the action, but when I zoom in on my photos, it almost looks as if the smaller bird has landed on the poor eagle’s head!

And then pecks at it!

A second bird took to the chase and this one, I’m pretty sure, is a Downy or Hairy Woodpecker.

That poor eagle!  It swooped.  It dove.  It did every move it could to shake the pesky, determined pair.

This is the last shot I caught, before the three of them went around the corner and out of sight.  I’m sure that eagle ended up with quite a headache!

The adult eagles are on and off the nest, bringing food to their two eaglets.  They’re never very far away, keeping watch, keeping their little ones safe.

Look at the difference in the talons in these next two pictures. Aren’t they amazing?

So how do they manage to keep from harming their own chicks.  By curling them, when they walk on the nest themselves.

Feeding the eaglets is a full time job right now!

Every time I go lakeside, I can hear them crying for attention.

I bet the poor parents are tired!

The view from the back side of the nest isn’t as clear as from the front.

Especially since the eagles have done some rearranging and seem to be moving large sticks to that side as the eaglets get bigger.

Even after all these years, I still manage to record a new-to-me behavior!  They’re amazing creatures!  Graceful in flight. Great parents. Strong builders.

I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to study them year round, and to use that research in Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, as well as sharing my nature adventures with campers and readers all over New England.

I can’t wait to see what eagle adventures I witness this coming summer!

I thought you might want an eaglet update.  They’re growing very quickly!

And holler?  Oh my, can they holler when they’re hungry!

The eagle parents are sticking closely to the nest these days. For some reason, the geese make them crazy; flapping their wings, throwing their heads back and giving the danger call until the geese move out of the area.

When the adult eagles move from side to side in the nest, the eaglets pull themselves across the nest after them, by using their wings and beak.

These two little ones are big and strong. We’re going to have fun watching them grow this summer!

As I walked to the lake yesterday (without boots!) I could hear the unmistakeable cry of an eagle.  I hurried, hoping to see the adults switch places on the nest.  Or maybe get a glimpse of them bringing food back.

But when I got there, the nesting eagle was alone.  Every couple of minutes, it threw back its head to give the squeaky, danger-in-the-area call.

I kept waiting for the mate to fly in, as they usually do, to holler in duet against the danger.  For twenty minutes, I waited, with one eye on the sky.

The eagle continued to cry, even though I couldn’t see what had upset it so. The loons weren’t in the area.  Nor crows or seagulls.  The osprey didn’t appear to be hunting either.

Suddenly, I heard the flapping of a large wingspan.  Looking straight up, I realized a juvenile eaglet had been over my head, hidden in the branches of a big pine the whole time!  It flew down the shoreline, only to circle around and come back again.

I never did get a good picture of the juvenile, as he soared over the trees I was standing under. I would have kept camera-hunting him, but the black clouds had arrived to let loose a steady stream of big, fat raindrops.

I still have no proof of the eggs hatching, but this eagle did seem to be sitting a little higher on the nest.  I’ll check again tomorrow to see what I can see!

Yesterday, the weather turned glorious! Warm breezes blew over the still frozen lake, as birds chirped from every corner of the forest.

I took a long walk along the shoreline, camera slung around my neck, ready to shoot.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

I was just in time to watch the eagles switch places sitting on the eggs.

And this time, the departing eagle flew right over my head!

Only two or three minutes passed before the eagle left on the nest hunkered down for their watch over the little ones.

Lately, there’s been a pair of seagulls who soar high overhead the small patch of open water on the lake.  The eagles don’t like this, not at all!  The one on the nest will call out, and the mate flies in to help protect the family.

Such good parents!

April vacation arrives soon. And with it, my walks will increase.  My notes from 2014 tell me that the eaglets were born right around April 18th, so you can bet I’ll be down at the lake as often as I can!

And I’ll keep you posted too.

Somewhere around March 24th, the eagle pair settled in on their eggs.

Look at that smile!

Each egg was laid three days apart and thirty-five days from then, chicks will be born.  Both adults take turns sitting on the nest, and they’ll turn the eggs approximately every two hours.

After the eggs are laid and the eagles start their long sit-in, or as I like to call it, a snuggle-in, I will always see one on the nest. They won’t leave those eggs alone. They’ll keep them warm and dry and safe to predators in the air, such as ravens. Or predators from down below, like raccoons.

When I trudge to the lake now, through the 6 inches of snow which lays over most of the campground, I can count on seeing the one on the beautiful nest they built.

Eyes to the sky though, I’m looking for the mate not on the nest. And if I’m lucky, I’ll witness something amazing like this . . .

One eagle bringing sticks to the nest, adding on to the castle, so to speak.

Or a juvenile, soaring overhead, but not daring to come near.

A hawk looking for its next meal.

But what I’m most anxious for, is eaglets.

It won’t be long now.

December 2014

March 2015

Can you see the diffference?  And today, there were even more branches on the nest!  Ice fisherman told me the eagles had added to it all morning long.

The eagles are getting ready to lay their eggs!

I’ve snowshoed down every day, hoping to see the tell-tale sign, of one eagle, nestled in the nest.  When she does, we’ll only see the very top of her white head. Last year, she was sitting on eggs March 8th.

Until then, the eagles continue to visit the nest and add to it.

As I approached our lakefront last week, I spied an adult eagle soaring overhead.  I ran, camera in hand, which isn’t easy to do!  And I made it just in time to point and shoot . . .

praying the settings were good enough.

Such a graceful landing!

This adult appeared to be checking out the nest, looking down upon it several times before flying off again.

Can you tell how excited I am that we’ll have eaglets to watch again this year!!

Loving Christmas break from school for many reasons, but mostly for the many long walks through the woods I’m allowed.

Santa brought me a new trail camera, so I’ve put the old one down by the beaver hut, since they’re so elusive and it’s pretty obvious they’ve been working hard on the den lately.  Of course, once I put it there, I’m not content to just let it sit, I have to hike down every day to see what images it’s caught.

While I was there yesterday, I heard the call of the eagle.  The dead tree they like to sit in is very close to the beaver hut, but can’t be seen by line of sight.  Even if I hadn’t heard them, I would have known they were there, because I could see cars stopping on the causeway to get a look.

So I waited.  And waited. And after fifteen minutes, I got my wish.  I’m sure my gasp of surprise could be heard across the lake!

This adult was headed toward the nest, quite a ways from the beaver hut!  They were adding to the nest!

I could see a speck of white on the nest, which told me the other adult was waiting patiently for this addition.  Or perhaps its an offering?  A sign they were agreeing to reconnect?

But alas, halfway to the nest, the eagle began to drift downward, the weight of the stick was too much.

Once again, I gave thanks for my long lens.  Those of you who are familiar with Lower Range Pond, know how great the distance is from from the beaver hut to the golf course side.  I was able to watch as the eagle tried to keep a hold of its prize.

But alas, he couldn’t do it.   I picked up a four foot stick that lay on top the beaver hut and felt the weight of it in my hand.  I was amazed the eagle carried a stick that large for as far as it did!

He bit it.  He moved it back and forth.

He thought about it for quite a bit.

When the second adult called from the nest, he decided to abandon it in favor of joining his mate.

I hurried down the trail, hoping to catch them both on the nest with my camera, and managed to take this one shot.

I know from experience that mating doesn’t happen until March.  But this is a sure sign the process has begun.  And even though I’ve seen, documented and reported the ritual many, many times, I still get teary when I realize they’re going to start another family in my backyard.

Cindy Lord met me on the porch of my campground office at 5am last Friday morning.  After I made a pot of coffee and filled my stainless steel cup with the hot, dark liquid I craved at that time of day, we trekked to the lake to put our kayaks in the lake.

We were in time to witness the dancing mist on the water and the rising sun over the trees.

I looked for muskrats, herons and wood ducks.  But as is often the case with Cindy and I, it was a loon we saw first.  I can’t remember the last time we were together and we didn’t see one.

A second loon flew overhead a few moments later. We watched as they two of them  greeted each other for a few minutes before swimming off down the lake.

Cindy and I traveled the same path as the pair, talking, sharing author-ly stories and just plain catching up on life.

Until we were rendered speechless by the sight of an adult eagle in the distance.

At first, he appeared to be sitting in peace.  But the caw of a crow told a different story.

It didn’t take long to see the eagle was being harassed.  The crow called and buzzed him until eventually, the poor eagle took flight to escape.

He landed in another tree, closer to us.  The crow wasn’t giving up that easily though.

A second crow joined the first.  The eagle looked out over the lake regally, appearing to ignore them as best as he could .

But even the mighty eagle can only take so much.  The crow buzzed the eagle one too many times . . .

until the eagle spread his wings and fell off the branch,

It was the most beautiful thing to see . . .

his wings filling with air and the eagle lifting up to the sky . . .

soaring . . .

down along the lake toward the campground.

Cindy and I looked at each other and grinned, before picking up our paddles to follow its path.

Cindy Lord met me on the porch of my campground office at 5am last Friday morning.  After I made a pot of coffee and filled my stainless steel cup with the hot, dark liquid I craved at that time of day, we trekked to the lake to put our kayaks in the lake.

We were in time to witness the dancing mist on the water and the rising sun over the trees.

I looked for muskrats, herons and wood ducks.  But as is often the case with Cindy and I, it was a loon we saw first.  I can’t remember the last time we were together and we didn’t see one.

A second loon flew overhead a few moments later. We watched as they two of them  greeted each other for a few minutes before swimming off down the lake.

Cindy and I traveled the same path as the pair, talking, sharing author-ly stories and just plain catching up on life. Every now and then, we’d run into the loons again . . .

We’d snap a few more photos and chat again until we were rendered speechless by the sight of an adult eagle in the distance.

At first, he appeared to be sitting in peace.  But the caw of a crow told a different story.

It didn’t take long to see the eagle was being harassed.  The crow called and buzzed him, until eventually, the poor eagle took flight to escape all the noise and hubbub.

He landed in another tree, closer to us.  The crow wasn’t giving up that easily though.

A second crow joined the first in making the eagle’s life as miserable as possible.

All the while, the eagle looked out over the lake regally, appearing to ignore them as best as he could .

But even the mighty eagle can only take so much.  The crow buzzed the eagle one too many times . . .

until the eagle spread his wings and fell off the branch,

It was the most beautiful thing to see . . .

his wings filling with air before lifting up into the sky . . .

soaring . . .

over hour heads . . .

then down along the lake toward the campground.

Cindy and I smiled at each other, much as I imagined Cooper and Packrat do, before we  pickied up our paddles to follow the eagle home, to the campground.

I witnessed the most incredible wildlife-happening Saturday while paddling in from the loon count.

As I made my way past the eagle island, I heard a ton of commotion.  The eaglets were both on the nest, screeching at one another.  Wings flapped as they moved around the nest and to the branches just above it.  I lifted my camera to get a better look.  One of the eaglets lifted off the nest, and flew rather clumsily to land on a branch of a nearby tree.

I could tell there was something in his talons . . .

Above and to his right, the sibling eaglet screamed in frustration from the nest.

It took a minute, but this one finally won the battle of the fish.  I’m guessing that what I missed, was an adult swooping in to drop off breakfast.

Obviously, this one didn’t want to share.

I looked at my watch, and realized I had fifteen minutes to get to shore, lock up my kayak, trudge uphill, and open the store for business.  I’d lowered my camera to do just that, when WHOOSH -

a blur of brown and white buzzed by the eaglet with the fish, causing him to drop his prize.

An osprey?  The adult?

Again, I lifted my camera, using it like binoculars and gasped to see this juvenile had landed on the branch next to the eaglet.

Since it takes almost 5 years for a juvenile to gain their white head and yellow beak, I’m thinking this one is 3 – 4 years old.    Dare I suggest it’s one of the triplets from a couple years ago?  There was that one eaglet who just didn’t seem to want to leave the nest . . . not even after it had collapsed.  We called him “the baby”.

Anyway, all the hullabaloo started all over again.  The eaglet that lost the fish, screamed at the juvenile.  The eaglet in the nest, shrieked down at both of them, while the juvenile let them both have it.

Oh, it was loud!!

But it was about to get louder.

The adult arrived, buzzing the juvenile, who promptly jumped further into the branches of its tree.

Meanwhile, the adult landed on top the highest point of the island, and hollered down at the juvenile.  More than hollered, she meant business.  It was a call I’d only heard when the osprey buzzed the nest or the heron flew too closely.

She was not pleased with this newcomer.

Neither were the eaglets who were still making noise of their own.

I just sat in my kayak and chuckled at the whole thing.

Finally, the adult had enough.  She took to the sky.

. . . and  buzzed the juvenile until he was on the run.

Behind me, the eaglets had gone silent. All I could hear was the two of them screeching, as the adult chased  the juvenile to the other side of the lake . ..

Ooooooo, she was relentless.

The last of my photos have these two as brown dots in the sky.  She chased this one away, across the lake, over the golf course and well over Middle Range Pond, before I lost sight of them.

This was an experience I’ll never forget.  Awe-inspiring.  Nature at its finest.

And after all that, I still managed to open the store on time. Although the first hundred customers of the day had to patiently listen to me tell my story over, and over and over again.

Our eaglets are getting quite big!  They’re spreading and flapping their wings.  Before you know it, they’ll be catching the wind with them too.

The adults still bring food, but they’re ripping and tearing dinner apart on their own.  One day, an adult and an eaglet played tug a war with a hunk of meat.  The adult won, before flying to a branch above the eaglets. (I took thirty pictures of that scene, but not one came out . . . see?  Not all my pictures are . . . well . . . picture perfect)

I see the adult eagles quite often when I kayak, but never know where I’m going to find them these days. Especially now that the eaglets can be left alone for longer periods of time.

My favorite sighting so far this year happened one gorgeous, quiet spring morning. I was paddling along when I rounded a corner to an adult eagle resting on a log which lay just  below the surface of the water.  It almost looked like he could stand on water.

I wish I’d witnessed this scene before finishing the edits to Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest.  I stilled, almost forgetting to take photos of this grand creature  It took a sip of water, then stared across the water, its reflection mirrored below.  A fisherman slowly meandered up the shoreline from the other direction, toward us, and the eagle turned to look at him.

Then silently spread his wings, lifted off and flew off along the log . . .

out over open water . . .

to a quieter spot on the lake.

The fisherman never looked up.  Never heard, and so, never saw that graceful exit.

That vision stays with me still.

Title: Fly, Eagle, Fly! An African Tale Retold by by Christopher Gregorowski Pictures by Niki Daly Foreword by Desmond Tutu Published by Margaret McLederry Books, 2000 Ages: 5-8 Themes: parables, eagles, freedom Quote, page 10:  He climbed up a gully in case the calf had … Continue reading →

Happy Mother’s Day to all my readers . . .

Today, I got out in my kayak for the first time this season.

Oh . . . it felt wonderful.  The sun.  The breeze.  An eagle soaring overhead as a loon silently surfaces next to me.

What’s not to like?  Or love?

The eaglets were vocal, chirping away.  The breeze brought me a little too close and I’m sorry to say the adult flew off the branch to a nearby tree.

Doesn’t this eaglet look like it’s saying, “Hey! Where ya goin’ Mom!?”

As soon as I back paddled to a respectable distance, Mom returned.  I’m happy to report both eaglets are looking health and well.

A quick post today, as we’re frantically trying to get the campground ready to open on May 1st.  The late winter weather has put us behind schedule a little bit, which is kind of funny, because Cooper’s third adventure opens very similarly!

But you know me, I can’t resist a walk on a beautiful day.  Especially when a friend comes to visit.

Linda and I were lakeside watching the eagles when I saw one little gray fuzzball moving up and down.  Then a wing, then the head again.

I snapped picture after picture, not really sure if I was getting anything or not.

But I did!

I hoped there were two, so I kept my camera lens trained on the nest.  But after 15 or 20 minutes I said to Linda, “I guess there’s only one.  Or only one strong enough to lift his head high enough.  Let’s -”

The eagle shifted in the nest.  And I saw it.

Two gray fuzzballs.  Yet, how could I be sure the second one wasn’t a wing?

Because she fed it!

Year after year I monitor the eagles and watch their behavior.  I love watching them feed and care for their little ones.  This is the nest that inspired Mystery of the Eagles Nest.

Isn’t it impressive?

Watching an eagle soar is a most wondrous sight.

They do it so effortlessly . . .

They look so free . . .

Circling above the lake soundlessly, eying the fisherman’s catch, riding the wind,

. . . watching them fills me with awe.

When these eagles take flight, all eyes on the lake turn upward.

Today, I watched as she came in for a landing on the nest.  When I’d first gotten to the lake, I was worried to see no adult on it, as she’d been sitting there for hours just days before.

AND I’d told everyone on this blog.  And Facebook.  And the campground blog too.  And the Campground Facebook page.

I held my breath as she walked along the tree branch  .  . . were there eggs or weren’t there?

She stopped to look down into the nest several times. It gave me hope.

After poking her beak into the nest once, twice, three times, she hopped into the nest and  settled back down onto her eggs.

Whew!  We’re nesting. I didn’t fib.

These photos were taken before the big snow, wind, ice storm Wednesday night.  My relief over knowing they were definitely nesting was replaced with worry. The eggs were on my mind for most of the last few days.  After my meeting was done today, I trudged down to the lake to find her sitting on the them, only the tip of her head showing.

I shouldn’t have doubted her.  She IS the Queen of the skies, after all.