It has been a month since I visited the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where I spotted an eaglet on 19 May and wrote a posting entitled “One little eaglet.” Yesterday I traveled to the refuge to check on the baby eagle and was a little surprised to find that the authorities had removed the barriers that had blocked access to the nesting area, which is adjacent to a trail. Did this mean that the eaglet had fledged and the family had left the nest?
I was happy to discover that the eaglet was still there, has grown considerably in size over the past month, and was sitting tall at one edge of the nest. The leaf coverage has also grown, making it pretty tough to get an unobstructed view of the little eagle. The vegetation also hid the presence of one of the parent eagles that flew away to a nearby grove of trees when I approached.
It is somehow reassuring to see that the cycle of life has continued undisturbed as our lives have been turned upside down by the global pandemic. I celebrate the new life of this young eagle and all of the other creatures who have begun their lives this spring and wish them success as they learn to navigate the challenges of their lives.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I wonder if the eaglet’s view of the world will reflect the lack of activity.
Do you mean the lack of human activity? I often wonder to what extent the creatures that I encounter are affected by the presence of humans. I know that in some places, birds and even some mammals become so accustomed to people that they may not fear them as predators. I know that some of my friends worry that the way their pets view the world may be affected by months of having constant attention and may suffer separation anxiety when they return to work (or perhaps, in the case of cates, they will celebrate). 🙂
It might be different with animals in the parks. Around here, we have more animals roaming and they seem to be going more places. They aren’t being hit by cars as much, so I think that’s having an effect. Our pets are still getting used to my being home, and I retired 8 months ago!
I prefer for wild animals to be in wild places. In my suburban townhouse neighborhood we have deer, raccoons, and foxes and now there is talk that we may also have coyotes. Yikes.
Once you have coyotes, you won’t have much of anything else.
I don’t know for sure about the coyotes, but if confirmed I sure would be cautious about leaving a dog or a cat outdoors.
Years ago, we had a problem in our neighborhood with feral cats. The we had coyotes, and then no cats.
Nice Mike! Always like your Eagle images! Here the turkey population is down drastically from when we first moved in. Only see one here or there. The foxes took out the turkeys. But we still have a few deer and other critters.
It is interesting to see how the population changes at different locations. I have heard that the population of red foxes is down at “my” wildlife refuge because of coyotes. It seems like there are fewer wild turkeys too, though I have not been to the refuge as much this year as in the past.
I experienced a bit of a problem, with these old eyes of mine, being able to clearly discern the Eaglet. By enlarging the photo it became crystal clear and astounding that I had not realized that it was the body I was focusing upon instead of the head! By enlarging a second time it is an even more breathtaking photo. This is the perfect photo for today’s annual American Eagle Day! Though not an official “National Day” it commemorates the anniversary of the selection of the Bald Eagle as our National Symbol by the Second Continental Congress on June 20, 1782. By the early 1960’s the count of nesting Bald Eagles had plummeted in the lower 48 states to a little over 400 and they were facing possible extinction. The banning of DDT enabled them to become a nesting population of over 10,000 in 2007, thus taking them off the Threatened and Endangered Species list. The American Eagle Foundation, another of those 501(c)(3) organizations that Benjamin and I discovered, which Al Cecere of Tennessee began in 1985 is dedicated to inspiring the national community to guard and protect the Bald Eagle and all birds of prey. Stay safe& remain vigilant! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!
It is so cool to hear that today is American Eagle day. I remember growing up during a time when Bald Eagles were an endangered species and that is one of the many reasons why I am so excited every time that I see one. It’s particularly gratifying when an eaglet is born. I wouldn’t be too concerned about not spotting the eaglet immediately, because I had the same problem when I first looked up into the nest and tried to figure out if the eaglet was still there. I am doing my best to stay safe and am continuing to avoid people even as things are opening up.
The camouflage is amazing! Nice update 🙂
Thanks, Molly. I think the dark color of the young eagle and the shadows cast by the foliage make it easy for the eagle to remain hidden. I often rely on the glint of the sun off of their white heads to spot bald eagles, but that doesn’t help with juveniles whose heads are dark.
I love that life does indeed go on, and without us around, probably the better for wildlife.
Coming along very nicely indeed, and looking forward to more updates!
I’ll do my best to keep you updated, though it may well happen that the nest will be empty by the time I check it the next time.
Amen to that!
WOW! I made this two times bigger and this is a super great photo of an eaglet. The Daddy and Mommy built a really neat nest out of big and little sticks for their egg to hatch and now it keeps this eaglet safe until he can fly. Thank you, Mr. Mike!
Thanks for your comments, Benjamin. The nest is pretty big and there is plenty of room for one of the adults to sit on the eggs while waiting for them to hatch. When the baby eagle is born, there is still room, but once it grows in size, the parents have to stay nearby, because there is no longer room for them in the nest. I’ll check back soon and see if the eaglet is flying yet. Once they learn to fly, they sort of disappear, because they can fly to so many other spots. It sure would be great to be able to have that kind of freedom in the air.