As I noted in a posting last week, I am currently keeping an eye on two bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Eagle couples have actively used both nests in each of the years that I have been visited this refuge. In that earlier posting, I provided a look at one of them, a really large nest.
Today I am featuring the second one, which has always been quite small. During this summer, I noticed that it had gotten even smaller. I can’t tell for sure what happened, but it looks like one of the supporting branches may have broken off and a significant portion of the nest was dumped on the ground. I was afraid that the eagles would abandon the site and rebuild at another location.
I was thrilled therefore when I spotted the couple last week engaged in some reconstruction efforts that I documented in the posting Carry a big stick with a shot of an eagle carrying a large branch to this small nest. The first two photos, which I took last Monday, show the current size of the nest. For comparison purposes I included the final photo which is from January 2019—it looks to me like the nest was considerably larger two years ago.
The refuge has blocked the trails near this nest to keep the eagles from being disturbed, but I am able to get photos like these from the barrier that blocks the road. I’ll continue to watch the nest as often as I can and I am hopeful that the eagle couple will be able to restore it well enough to use for nesting this year.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Nice Mike! Great images of the nest with Eagles on it!
Eagles and their nest building tree straining activities are something to see.
Thats great news… Soon new born eagles.
I am hoping that will be the case. That nest had only a single eaglet last year, I believe, but had two the year before that.
awesome
They seem to male pretty good repairs. No homeowner’s insurance, I suppose.
It’s a DIY operation, it seems. I’ll keep an eye out to see if I see further progress there.
How fortunate that you are able to get such a good view of them from the barrier. Looking forward to your progress reports, and fingers crossed for at least one new eaglet.
Thanks, Gary. The only challenge is that I have to take a circuitous route to get to that view (about 270 degrees of a circle).
Great captures of this year’s efforts, Mike! I like that second shot with the pair surveying the job.
I can see the difference in the comparison image, less nest now, but probably bigger that we think!
How far between the two nests? We’ve recently determined there may be two in the general area where I’ve photographed an active nest and I’ve wondered how close breeding pairs would set up nests.
Thanks, Ellen. I think that the two nests are about a mile apart, though it is a little hard to say for sure because of the way the trails are laid out.
Interesting, thanks, Mike. I’m kind of surprised they are even that close, but maybe Eagles aren’t as territorial as I thought. Maybe with plenty of food around they don’t care as much.