It has been several months since I last checked on the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, so I made a visit there on Monday to check on the eaglets. The young eagles that I found still hanging around the nest are definitely no longer babies, though most people would not yet recognize them as Bald Eagles—it takes almost five years for them to acquire their distinctive white heads and tails.
I am pretty sure that these two eaglets are now capable of flight, though they remained in place on the branches overlooking the nest the entire time that I observed them. For the first time in quite some time I had my 150-600mm lens on my camera that allowed me to zoom in on each of the eaglets and then zoom back for the final shot to give you an idea of how close they were to the nest.
The bedraggled plumage makes it look like it was really windy, but in fact there was no wind when I captured the images. The eaglets clearly have a lot of work to do on their grooming before they are ready to take their place as one of our national symbols.
I did not see any adult Bald Eagles until much later in the day when I spotted one in another part of the wildlife refuge. Although the eaglets appear to be more or less full grown in terms of size, I question the degree to which they are self-sufficient and suspect that they are still dependent on their parents to provide them with food. As their flying skills improve, the eagles will almost certainly venture out farther and farther and it will become correspondingly more difficult for me to spot them.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
that is such an adorable picture.. thank YOU.
Great photos. You know how much I love eagles!
____________________ Holly S Hoxeng 5981 Chivalry Dr Colorado Springs CO 80923 303-877-5373 (c) 719-574-0176 (h)
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Thanks, Holly. I am drawn more to dragonflies than you are, but I think our love for eagles is a shared one. 🙂
I love that you’ve captured their scruffiness. They remind me of my 15 year old who has become quite unkempt during the pandemic. Ha ha!
I had to laugh out loud, Laura, when I read your comment. When it comes to teenage boys, scruffy seems to be their natural state and is often reflected in their appearance and in the untidiness of their living spaces. 🙂
Oh don’t even get me started on the state of his bedroom. It would tidier if a band of marauding raccoons had ransacked it.
Dear Mike,
I concur with Laura. Thank you for featuring my scruffy avian colleagues so commendably through the fruitful results of your bird-watching and excellent photography.
Wishing both Laura and you a happy mid-July and a pleasant summer!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
Scruffy adolescents! 😉
Love the eagles! Thanks for sharing.
They look a bit dishevelled! Quite fun to see them.
Super post, Mike. I guess you could call this stage “branching“? I remember learning that term in reference to owls who have left the nest but aren’t quite going anywhere yet. Incredible that it takes so long for them to grow into adulthood and their mature plumage.
Thanks. I think that you are correct about them being in the “branching” stage. I think they can fly some, but only for short distances and not very confidently. As for the development time, I guess that it is all relative, given that they can live for 15-30 years in the wild.
Thanks for all the fascinating information!
Very nice, Mike! Good to know that the pair have survived this far. Their perch choices on that tree made for a wonderful composition along with their nest for your wider shot.
Very Nice Mike! They are one of my favorite birds to photograph!
Hope you read this🙂
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I happen to be a strong supporter of poetry and so I am now following your blog. 🙂
Thank you so much Mike💙🙂