The Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) left their big nest at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge unattended last Wednesday and several Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) decided to check it out. I don’t know if the eagles were eating fish in the nest in the past or if the vultures were merely curious.
Later in the day I passed the same nest and both of the eagles were perched near the nest, including the one shown in the second image below. That shot gives you a good sense of how big that nest really is. The eagles have been using it for many years and each year they seem to add on to it. It is so deep now, that it is almost impossible to tell if an eagle is sitting on eggs, but I will be checking periodically for other signs.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That’s quite the next. It looks like there’s more than enough room for house guests.
Nest (I hate seeing typos right after pushing “Post Comment”).
Not to worry, Dan. I had the same thing happen to me yesterday. In this case, your intent was obvious–it is worse when spellcheck accidentally changes a word and I don’t notice it. 🙂
Big nests for big birds!
Love these big messy nests!
Thanks, Chris. Some bird nests are tiny and precise, like miniature works of art. That is definitely not the case with the eagles. 🙂
Isn’t it remarkable how huge their nests get over the years!!?? Beautiful photos on what looks like a beautiful day!
It was a beautiful day. Early on the sun was shining, though it clouded over as the day went on, becoming a bit more gray. A bit of sun shine and blue skies is definitely a welcome sight in mid-January.
Nice Mike! That’s quite a large Eagle nest!
Very cool! We know so little of what really goes on in nature. Interesting when you actually witness unknown (at least to me) behavior.
A friend of mine just said on some eagle cam, it showed an eagle adding a stick to their nest. She said the bird took a long time to find just the right place and even carefully bit off pieces of the stick so it would fit just so.
That would definitely be cool to see. I have seen eagles carrying sticks to a nest (see my posting https://michaelqpowell.com/2021/02/10/rebuilding-the-nest/) but I have never really seen an eagle go though the process of selecting a stick to add to the nest.