Mike Powell

Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge are increasingly spending time in and around existing eagle nests. It probably won’t be long before eggs are laid and the eagles begin to sit on the eggs.

On Thursday I spotted an eagle perched high in a nest while its mate kept watch from a nearby tree, as you can see in the final photo. This eagle nest is huge and is by far the largest one at the wildlife refuge. The nest has been used for many years and each year the eagles seem to add another layer to it. It was very easy to spot this eagle, because its bright white head was sticking prominently out of the nest.

When the eagles begin incubating the eggs, however, they hunker down in the deep nest and it is usually impossible to know for certain when they are present. During that period of time I will sometimes watch and wait, hoping to be there for the “changing of the guard,” when one member of the couple takes over duties from the other, but I have been lucky enough to be there only a few times when that happened. Otherwise I have to wait for the eaglets to get big enough to poke their little heads out of the top edge of the nest.

On another part of the refuge, barriers have now gone up to protect the nesting eagles at that location. That nest is adjacent to one of the trails, whereas the large nest pictured here is far enough away from the trail that the authorities do not seem to think that the eagles require additional protection.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.