I Spy With My
EAGLE EYE PHOTOS AND TEXT BY
Trish Whynot
F
or the last few years, I've been following an eagle family in my spare time. It's about a 30-minute paddle from where I launch my kayak to their nest. With all the heaviness in the world right now I thought it would be fun to reflect on the reemergence of eagles in my area through my photos. I've even recorded them calling to each other. My earliest eagle photo was from 2008 with a point-and-shoot camera. I remember spotting two large birds flying toward the far end of the lake while on a boat ride with my family. I asked if we could follow them. They rolled their eyes at me but I insisted. It ended up being two adult bald eagles and then a third joined them. They dove for fish and put on quite a show for us. This proved to be a rather glorious sighting.
The camera I have now doubles as binoculars. Sometimes I might take up to 100 photos and not quite know what I've got until I get back home and load them onto my laptop. That's how high up in a pine tree the nest is. Plus, I take most of my shots from my kayak. Even if the photo looks sharp on my camera I never know for certain until I get home. There is a thrill that comes with being able to zoom in for a closer look, regardless, like when the eaglets are first born and it's hard to tell with the naked eye if mama is sitting on her eggs or if there is a chick with her or maybe two chicks. Comparing shots of the nest will show any subtleties of movement to give me clues. There are a lot of "Where's Waldo" moments in the area of the nest. Sometimes we find the parents perched at varying stations, silently guarding the nest from afar. When the eaglets get bigger and take flight we listen for their calls while scanning the neighboring trees. We can be looking for 10 to 15 minutes when we hear them and then find them right under our noses. When on the water, it can be challenging to tell exactly where the calls are coming from. Sometimes I get lucky when they take flight or fly in while I'm watching. And sometimes I end up with a butt shot, but on further examination realize that an eaglet's been born. That first glimmer of life in the nest is always so exciting! This is fun stuff for me. It brings forth a feeling I can't quite put words to beyond awe, wonder, and enchantment. Some days the eaglets are napping and the parents are out hunting when I arrive, so all I get is some exercise. You just never know. Once when with friends, we saw a group of small raptors raid the empty nest. It happened so quickly and caught me by surprise so I didn't get a photo. I’ve witnessed smaller birds such as crows or blue jays taunting the eagles, giving their location away. I was fortunate to capture some cool shots on one of those days. TRIVIA: Based on my research, bald eagle chicks are called eaglets. Eaglets are nestlings for 10 to 12 weeks. By the time they are nine-weeks-old they are full-grown. At about three to four weeks their feathers begin to change, and around 12 weeks is when they begin flying. Mom is in the nest with them about 90% of the time for the first five to six weeks, and Dad does the majority of the hunting. After five to six weeks the parents spend more and more time away from the nest, perching in nearby trees at first. Mom is approximately one third larger than Dad, while they both have the same col52 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2021
Nest atop the pine
