eagle families of Jordan Lake

Category

By JL Eagle Nest report: Oh Wow! 2 photos

H&G nest:     I was packing up getting ready to head over to my next stop down the lake. My camera was on the ground on its towel.  As I was putting stuff into various bundles for the long walk out, I heard the crows screaming as they started mobbing a raptor.  I stood up and turned toward the sound and instantly found myself almost face-to-face with a red-tailed hawk and five or six crows.  All of the birds scattered in totally different directions because they didn’t expect me there.  The crows quickly gathered together back around the hawk and the mob dove into a tall clump of pines about 50 feet from me.  In went the mob and out came momma bald eagle: Godiva exploded into the air out of the tree clump.  She passed right over me, fighting for lift and trying to avoid smacking into me.  I could feel the wind from her wings and hear their beat as I grabbed my camera and started shooting.  Godiva looked mighty grumpy!  I swear it took an hour for my heart to settle and my breath to come back.  What an awesome visit to the Jordan Lake Neighborhood.

head detail from the photo above

By JL Eagle Nest report: Sibling Chase 04-27-2017

The lake continues to flood its shoreline. But the sibling bald eagle fledglings Coffee and HC don’t mind. They were having too much fun first harrassing an osprey and when the smaller bird left the playing field, the two eaglets started chasing each other. Coffee is the bigger of the two fledglings and is already much more agile in flight than HC – note that it is her flying sideways and almost upside down. In flight the easiest way to know who is whom, Coffee has the ragged tail!

By JL Neighborhood and Eagle nest report post all the rain! 6 photos
First Nest’s neighborhood in the aftermath of all the rain
 
That is mom Kate on the lower branch and dad Petruchio on the upper one of a tall pine at the edge of their cove.
As the surrounding areas have drained, Jordan Lake is doing what it was created to do: control flooding.
In September 1945 the Homestead hurricane came up the coast from Florida and flooded eastern North Carolina.
Cities on the Cape Fear River were severely impacted by flooding. The state of NC set out to control any future flooding. 
The Haw River and the New Hope River were dammed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Lake filled by 1983.
During rain events, as the lake fills with waters from further inland and the rains above, the lake spreads out and floods it’s shoreline.
Better the shoreline gets flooded and not the downstream cities and towns.
Once enough drainage has occurred east and south of us, the Army Corps will open the gates of the dam and begin letting the extra water out.

Coffee is grumpy! Nothing about the lake looks right to her at all, but both she and HC are within sight of their parents.

The red arrow is pointing at where I was standing, against the trunk of the tree, yesterday afternoon about 3:30 PM.  
As you can see the lake has traveled well in land (probably 30+ feet) – I took this photo today at about 9:30 AM.
BTW the mirror reflection makes my eyes cross when I look at it!
This tiny least sandpiper has walked down about 4 feet on one of the concrete ramps where he reached water.
Normally he would have had about 4 times that much walkway.
Notice all the debris that is already washing up against the ramp.
This pair of critters seem very happy for the extra living room…
How can there be a day at the lake without a squirrel stretched out at a full run past the top of one of the flooding ramps?!