Eagles of Jordan Lake

Category

all ages of eagles and their interactions with the world around them

By Help Protect the Bald Eagles!

Help Protect the Bald Eagles at Jordan Lake!  We all want to see the bald eagles and perhaps get a photograph.  Here is how to see the eagles and not bother them. This time of the year it is breeding season for our bald eagles.   It is up to us to protect the parents and their families.  The MOST important rule is this: stay at least 660 feet from a nest – that is the length of 2 football fields.  If there are ANY signs of agitation by the parents, even if you are far away, please simply leave the area.  Do you know that bald eagles are very sensitive to human intrusion and will get so upset that they will abandon their nest and its eggs or chicks!  Yes, the parents will do this.  So, if you find yourself near a nest, please leave and let the parents have the peace and quiet they need in order to take care of their families.  If the eagle isn’t near a nest, then you can approach within 330ft – that is 1 football field away.   We would also ask that if you see a disturbance at a bald eagle nest, please call the Jordan Lake State Recreation Area office at (919) 362-0586.  Help us keep these distance rules and you are helping the bald eagles take care of their families and giving us generations of sightings!

By First Nest bald eagle update 01/11/2021

Jordan Lake: Time is of the essence when it is cold and the parent eagles need to trade places on the eggs.  Eggs left uncovered in the cold winter air will die if left uncovered for more than 2 minutes.  Mom Kate was on the egg(s) when I arrived. 2 hours later she started calling and Dad Petruchio arrived.  Kate jumped up on the branch next to Petruchio (she is closest to the trunk). They glanced down at their eggs.  Dad Petruchio jumped down into the nest and settled onto the eggs and Mom Kate left for some flight time.  The whole exchange took 38 seconds.  This is a critical time for the eggs and then for chicks up to 2 weeks of age because any disturbance by humans can cause the parents to leave the eggs or chicks exposed too long and the disturbance could quickly become fatal to the new family. 

By Nares Feathers!

Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River.  Captain Doug and I have been seeing bald eagles of all ages from fledgling through adults with feathers growing from their nares/nostrils. Usually we see a nares feather on one side of the beak or a feather on the other side of the beak. This morning this two-year-old flew past me with a pair of bright white nares feathers. Perfectly crossed across the top of his beak. It’s got to be a genetic trait here at the lake to see it in several bald eagles of all ages.  Sure is neat looking bling!

By First Nest has Egg(s)

Jordan Lake: Good News for the New Year! First Nest has egg(s). Yes! The eggs were laid at some point after December 26.

1) Mom Kate flew over me, heading out to the lake after she and Dad Petruchio had switched places on the eggs – yep, both the female and male bald eagle help with the incubation.

2) Dad Petruchio landing just above the nest to make sure Momma Kate is ok (you can’t see her).

3) Mom Kate in the nest – her head is just above the brim and she is looking out the right side of the nest.  Look for her yellow beak.

4) Both parents at the nest.  Mom Kate is standing up in the nest and her head is to the right – she is rolling eggs.  Dad Petruchio is above the nest, on the left of the main trunk, look for his white head. I apologize for the photos at the nest, but, the weather did not want to co-operate; fog everywhere.

By Attack!

Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River: It was an outright attack. The upper bald eagle, a 3-year-old, attacked the lower eagle, a 4-year-old.  In all the years I have watched bald eagles, I have never seen more than a feather or two pulled loose during an attack, whether the disagreement was over a fish that one of the birds was carrying or during an attempt to raid an eagle nest.  This morning I watched several eagles chasing other eagles, trying to get the eagle with the fish to drop it so the chaser could catch the fish and have a meal it had not caught.  In this sequence, the lower bird did not have a fish, it had simply left its perch and headed towards the river.  I have no idea why the 3-year-old got so angry except to say that all three-year-old bald eagles are brats and at all times seem more on edge than at other stages of life.  The 4-year-old flew off, and I saw it later, back trying to fish and flying well.  Whew! What a cloud of feathers.