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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 New Year’s Day 2021

Jordan Lake, Haw River, January 1, 2021. It is a grey somber day this morning so I reached back to a brightly lit frosty morning from 2020 as a bridge from the old year to the new. The rising sun of December 20, 2020 shines forth in a time of human troubles to remind us on this New Year’s Day 2021 that the world is full of possibilities for hope, contentment and health. Gather the sunshine glowing here into your depths as a reserve for those times in the coming year when you need a moment of brightness. Peace and Grace, Doc Ellen.

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.

By Doc Ellen’s Natural Minute 12/29/2020

Jordan Lake Dam, Haw River. Doc Ellen‘s Natural Minute. The lake level was at 219.42 feet this morning. It was also rather crispy cold this morning. As the wind started to come up after sunrise it got a mite bit nippy. But that did not bother the two eagles that were sitting in the tree above the sunrise this morning. Bald Eagles really enjoy cold windy weather. Hope you enjoy the pair of eagles. Take care, be safe, be well. Stay warm.