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By Jordan Lake Ospreys, 2 photos, 04-14-2019
a different aggression
 
I have seen eagles chase ospreys and other eagles, trying to get their fish.
I have seen fledgling ospreys chase each other trying to get the other’s fish.
Today I watched 2 adult male ospreys, over the Haw River, below the dam, get into a chase.
I don’t know what started the chase.  
There is not an osprey nest anywhere close by the dam so I don’t think nest protection was the basis.
These two tumbled and rolled and screamed above the riprap and up and out over the dam toward the lake.
You never know what you will see at Jordan Lake!
 
 
 
 

By Jordan Lake Bald Eagle Nest report: First Nest, 2 photos, 04-11-2019
First Nest
 
The lake level was so high that I could not see the nest.
The sky was sunny, but I was not because I wanted to see the chicks branching.
I had turned around to go back to my truck when a shadow blew past me.
Not a sound had been made in the cove. Yet, here was Kate at a high speed heading for the nest.
She didn’t have a fish.  She did look angry.
Into the branches around the nest Kate disappeared.
No sounds. I waited another 30 minutes then had to leave, wondering why the dash to the nest.
 
 

By Jordan Lake Bald Eagle Nest report: First Nest, 4 photos, 04-10-2019
 
First Nest
 
The pine pollen has not abated and the lake level has risen.
Both situations make watching the nests a difficult task.
 
Oh what a determined face as Caramel contemplates maybe making a try for the other side of the nest.
 
Uh, maybe I ought to think some more about heading across the nest.
 
 
I wonder if that human down there has noticed me.
 
As if you haven’t seen enough pollen this week … this is what the lake looked like this morning!
 

By Jordan Lake Bald Eagle Nest report: First Nest, 4 photos, 04-09-2019
Drat!!! Pollen!!! I found Caramel on a branch above the rim of the nest.
This activity is called branching and will lead to jumps and flights to higher limbs directly above the nest.
The branching can go on for up to about 2 weeks or last 2 days; depends on how precocious the chick is.
The next step is flight from the safety of the nest: fledgling.
I just wish the pollen hadn’t obscured the first photo.  Sigh.
 
Caramel is standing of a branch that is unseen.  He seems a little startled that he is above the nest.
 
 
Okay.  Now to get back to the safety of the nest. Jump and flap.
 
 
Look at me! I have landed!  I am safe.
 
 
Wow!  I really did it.  Branched a whole two feet or so from branch to the nest.  Oh, wow!
 

By Jordan Lake: Environmental Danger 04-08-2019
Doc Ellen is angry, frustrated and afraid for a lot of our songbirds.
I stopped by one of the Jordan Lake boat ramps this morning to meet a friend and share his birthday.
Instead of celebrating, he and I examined a mockingbird nest.
Yes, that is fishing line woven into the nest.  The parent birds think the fishing line is a natural vine.
Through the years I have found nests of several species made entirely of fishing line.
Neither adult bird nor chick nor fledgling can break the fishing line if they get entangled.
600 years is what it takes for fishing line to degrade.
A moment is all it takes for a fisherman to gather his discarded line and properly dispose of it.
A moment versus 600 years shouldn’t be a hard decision to make.