Jordan Lake. First Nest. With 3 rapidly growing chicks bouncing around in the nest, the parents have to bring in sticks and repair the nest. Dad Bard went dashing out and grabbed the top of a small pine tree and headed back to the nest. That’s him piling into the nest from the left-hand side while mom Kate is on the right hand side with fish to feed the chicks. Crowded!

Jordan Lake. First Nest. The lake level is at 219.75 ft which is 3.75 ft above normal. I am still not able to see First Nest. However, I did watch Mom Kate take a fish in past the tree line – headed for the nest. Dad Bard came by on a thermal. Every day I hope the lake is down enough so I can get in and see the chicks. I bet all of you are hoping that too!

Mom Kate with fish
Dad Bard

Jordan Lake. First Nest. More than 2500 feet away from me I watched Dad Bard really get into the case of a yearling bald eagle that had the audacity to try to trespass upon First Nest territory. I converted the shots to black-and-white to try to give you as much detail as possible – almost 1/2 mile is a long stretch for my lens. I hope you enjoy the video.

Jordan Lake. First Nest. Triplets!!! Kate and Bard have three chicks. The usual number of chicks in a nest is two – 3 is uncommon. The small chick laying across the front of the nest is probably the youngest of the 3. Sometimes eggs are laid and hatched several days apart. The 2 bigger chicks are looking up at Dad Bard – you can see the back of his head and his tail.

triplet bald eagle chicks

Jordan Lake. I saw Loblolly last week (that is her in the photo) but have not seen Pitch in more than 3 weeks. We will all have to wait until this coming December to see what Loblolly does. My thanks again to each of you in all your support of not just Loblolly and Pitch but also for the Jordan Lake Neighborhood. Peace and grace, Doc Ellen

Loblolly