Haw River

Tag

By Update Shelter 8 Bald Eagle Nest

Jordan lake. This is mom Loblolly of Shelter 8, down the shore line from her nest yesterday. I would have liked to have found her and Pitch working at her nest. Some cars were seen turning into the road into Shelter 8 yesterday and perhaps that was why no work was being done on the nest by the parents.

By Bald Eagle Nest Needs Your Help

Loblolly and Pitch, of Big Pine Nest, the bald eagle parents at Shelter 8 have returned.  The gate to Picnic Area A, shelter 8 is open and needs to be closed to people.  Loblolly and Pitch lost their chick(s) this last March because the gate to shelter 8 was left open.  Bald eagles, when there is too much interference at their nest, will literally abandon the eggs or chicks in the nest and this is what happened because the gate was left open.  Many of us asked the Superintendent of the park to please close the gate to shelter 8 and that the gate to its sister shelter 2 be opened in its place.  The shelter 8 gate was never closed and people intruded on the nest.  The pressure of people too close to their nest (along with the usual natural interference of other bald eagles) was more than the defense mounted by the two parent eagles could handle. Loblolly and Pitch did their very best – flying in circles, screaming and hoping to scare the people away.  The parent bald eagles lost the confrontation.  Today the gate to shelter 8 is open and people are once again intruding.  Please, contact the Superintendent at  shederick.mole@ncparks.gov   phone: 919-362-0586 ext. 231 and let him know how you feel about this situation.  Please let everyone know to stay out of Picnic Area A and away from shelter 8.  Let’s give Loblolly and Pitch the best chance to raise chicks this season.  Thank you all for your support of the bald eagles of Jordan Lake!

photo: Loblolly trying to scare human intruders away from her nest.

By Intense 2-year-old Bald Eagle

Jordan Lake. I was sitting quietly listening for loons. From the trees across the lake from me came this 2-year-old bald eagle. My congratulations to her! She had beaten the roughly 50% odds that all eagles face in their first year of life… She lived to fish at two years of age. Oh, the intensity on her face!

By Gull Flotilla

Jordan Lake is a winter home for a huge number of gulls. Most of the birds here are ring-billed gulls. Next in number are the Bonaparte’s gulls. There are a few herring gulls in the mixture and a few lesser black-backed gulls. The birds spend the night floating mid-lake – it is safer there away from predators on the shore and their numbers help keep everybody safer from the bald eagles.