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Tuesday afternoon (3/21/17) I caught one of the Hutt Park pair working on their old nest. It will be a complete rebuild, as the nest was completely destroyed this winter.
Thursday afternoon (3/23/17) Daren and I made the rounds of local eagle nests. Two eagles flew into the Deer Creek nest as we were parked at Deer Creek Park in Woodway. Both eagles remained in the nest for a few minutes, then one flew out. I can only hope some eagle whoopie ensued that will give us eaglets later this spring.
Saturday afternoon (3/25/17) Daren and I made the rounds of the local eagle nests. An eagle was sitting in the Deer Creek nest, but it left shortly after we pulled up. You can barely see it in this photo.
We checked the Pt. Edwards nest next and saw an eagle in a tree on the other side of the street from it. Earlier in the week a city of Woodway maintenance worker told me that he had seen both eagles in this tree. Zooming in, it appears the eagles may be starting a new nest.
One of the pair was perched nearby and took off after the one in the tree started screeching.
Earlier this month I asked one of my contacts at the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) about eagles building multiple nests and got this reply:
Yes, eagles are famous for building “alternate” nests within their territory. Lots of theories on why, but basically:
1) the original nest builds up parasites so switching to a different one allows the parasites to die out of the first nest and become safe for nesting again;
2) hedging bets against the tree collapsing or nest falling out during a winter wind storm, so they have a second nest to turn to upon return to the territory in spring;
3) a change in membership in the pair. Ie. One dies over the winter or one of the returning birds is ousted by an interloper, so they build a new nest to prove they can provide together. Much like the new spouse doesn’t want to live in their predecessor’s house in modern day human divorce and re-marry situations.
Later that afternoon I went to Sunset Ave. I left the 7DII + 100-400L II in the pickup while I set up for photos of the Chicago bound Empire Builder with the 5DIII + 24-105L zoom. I decided to use spot metering as I would be shooting the shady side of the Builder. I regretted leaving the camera with the telephoto zoom in the car when a bald eagle started soaring above the Builder.
The eagle was a first year juvie that has spent the winter in the area. It flew so close to me and my pickup that I was able to get some decent shots with the wide-angle zoom.
I continue to monitor our local eagle nests for nesting activity. There are three nests within close proximity of each other in Woodway, which begs the question as to how many pairs of eagles made the nests. Since adult eagles tend to all look alike, the only way to know for certain will be to catch at least two eagles on two different nests at the same time. I came very close to doing so Tuesday afternoon (3/28/17).
I had been monitoring the Deer Creek nest, which showed no readily visible signs of activity, so I drove to the Pt. Edwards nests. One eagle was in the smaller of the two nests when a second eagle flew in. The first eagle started screeching while the second one was eating something.
I did not get clear photos of both eagles, but the tail feathers of one can be seen on the left side of the photo while the other is eating on the right side.
One eagle flew out the back of the nest while the other continued to eat.
I drove back to the Deer Creek nest and could barely see the tail feathers of an eagle sitting on the nest.
Close crop.
I am coming closer to concluding that the eagles at the Deer Creek nest are not the same ones at the Pt. Edwards nests, but time will tell.
Equipment note: The above photos were taken with the 7DII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom + 1.4x teleconverter. Adding a TC to the zoom slows down the autofocus in addition to limiting the widest aperture setting to f/8.0 @ 400mm. I did not want to drag out the 500L telephoto + 1.4TC + tripod as I would be driving between nest sites. I also doubted that I would need a fast autofocus or wide aperture opening for photographing the nests.
Checking up on the eagles Wednesday (3/28/17) afternoon.
One was in the Deer Creek nest. It was a rough ride earlier in the day as the wind was really rocking the nest, which reminded me of the lullaby "Rock A-bye Baby."
I left the nest and found another one perched on the tall spar at the fish hatchery.
After lunch I caught an eagle sitting in the Deer Creek nest.
Later in the afternoon I saw one of the Pt. Edwards eagles perched in the tree at the top of Pine St. for quite some time while I was photographing trains at Brackett's landing. I drove up to Pt. Edwards and found an eagle sitting on the "new" nest.
The "new" nest is within line-of-sight of the Pine St. perch.
I drove back to the Deer Park nest and arrived in time to hear screeching coming from the nest as the juvie that has spent the winter in the area flew by. Although this photo is not good, I am fairly cwertain that it shows part of an eagle's head in the nest.
At his point I feel I am photographing two different nesting pairs of eagles in Woodway.
Three juvie bald eagles were soaring over Edmonds Friday (3/31/17) afternoon. The one soaring by itself looked like the first year juvie that has spent the winter in town.
The other two were soaring together and at times playing tag. They frolicked over the marsh for a while. Unfortunately my photos were badly back-lit.
The one on the bottom looked like a first year juvie while the one on the top looked like a second year bird.
Three juvie bald eagles were soaring over Edmonds Friday (3/31/17) afternoon. The one soaring by itself looked like the first year juvie that has spent the winter in town. The other two were soaring together and at times playing tag. They frolicked over the marsh for a while. The one on the bottom looked like a first year juvie while the one on the top looked like a second year bird. View attachment 22090
I believe I spotted the older of the two eagles perched in a tree at the south side of the marsh Saturday (4/1/17) afternoon. It looked like a third year bird in what I call the "bandido phase" due to its Zorro mask. These photos were taken with the 5DIII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC mounted on a tripod. Not good due to distance and heat waves, but good enough to identify the bird for future reference.
I don't advertize the exact locations of eagle nests located on residential streets as I don't want a horde of visitors disturbing the neighborhoods once the eggs have hatched and the babies are visible. The Deer Creek nest is located on a fenced estate across from a public park on Woodway Park Rd. It can be viewed from the park without disturbing anyone, including the eagles. Here are photos of the park and the nest in relation to the park. The park is located on the east side of Woodway Park Rd just south of the bridge over Deer Creek.
Woodway's newest city park. There is a trail east through woods that look like woodpecker country.
Plenty of parking and places to set up a telephoto lens.
Handheld, cropped photo taken with my 7DII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom.
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