Because of vacation and then bad weather, I haven't been out to check on the Eagles since last Thursday because of bad weather and was out of town for the 4th of July. I went out yesterday to check on the nest at first light to see what was going on. What a lovely sunrise it was. You can see the outline of the nest in the tree on the far right.

This early in the morning, 5:15am, the lighting is ifty. The male was sitting at the top of this large Pine behind me, and took off looking for food.

Looks like he is coming after me... LOL.

I had a feeling today would be the day, as the one Eaglet has been jumping around and flying all over the tree, but so far, not away from the tree. The question was, where would he fly to first and how could I catch that first flight? I was wishing they'd do something down in the ranchers field where there was better lighting. However, I still can't see the nest from there because of foliage. The Eaglets are top priority now. I walked down the road a bit to see if I could see the parents in the other tree way down there. I saw the mother with my binoculars and she was calling & calling to the Eaglet's. I then gambled. I got in the car, sped the 2 miles down and around to the ranch below, hurried to the field and set up near the tree with the female in it.

Got some great shots of her calling to the nest to intice the Eaglets into flying over to her tree.

Then she took off toward the nest and Lo and Behold, one of the Eaglets came up to meet her. Then circled and followed her back the tree by me. I was concentrating on first flight, to heck with the mother at this point.

This one is funny... Mama giving Junior a lecture! LOL

The female left and then Junior decided to go back to the nest.
Already flying like a expert, banking toward the tree with the nest.

There are no clouds so I'm going back tonight and BEFORE daybreak in the morning to the field. I have a feeling it will be all over by tomorrow as there is one left in the nest...
But, I got the first flight... Yippee!! Hooray!!

I went back last evening and not much happened, as usual lately. I did see in the distance where one of the parents and junior were flying together and then one went south and junior went north. I didn't see anymore eagles after that and I was there for 4 hours.

July 8th, 2010
I went out this morning at dawn, saw another lovely sunrise. I have a feeling this is the last day for this.

This morning I didn't see the usual action right at sunrise, other than the female heading north to the river. She was too far for a good shot. It was an hour before anything else happened.

Then at 7am I saw the last Eaglet making her first flight! She was near the nest, and wouldn't stray far before going back to the nest.

Second flight to the nearby tree with the male checking out the results

Shortly after that, the male landed on the top of one of the large Fir and was screaming his head off in the direction the female had taken. I'm thinking he was tired of watching the nest and wanted to go hunting. Sure enough, the female was coming in from the distance and he took off south.

I got several pictures of the female coming in to the nest, but couldn't get a clear look at what she was carrying. A fish maybe?
This could be the last time I get to see her bringing any food to the nest.

She then flew out to the south side where I couldn't see her. I did not see anymore action the next two hours. I came back that night to check the nest from the road as I can't see it from the field. I couldn't see the Eaglet anywhere. I'm thinking sometime in the afternoon, the last Eaglet has left for good. I'll check back in the morning.

I went out for 3 hours this morning and nothing happened. The nest is empty. They must be where they spend the summer now. They will teach the juvenile eagles to hunt, fish, and survive their first winter.

With no Eagles around, I took some pictures of their nesting home area to show how beautiful it is. You can't see this from the road. As you can see, they pick the biggest, sturdies tree in the area. It stands out with all the lush green around it.

This is their favorite tree to sit in that can't be seen well from the road. It is also where the Eaglets learned to fly.

This shows how far the tree is from the nest. Not far.

This one shows the nest tree and the pines that they also like to sit in to watch over the nest.

I spent a lot of time there!

Here is some of my gear.

It has been a fun ride for over four months and I'm a bit sad it is over for this year. It got to be pretty personal for me. We all could take lessons from the Eagles. They mate for life, share the nesting duties, egg sitting, watching over the nest when the other one goes hunting, trading those duties etc., many times just sitting together. They are truly awesome to watch.

I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did.
C'ya next March 2011.

Nesting Starts!    Babies Hatch!    Eaglets growing up!    First Flight!