what we learned today

Okay I met Scot Reagan on the vermont side of the conn river in Vernon.
I’ve got good news and bad news. Two mature eagles and an immature were spotted this morning by Scot. The bad news is old news but new for me: the current female eagle is actually a new mate for our male. Seems that during last spring the female, from Northampton and about 13 years old lost a clutch and then died for some reason I do not know. The female #2 was spotted with the female #1 and the male during this whole process. They recovered #1’s body, where and when I don’t know.
My concern about the female dying was a year late. The broken spring was in 2008.
I had watched #1’s actions and movements for 5-6 years and felt I had grown to know her a little. So the movement and look of #2 did not appear the same to my eyes and sure enough she’s a new mate. She has a more raggedy appearance and she holds her leg back for long periods of time. I all the years I watched the eagles I’d never witnessed this form of relaxation.



So how old is #2? is she banded, where is she from?
why would she have been hanging out with the two mature eagles in the spring? did she kill #1?
where, when and who found #1’s body?
Is the male #1’s original mate? I thought he was younger than she was?
Did #1 have another male b4 this one?
Where is he from? Is this Tom Ricardi’s eagle?
The immature hanging out with the new couple couldn’t be her offspring since she’s new on the scene could it be his offspring and is the immature vying for the female’s attention since she’s not his mother?

Today we will lO^Ok again

Today is the New Hampshire Mid-winter annual Bald Eagle count along the Connecticut River. We are going down to the Vernon Dam and then over to the NH bluffs. It's been one week since I've seen the pair in question. I'm very hopeful.

one possibility "Whirling"

Male and female bald eagles do special flying displays during courtship. Whirling is one unusual courtship flying display. While in flight, a male and female lock talons. Then they tumble head-over-feet toward the ground. As they near the ground, they pull apart. Then they fly up higher and begin the process again.

And then on Friday

On our way over to the New Hampshire Shooting Range and right past the high school we saw a mature eagle soaring. Then we hiked up to the range and had a great view of what was to me the future possible nest for the local eagles. No eagles spotted for a while. Then we saw what appeared to be a pair of eagles riding the wind gusts down the river and then out of sight over the NH ridge line past the entrance to the Ashuelot River. I felt a powerful "Eagle Love" as I laid in the snow watching them glide by. They didn't stop at the nest site or take much of a look around that particular area. But for one brief moment I was brimming with hope. When they flew down the river we wondered if they were the Barton Cove pair come to pay a visit. I suppose that with the eagle gone this has opened up a whole new possibility for new pairs to come check out the freshly available real estate.

I chatted last night with Tom Ricardi, a retired environmental police officer who has helped rehabilitate birds of prey, about the possibility of the female eagle's injury. If she had been injured there are so many possibilities:

But he did give me an awesome fact: he believes that the male eagle in the pair was a release of his.
More on this topic later~

An Email from Chris Martin

We will have two separate observer teams in/near Vernon Dam on Sat 2/28 for the annual NH late winter eagle count, so perhaps the "missing" eagles will be detected then. Another possible explanation for the lack of sightings this past week could be that the pair has settled close to a new nest for 2009 in an as yet undiscovered location.

Chris Martin, Senior Biologist, Conservation Department
New Hampshire Audubon

I hope we find the eagles busy and building on another nest site. Tomorrow will reveal one way or the other hopefully.
Robyn

Thursday no eagles 2.26.09

The eagle's silence deafened me. Woodpeckers, ducks, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Wild Turkeys and the muffled sound of one woman trying to be discreet about crying.

I've got empty nest syndrome

Still searching for the eagles. No sight of them from the Hinsdale bluffs today. I am wondering if anyone else has seen them since Saturday? please, please post in the comment section if you've seen them.
I've been running all the possible scenario's through my mind: she's dead and he's moved on, they both have left the area looking for another nest site, they are both dead.
She was injured by: another eagle, gun shot, power lines, poison, a hook in a fish...
Is she: on the ground, in the water, in an animal's belly or scat...
Do we know her band number? His number?
If she's dead will he come back to this area and await a new female?

where is our female eagle?

Paul went down to Vernon today at 11 am and 4:30 pm but no eagles spotted. Paul has a worst case scenario: the female eagle is sick or dead~ the male eagle waited for her on Sunday but has since flown the site. How long will an eagle wait for his mate if he/she doesn't show up?
I am still hopeful but my enthusiasm is waning.

Robyn and I are still concerned about the female eagle's well-being. In the period in which I began paying close attention to these two eagle's activities, around the first of January, there have been days that I have not seen them. But, to my recollection, there hasn't been one day that I would see one without the other. On Saturday, February 21, the two were inseparable for the entire day of observation. Robyn's pict was taken that morning. On Sunday I spotted the male (I'm quite sure) alone on a familiar perch just below the dam. There was no eagle near him or the possible nest at that time. Today I observed an eagle (again, looked like the male) perched in that tree near the nest. He was alone 'til the light faded. We hope that she's ok. I'll keep on looking for her. Paul Miksis

Eagle Pair near the Vernon Dam

This is our last photo taken from the bluffs in New Hampshire on Saturday morning February 21, 2009. I have been concerned about the female eagle for a few days. She is holding her right leg and foot back. As of Sunday and Monday the female has not been spotted. The male was last seen perched near the unfinished "Miksis" nest site.
Please if you spot the female eagle post your: location, name, time and date to this blog. Thank you.