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smith rock state park bald eagles
While the Smith Rock Bald Eagle pair that have been nesting successfully here for over 10 years, this year that is sadly not the case. We checked in with the Park Manager Matt Davey when we noticed the nest was unattended, and he said that while we can confidently say that egg(s) were laid since we saw the switching out of the parents on the nest over the last month, with the nest now unattended, we know we won’t be seeing any new family members this season.
For those of you following us on Facebook this Spring, some of these raptor nesting images from photographers flocking to Smith Rock (along with the birds) may look familiar, but there’s a bunch of new stuff in here too, even a video of intense wing prep by a juvenile Bald Eagle. From Balds and Golden Eagles to Peregrine Falcons, Smith had a very good year.
Charlie Baughman, like a lot of raptor watchers at Smith Rock, is persistent. As the Bald Eagles hatched their eaglet pair last year on St. Patrick’s Day, Charlie was there at the nest on the 17th and saw no chicks. Saturday, March 20, in spite of fierce winds, he pointed his new camera with the 6X-15X magnifier and barely saw a chick. He named the new eaglet “Waldo” and asks you “Where’s Waldo?” Hint: Look to the far right. It is about 3 days old (2 to 4) today.
Charlie Baughman has been photographing the Bald Eagle nest at Smith Rock State Park for the last 5 years and the Peregrine Falcon nest for 3 years. We reached out to him last month after we were captivated by his image of the Peregrine Falcon chicks featured in the banner image of this article. The images he sent back were equally mesmerizing. We wanted to know the story behind the pictures. Charlie filled us in.
Some of you may have seen our snapshots of the Bald Eaglets during “Happy Hour” a couple of weeks ago here at Smith Rock State Park, as Mom and Dad soared above for food, and we saw them trying out their wings to join in the catch. Well, they’ve gotten the hang of the flying thing—they’ve joined their parents, and now we have outstanding pictures of them thanks to a local retiree from Bend, Jeff Seaman.
