Viewing entries tagged
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.
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.
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.
Just after we joined the Bald Eaglets on Sunday for Happy Hour and watched them waiting on Mom and Dad for food, we saw them trying out their wings to join in the catch. Jeff Seaman of Bend followed up with subsequent daily visits and captured the moment for at least one of the pair.
It's that time of the year again when we watch the watchers. The eagle nest watchers that is. We now have an update on both the bald and golden eagles. Smith Rock is unique in that both species share a relatively small area each year to breed.
