Raptor Eye Candy—a Recap of the 2021 Nesting Season at Smith Rock
June 30, 2021
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.
Click on images to enlarge. (Banner image courtesy of John Cornell)
Let’s start with the Balds.
January 13, 2021: ROMANCE LEADS TO NESTING for the bald eagles
“Summit Trail Amy,” park volunteer and regular SmithRock.com trail reporter, snapped a shot these two lovebirds on her morning rounds on January 13, 2021. Two days later nesting protection signs went up on the Canyon Trail to restrict travel in groups of 4 or less, and noise needs to be kept to a minimum during nesting season. As the Bivy campground was closed due to COVID restrictions, the rim campsites were already closed. Photographer Charlie Baughman watched and clicked away as the lovers got started spiffing up the nest.
Bald and Golden Eagles courtship behavior started in mid-January. Image courtesy of Amy Sue Matthews.
Getting to work building up the nest with grass. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
Both of the pair keep building up the nest with grass. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
February 14, 2021: DATE NIGHT
It was a chilly, snowy Valentine’s Day, so for these expectant Bald Eagle parents, they decided to have a quiet date night on the nest. Naturalist and local photographer Steve Lay captured this tender moment.
The Bald Eagle parents stay on the nest for Valentine’s Day. image courtesy of Steve Lay
FEBRUARY 25, 2021: NEST SIT EXCHANGE
Local graphic designer and photographer Thomas Osborne joins the “watch party” and captures the nest exchange in the images below.
“Watching the bald eagles on their nest at Smith Rock today. I watched one eagle sit solo on the nest for about three hours this morning. The second eagle flew in at that point and the first eagle took off in a flash.”
Bald eagle patiently waits for three hours for her mate to change places on the nest on February 25, 2021. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
Bald eagle leaves the nest after her mate change places with her on February 25, 2021. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
March 19, 2021: WALDO ARRIVES!
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.” Here’s Waldo between 2-4 days old.
Hello World! Waldo is spotted at two days old. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
The nesting tree, just off of the Bivy campground rim. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
MARCH 21, 2021: THE BIG REVEAL—THERE ARE 2 EAGLETS!
Steve Lay, in his usual habitat.
“This morning I went over to check on the Bald Eagle nest at Smith Rock. It is about the time they usually hatch. For the first 45 minutes or so I had beautiful views of a parent sitting on the nest, but then she/he got up and revealed two eaglets. The adult then proceeded to feed the babies. It ripped tiny shreds of meat off of a carcass cached in the nest and carefully presented them to the babies. That continued for about 15 minutes. Then the adult settled back down over the eaglets.”
Parent sitting on the nest. Image courtesy of Steve Lay.
When the parent got up to prep dinner, the two hungry eaglet popped up. Image courtesy of Steve Lay.
MARCH 27, 2021: The Chicks’ appetiteS keep the parents busy
One parent snags a small fish. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
Better pickings this time with a bigger fish for the eaglets. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
MARCH 30, 2021: Thomas osborne’s captures an eaglet greeting dad returning home
“Someone canceled a meeting Tuesday, so I threw the camera in the bag and zipped over to Smith Rock on a sunny afternoon to visit the bald eagles. One of the two 10-day-old eaglets popped his head up from deep in the nest to offer greetings when dad flew in.”
Dad swoops back in to the nest. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
Fuzzball eaglet pops up from deep in the nest to greet Dad. (look to the right, just in the light) Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
APRIL 9, 2021: ThE EAGLETS ARE GROWING UP FAST
From one fuzzball named Waldo first seen on March 20 to today, April 9, the Bald eaglets are now around 9-10 inches long when standing tall and they aren’t missing too many meals. Here’s a bit of Dad handing out dessert to one of them after we witnessed a feeding frenzy.
Dad tears off some dessert.
Feeds it to one of the eaglets.
They both enjoy a post-dinner moment.
MAY 11, 2021: Wing testing begins
Sheryl French is another one of those patient photographers that hang out for hours to capture outstanding images of life unfolding, in this case, the latest activity of "Wanda and Waldo," this year's Bald eaglets. (All captions are made up--we have no idea of the sex of the eaglets or which parent we see, so feel free to correct us.)
Waldo tests his wings as Wanda is not impressed. Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
Dad is off to get food and stretch his wings. Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
The sibs wait for Mom and Dad. Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
“Check out this action, Sis!” Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
Sheryl French, hanging out in Alaska with her pups.
MAY 11, 2021: Wing testing continues, parents are so happy
Sheryl French’s shots of the Bald family activity just keep getting more and more intimate, capturing special moments of Waldo testing his wings, and the nuzzling between Mom and Dad.
“Hello family!” Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
"Thanks, Dear." "Thanks, Dad." Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
"I saw some more goodies out there, gotta get them quickly." Dad kisses Mom goodby. Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
"See you soon." Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
"Ahh...love getting to spread my wings." Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
"Yeah, I'm pretty majestic." Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
"Wait, Dad!" Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
"How come my wings don't let me go anywhere, Mom?" "They will soon, Sweetie. Soon." Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
JUNE 8, 2021: Wing testing a lot more. it won’t be long now.
Sheryl French went in out in the morning, and lots of wing flapping was happening. According to Sheryl, one of them is starting to go to the branch on the side of the nest to practice—A great launch position. Charlie Baughman captured the feet in the air along with the wing flapping in a slow-motion video of the first to fledge a few days from when the video was shot.
“Hey—wanna try to fly while Mom and Dad are away?” Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
“I’ll go first.” Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
“Wait for me!” Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
“You need to put more lift in the tips." Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
“You make it look so easy.” Image courtesy of Sheryl French.
JUNE 12, 2021: flapping a lot pays off for one of the juveniles
“After watching the little Golden Eaglet’s wild dance party in the Smith Rock nest Friday morning, I hiked back to the nest Saturday to see what I could see. What I was not prepared for was the scene on the other side of the river. There, in the big scraggly ponderosa pine, were two Bald Eagles from the Bald Eagle nest down river. There was an adult perched on a bare branch near the top of the tree and a fledgling eagle on a lower branch. I spent the morning watching. The little Bald Eagle made a three short flights up and down the river, landing once in another ponderosa and perching for a while on a rock in the river before returning to the ponderosa. Just before noon, they both headed off down river.”
Bald Eagle near the top of the ponderosa pine snag by the Monument in Smith Rock State Park. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
Close-up of one of the Bald Eagle parents in the ponderosa snag. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
One of the two Smith Rock bald eagle fledglings perches on a rock on the banks of the Crooked River. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
JUNE 18, 2021: Dual hunting by the parents snags a ducking
“The day before the last juvenile fledged, the adults flew into the nest with the juvenile. All of a sudden both adults dove down to the river in an effort to snatch a duckling from 2 groups of ducklings. One duckling was caught and the mother Mallard charged along on a parallel course chasing frantically and squawking the whole time. The duckling was dropped in the nest for the juvenile. I would imagine this was an exciting lesson for the young bird.”
One of the Bald Eagle parents snags the duckling. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
The mother Mallard charges frantically alongside. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
Dinner delivery. Image courtesy of John Cornell.
JUNE 19, 2021: The Last Eaglet Fledges Just before Father’s Day.
John Cornell, of Cornell Nature Photography of Reno, Nevada, was at the nest and captured the moment of the last eaglet stretching its wings early in the morning, and then the actual take-off.
Earlier in the day the wing flap test is perfected. Image courtesy of John Cornell.
Wing test complete. Image courtesy of John Cornell.
In full take-off mode. Image courtesy of John Cornell.
We have lift-off. Image courtesy of John Cornell.
JUNE 21, 2021: The Juveniles explore the park
Charlie Baughman sent us these wonderful images of one of the Bald juvenile eagles that recently fledged on top of the rim ridge across the canyon rim off of the Bivy campground early Sunday morning, and the other as it flew by him. It went across the canyon and played around on the side of the hill for a while and then soared up and landed on top of the ridges.
Bald Eagle juvenile across the canyon from its home. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
Bald Eagle juvenile soaring around the ridges. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
Bald Eagle juvenile lands on one of the ridges. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
Over in the Monument Area, the Golden Eagles are a bit shyer.
The Golden Eagles use one of the giant stick nests you can see with the naked eye from across the Northern Point of the park, or just by looking up at the Monument from the Wolf Tree Trail. They like to mix it up each though, picking a different nest, and then tucking away out of view. You need to have a good lens to see what’s happening, plus patience. Fortunately for us, we have Thomas Osborne.
March 2, 2021
“At the risk of turning this into a reality-style show, today I bring you an episode featuring Smith Rock’s Golden Eagles, cousins of the Smith Rock Bald Eagles. If you travel from the baldies’ nest upstream on the Crooked River, zig right, zig left, then zag right again you will find yourself below the rock formation called The Monument, and at mid-height on The Monument, there’s a H U G E Golden Eagles nest. I visited twice in the last week but detected no activity on the nest. Today was a different story. I spotted an eagle’s head bobbing at times above the nest (an astonishing tapestry of woven sticks and fiber) a few times. Then, at 4 pm, two eagles rose up from the interior of the nest and one launched into the sky. The flyer returned at 5:30 and disappeared into the cavity of the nest. Call it a day. I hiked out just before dark.”
Thomas Osborne, on his way back from visiting with the Golden Eagles.
The huge Golden Eagle nests (they are using the bottom of the two) is on the left, about mid-height. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
“…at 4 pm, two eagles rose up from the interior of the nest” Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
“…and one launched into the sky. The flyer returned at 5:30 and disappeared into the cavity of the nest.” Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
On March 11, 2021 Thomas got some more Golden Eagle nest exchange.
One Golden Eagle parent leaves the nest while the other keeps the egg(s?) warm. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
The Golden Eagle parent returns to the nest while the other moves aside. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
On March 26, 2021 Thomas caught the “swoop in”
“At Smith Rock today, watching my friends the Golden Eagles once again. They change places on their nest every two hours. One eagle swoops in; the other flies out. It was a mob scene at the park and there was fierce competition for parking, but not many people traveled up to the Monument area, where the Golden Eagles have their nest.”
A Golden Eagle parent returns to the nest. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
The Golden Eagle parents change places, as the one settles in and the other flies out. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
APRIL 12, 2021 Thomas Tries to catch a peek of the Eaglet(S?)
“High up on the Monument at Smith Rock, the golden eagles are doing what golden eagles do. It appears they’ve been feeding an eaglet (or two) for the past eight or nine days. You see tail feathers pointed up and the eagle body seesawing down into the bowl of the nest, as if feeding a little one. The nest is so big and deep that from below you can only guess what’s going on inside. The eagles seem to fly in and out more than when they were sitting on the egg(s) and they are often off the nest at the same time.”
One of the parent Golden Eagles leaves the nest. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
The parent out scoring some food for the eaglet(s?) Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
The parent returns to the nest. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
May 4, 2021 the Golden eaglet is spotted!
“Two little eyes in a white, downy head watched as its Golden Eagle parent sailed from the nest and spread six majestic feet of wings in the air at Smith Rock Tuesday afternoon. I’ve been watching this nest since February and have observed nest building, nest sitting, flying in, flying out, apparent feeding of a young one deep in the nest – but today was the first time I saw the little one emerge from within that tower of sticks and say, Hello, World. The little one stood up several times. The parents spent time in the nest, in the air, and on top of a nearby crag.”
The Golden eaglet is photographed for the first time (that we know of). Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
The Golden eaglet hangs out on top of the nest. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
The Golden Eagle parents hang out in the air and on a nearby crag. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
JUNE 11, 2021 Wing testing gets serious
“Ready to fly? The Smith Rock Golden Eagle that I’ve been following since it hatched the first week of March won’t be in the nest much longer. The little eagle hopped from one end of the nest to the other and worked his wings like he means business while I watched Friday morning. I did not see any sign of the parent eagles, but I did not stay too long due to rain. I won’t be surprised if I find an empty nest tomorrow.”
Golden Eaglet does some serious testing, with one leg in the air. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
Golden Eaglet full wing spread. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
Wings in full upright position. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
Getting in position for take-off. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
JUNE 12, 2021 The Nest is vacated
“After watching the little Golden Eaglet’s wild dance party in the Smith Rock nest Friday morning, I hiked back to the nest Saturday to see what I could see. I had a hunch that I would find an empty nest, that the little Golden Eagle had flown, and that’s what I found. The nest was empty. The eagle was gone. After 90 days in the nest, the little Golden Eagle had fledged and was flying with its parents out there somewhere.”
When the Goldens are done, they’re done. Image courtesy of Thomas Osborne.
The Peregrine Falcons this year were prolific but elusive.
Charlie Baughman was on the scene for many days, but only got pictures of the older juveniles. This image some may remember from last year, when he captured these three adorable chicks in what looks like penguin costumes on the east tower of the Smith Rock Group. This year there were four in total. We’ve helped to tell their story with some older images mixed in with this year’s shots. You can read more about Charlie and his approach to raptor photography in “Fly Like an Eagle (or Peregrine)—It Helped This Wildlife Photographer at Smith Rock.”
Peregrine Falcon chicks in 2020. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
“The 2021 Smith Rock State Park Peregrine Falcon nest was very successful this year producing 4 fledglings. I have observed 2 other years here at SRSP where Peregrine Falcon nesting produced 3 and 4 fledglings. Every year the Peregrine Falcon juveniles love to practice their aerial skills and it is fun to watch them fly with each other. This photo is from 2015 and 3 juveniles are learning to fly and having fun.”
Three Peregrine Falcon juveniles learning to fly and having fun practicing their aerial skills. Image from 2015 courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
Again this year adults train the juveniles to chase after prey by teasing them with small birds they have caught and swooping along the cliffs with hungry birds in pursuit.
Peregrine Falcon Training 2015 image courtesy of Charlie Baughman
Peregrine Falcon Training 2021 image courtesy of Charlie Baughman
Peregrine Falcon Training 2021 image courtesy of Charlie Baughman
The Peregrine Falcon is very skilled at protecting and controlling the nesting territory. It is capable of terrorizing other birds, especially ones that might threaten the nestlings like an Eagle or Hawk. They often dive at these larger birds and chase them out of their territories.
An adult Peregrine making a strafing run at a Red-tailed Hawk at Smith Rock in 2020. Image courtesy of Charlie Baughman.
The Peregrine Falcon can dive at very high speeds. Here is a look at the very streamlined shape of a diving Falcon from 2015.
Peregrine Falcon diving. 2015 image courtesy of Charlie Baughman
“Good luck to these birds for now they are entering tough times learning to survive in the world.”
Juvenile Peregrine Falcon landing on the side of a cliff. 2021 image courtesy of Charlie Baughman
So you can now get back to climbing and slacklining in the areas formerly affected by nesting Seasonal Closures, but no drones until the end of July.
Smith Rock State Park Management will begin taking down signs soon, but here’s the latest as of Thursday, July 1, 2021:
“Another successful raptor nesting season at Smith Rock has wrapped up, and the park is opening all closed routes (including the tent sites along the bivouac area cliff rim) starting today. Park Rangers are pulling down the closure signs now, but it may take a couple of days to get them all.
As young falcons are still present in the park area and learning to hunt, we will continue to keep the seasonal ban on drones in place through the end of July for their protection.”
Matt Davey, Smith Rock State Park Manager
Thanks again to each of the photographers for the amazing images generously shared with us to share with you!