Some days you wake up and get your mind blown.

[Atman]

I didn't have to travel far and wide for these. I found this nest alongside the lake behind my house. Crappy quality because I had to shoot across a rooftop, through some trees, about 200 yards away. Pretty cool to meet our new neighbors.

BTW, these are two separate eagles. It appears to be Momma sitting on eggs in the nest. The other one never seems to leave the branch, like he's guarding the family. I guess he's Dad. Blown away! Hopefully they'll spend the summer on the lake and I can get some better photos from the water.

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[niyad]

1. beautiful

[PJMcK]

2. There goes the neighborhood!

American eagles, which represent the strength and beauty of our nation, at a time when the president is destroying our democracy, seem like a highly endangered species. Good luck with the babies, big birds!

Hey, Atman: fantastic photos given your distance and the intermediate foliage. Thanks for sharing!

[elleng]

3. Great!

It IS terrific to catch such close to home!

I'm watching 'neighboring' osprey, mom's on the nest adjacent to my house, and dad visits to feed her often. More and more foliage makes the views difficult. HOPE I can see the hatchlings when they do their thing.

[Nictuku]

4. Beautiful Photos!

I've yet to see one myself in the wild. I consider you to be very lucky!

I've learned a lot about Bald Eagles by viewing the Decorah's Eagles Nest in Decorah Iowa (Link below)

Here are some interesting facts about Bald Eagles:

They generally mate for life.

Both parents sit on the nest, though it is primarily the Mother. The Father will give her breaks here and there, and they both take part in hunting and feeding the eaglets.

The Mother is generally larger than the Father.

Here is the link to the Decorah Eagles Live Cam: http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Most of what I've learned is through the Chat they have at that site, as they have many schools across the country tuning in. Thanks to the Raptor Research Project for all the work they do.

[Atman]

9. The last time I saw one was white water rafting two years ago.

He/she swooped down in front of our raft not 50' in front of us and grabbed a trout, and we had just started the run. Seriously, not five minutes into an all-day trip. It took the fish and perched on a branch over hanging the water and started ripping it apart. Sadly, I got no photos. I was wearing the GoPro and hadn't even started it yet because we still had 13 miles to go and hadn't hit white water. That was cool, but not as cool as seeing eagles nesting in your own back yard!

[stage left]

5. That's really

Thrilling!

[mainstreetonce]

6. Wow! Where are you?

If you don't mind disclosing location.

[Atman]

10. Eastern Connecticut.

Total wilderness/farm country. No exaggeration, most of this 1/3 of the state is dedicated a wilderness preserve. They call it "The Quiet Corner." Very little development. Either old money sitting on a million acres, or farmers grazing half a dozen cows for the farm tax subsidy.

[klook]

25. Nice! Came across this site with some cool info/pix:

http://www.connecticutwilderness.com/

I was surprised to see how much diversity of wildlife there is there. I've only been to New Haven, so need to explore more of your fair state some time.

[Atman]

26. Most of Eastern CT is a wilderness area.

It is officially known as "The Last Green Valley." A stretch of protected land (state and federal) that runs from the coast up into Massachusetts. There are marked river/kayak trails, hiking trails, more state forests than I can count. It's not what people think of when they think of Connecticut. This is about as far from New Haven or Hartford as you can image. Although I'm only about 35 miles from Hartford.

[Botany]

7. Do you have any osprey around this area

Bald Eagles like to let the osprey get the fish and then they take it from them.

BTW Sometimes they come down for road kill deer too.

[druidity33]

16. Yup

I've seen them here in Western MA, multiple times on a particular stretch of road... they are not afraid to scavenge. And they are BIG! TBH they always look a little ragged and crazy compared to the red Tailed hawks i see (never seen a hawk peck roadkill... do they do that?)....

[Atman]

17. We have a couple of red tails that in our yard.

And we're missing a cat. Never seen an eagle or osprey nearby until this.

[Botany]

18. Most birds of prey if given a chance and they feel safe will eat some road kill or hunter killed ...

.... meat. I couldn't get a doe I shot years ago because it ran into some multiflora rose
and as I was walking away I saw a big goshawk land in a tree overlooking the area where
the deer was laying. I think I fed that hawk for months.

[aggiesal]

8. They're simply majestic ...

Thanks for sharing.

[TNNurse]

11. Well that would certainly make my day.

[Rebl2]

12. Great photos!

I live in K.C. MO area and we had terrible wind and rain this last weekend. It actually destroyed an eagles nest that was in a suburb of KC. Luckily a man that had been watching the progress of the eaglets rescued them and took them to a local nature center that cares for injured and abandoned wild animals. I've been watching the D.C. eaglets the last several weeks and one of them got its leg hung up in twigs in the nest and had to be rescued. Luckily it was fine.

[Honeycombe8]

13. Beautiful! Amazing! Awesome. Lucky you. Wish I were there. nt

[CrispyQ]

14. What a fabulous treat!

Greetings to the new neighbors!

[lunatica]

15. Great shots!

and congratulations on your new neighbors! From what I know about eagles both mom and dad take turns doing everything. One sits on the eggs and the other gets food for the egg sitter. Then when the eaglets are very young they do the same thing. The sitting eagle very gently pulls small amounts of meat off the carcass and feeds it to the young. When the eaglets get older they start feeding themselves and both parents are kept very busy hunting and bringing food to the nest.

[2naSalit]

19. Lucky You!

Looks like a breeding pair and they take turns sitting on the eggs, usually.

How to tell them apart: the female is normally larger, by around 10%, it's noticeable if you see them together. Another thing, individually, the female's beak "lips" end behind the eye where the male's will look shorter in comparison... hope that helps some.

It only takes about tens weeks after they hatch for the babies to start flying. You should be able to see them in about six weeks if you can see the top edge of the nest. The parents will slowly fill the bowl in the center of the nest as the young ones grow, eventually creating a platform from which you should be able to see the young ones. They will hang around for a good part of the summer learning to maneuver in flight.

Suggestion: if you have any smallish pets, don't leave them outside as the birds may eat them.

Happy birding!!

[Callalily]

20. Sometimes the best pictures / subjects

are in our own backyard! Hopefully you get to witness the babies growing up!

I live hear a river and we have many eagles in the area. They are magnificent!

[Nitram]

21. Great shots.

[llmart]

22. Beautiful!

With all the depressing things we read on DU these days, it's nice to see something uplifting that is personal to a DU'er. I live in Michigan very close to a large park with a wonderful Nature Center and for the past five years we've had a pair of bald eagles nesting nearby. You can't get too close to the area during their nesting season, but with good binoculars you can see them very clearly. I make it a point to try to get there several times to watch the progress and the emerging babies. It truly does put some things into perspective.

Thank you for sharing these.

[Historic NY]

23. Years ago we never saw the in the Hudson Valley...

now they appear consistently. I spot immature ones flying above my house on the thermals

[Atman]

24. We usually have a couple of red tail hawks in our yard, but...

...haven't heard or seen them lately. Is this a territorial thing? Did the eagles run them off?

And I'm not joking...haven't seen one of our cats in nearly a month. Thinking the worst, but hoping he'll show up out of the blue, as he's done before after taking little "vacations." Cross your fingers.