NOTE: This post is part of a continuing series of observations: [ First | << Prev | Next >> ]
I stopped by this far southeast Dallas County Bald Eagle nest for a few minutes Sunday afternoon to see how things were progressing. There appeared to be no eagles present when we arrived, but I went ahead at took a few pictures of the nest for documentation purposes anyways.
Afterwards, I started scanning the surrounding terrain just in case one of the eagles was around—it is sometimes easy to focus on where an animal is expected to be at the expense of noticing where the subject really is. I didn’t want to make that kind of mistake on this outing.
So, I carefully checked the power lines and transmission towers in font of us and behind us. I checked the tree line on the far western horizon. I checked the sky for high flying eagles. And, finally, I checked the dense, monochromatic forest in the valley below the eagle’s nest.
That’s when I spotted a small dark spec—that looked just slightly out of place—in a tall tree near the edge of the woods. Sure enough, a quick zoom in showed that I had located one of our Bald Eagles. This majestic bird was perched high in a tree overlooking the John Bunker Sands Wetlands, perhaps hoping for one last opportunity to hunt before the sun set.
At home, I got another surprise related to this observation. A careful examination of the nest photographs show that it is indeed occupied. The female is present on the nest and is busy incubating her clutch of eggs! The red arrows in the picture below show a change in the eagle’s head positioning. The yellow arrows show wing movement.
NOTE: This post is part of a continuing series of observations: [ First | << Prev | Next >> ]
What a sighting! I’d never heard of bald eagles in the Dallas area. Good eyes, too, Chris. You never know about those “small dark specks” and odd shapes. I thought I spotted an owl this morning, but no such luck – just a weird shadow. Very exciting post.
Well, I have to say this is one of the most special things I am likely to every come across. To draw a NYC correlation, I can’t help to think that this is significant in the same kind of way Pale Male in Central Park was important. The remarkable thing to me is that these eagles are nesting on a man-made structure, over looking a man-made wetland. Ironic, right!?!