The female Bald Eagle sitting on the nest waiting, and waiting and waiting!
There had been no activity at the nest for almost two days, a lone eagle sitting on the nest, no swaps like I had witnessed for days every 40 minutes in the morning, every hour and a half or so in the afternoon. It had seemed odd, not just because of the eagle's need to stretch its wings but for its need to hunt, eat and drink water. Still the lone eagle turned the eggs like clockwork every 20 minutes or so, so I thought, maybe they are swapping duties it while I am not there. After all, I could only give the nest an hour or two a day.
Yesterday a diminutive woman in a bright blue jacket emerged from the brush and asked, "Have you seen one or two eagles?" I answered that as long as I had been there today there was only one. She frowned and moved around the bush alternating between spotting scope and binoculars. It should be noted that my photos of the eagles were taken from nearly 4 football fields away, so even good binoculars don't get you very close to the action.
I asked what she was looking for, and she said, "the other eagle, there was a report that a bald eagle had been hit on Brookpark Road the night before and killed. It's hard to think of it as any other eagle than the other one from the nest." The news was devastating, so even on production day I gave the nest another three hours of watching with no sign of the other eagle.
Yesterday I called the naturalist at the Rocky River Reservation and asked about the eagle. The woman working the desk said, "Yes, we are 98% sure it was one of our eagles that was hit by a passenger plane landing at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The pilot called it in immediately and we sent out rangers but could not find the bird or even feathers, but the male has been missing from the nest for at least 24 hours now."
When I asked what would happen now she answered, "It is hard to believe that the female eagle would be able to raise the young ones on her own, as at times she will need to leave the nest and baby eagles, owls, birds in general are favorite food for other predators." I asked if there was anyway we could feed the mother so she would not have to leave the nest, her answer was, "It would be too much stress for the bird, and may chase her from the nest forever. Now, it is in the hands of the Ohio Department of Wildlife, and as Bald Eagles are no longer on the endangered species list they will leave it to fend for itself and let nature take its course."
I asked, "So there will be no effort to save the baby which is due to hatch today or tomorrow?" and she replied, "No, these things happen and Metro Parks have no plans to rescue the baby."
As Bald Eagles mate for life, this could mean the female leaves the nest forever anyway, if it finds another mate. While the nest will be used for a variety of birds from owls to hawks to even geese, it is hard to picture anything more majestic in the nest than Bald Eagles.
I find it hard that Metro Parks with a huge budget does not make this a priority, keeping the baby alive and/or feeding mom. I mean if it is a case of possible stress over certain death, why not try to step in? How much stress could being delivered steelhead from the river be on a bird trying to raise a young one on her own?
I told the naturalist I would be willing to kick in some money and have 5 friends that fish in the river daily, and she said unless something miraculous happens she does not see intervention from Metro Parks as a possibility.
If you are as upset as I am, call the Rocky River Reservation, and ask for intervention. It is bad enough losing one of our two bald eagles, but losing three is a loss that we might never recover from.
Rocky River Reservation - <tel:(440)%20734-6660>(440) 734-6660 Call today! Tell your friends to call today!
Taken late in the day, before the accident!
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