Eagle Landing Park
Nature and wildlife within reach in a small neighborhood park.
A pair of bald eagles began nesting in these woods in 1989, and
according to reports have produced two offspring every year from '89 through
2005. (In 2006 and '07, they don't seem to have had any offspring,
although they still spend much of their time in the area. One possibility
is that they have simply retired after producing over thirty offspring, and are
enjoying their golden years. Wouldn't you?) Their nest
tree is located in the middle of the upper half of the park, and their perch
tree is on the southern boundary of the park in the middle of the steep slope
above the beach. They lay their eggs in late March or early April, and those
eggs hatch in late spring. The first flight of the fledglings usually happens
around mid-July. In late August, the parents and the young leave the area, and
in late September the adults come back to the nest tree without the fledglings,
having launched them on their own careers. Through the winter, the white-headed
adults can be seen snapping off brittle alder branches for nesting material.
In the summer of 2002, a fledgling failed her maiden voyage because some cordage
had been included in the nesting material and she had gotten it wrapped around
her leg, creating too much drag. Sarvey
Wildlife Center dispatched their animal ambulance and picked up the injured
bird at about one in the morning. She had surgery to repair the damage caused by
the cord, and she was allowed time to recuperate at Sarvey’s sanctuary. She was
released in early November at Seahurst Park, where she was forced into the water
by an angry mob of seagulls. Sarvey took her back for further rehabilitation,
and when they released her again in late November, she had a successful flight
and began her solo adventures.
In October of 2004, an immature eagle of about two or three years of age (but
not the 2002 injured fledgling) was hanging around on the beach, unable to fly,
looking sickly and bedraggled. Sarvey Wildlife came and picked up this sick bird
for rehabilitation at their sanctuary. She was about six pounds when they
captured her, and they fattened her up to the normal weight of twelve pounds.
She was released in Seahurst Park in March of 2005, and had a good, strong
flight into the alder woods.
This photo taken by Kurt Howard.