holiday eagles

adult bald eagle Lancaster County, PA

Growing up in southeastern PA, it was a truly rare sight to see ANY birds of prey due to the lingering effects of DDT. Not so anymore – this chapter of the environmental story has a happy ending. Bald eagle real estate is in such demand in southeastern PA that most of the prime spots along the Susquehanna River and other major water ways are taken, so pairs have resorted to nesting near smaller agricultural use ponds which would seem hardly sufficient for birds of this size. But they are there – and thriving, it seems.

adult bald eagle by nest, Lancaster County, PA

This particular pair built a nest last year and we were fortunate to see both the adults and one juvenile, presumably from the brood last year. As we were going to look at the nest one day, another juvenile from another nest flew over my parent’s house (another nest because it is a “second year bird,” based on its plumage – meaning it was hatched a year and a half ago, before this nest was built) …

2nd year juvenile bald eagle snap 1	2nd year juvenile bald eagle snap 2

We shared a few sunsets with one or two of the adults, and it was an amazing gift. You can feel the expansive energy of these creatures, nothing escapes their awareness and they sit with a very large presence over the landscape.

adult bald eagle Lancaster County, PA