INTERLOPERS!?

It's been a long time since I've reported on Ethel and Ernest. They appeared regularly over the fall and winter on the light standards west of the west highrise, usually one at a time. Usually just Ernest. It is March, mating season for eagle pairs, and it remains to be seen whether our pair will successfully raise an eaglet or eaglets this season. Last year they did not. Yet it is reassuring that they continue to remain in the Union Bay/Arboretum area. I'll keep you posted later in the spring if Larry Hubbard of the Union Bay Watch blog posts photos of the nest. This morning, however, there was a brand new pair of eagles on the bridge. Not in the same area where Ethel and Ernest hang out, but midspan. These eagles are young, judging from the mere beginnings of white feathers on their heads. But this brings promise that we may see another eagle pair set up housekeeping in the Arboretum area. Larry posted some awesome photos of eagle wars between our resident eagles and one or more of the interlopers. But we hope there is room for another little family.

Update

According to Larry at Union Bay Watch Ethel's egg or eggs did not hatch this spring. Maybe she is getting too old for reproducing, maybe it was something else. The pair returned to the nest throughout the early weeks of sitting on the egg(s) but gradually quit flying back to the nest. We have seen eagles, probably not E & E, circling overhead on our side of the lake. Really do not want them to discover our darling bunny, who we call Waldo. He has now been making our yard his home for over 7 weeks. He disappears for almost all of the mid-daylight hours, but sure as clockwork he is back nibbling on clover or grass by 7 PM. Dusk lingers here in the Pacific Northwest at this time of year until 10 PM or a bit later, and dawn has the birds singing a little before 4 AM. So there are lots of early morning and late evening hours for us to be entertained by our little cottontail, our petite lapin savage.

Hello Again....

Long time gone, but back again. The winter went wetly by (after a bitter cold, foggy, frozen November and December) and most sitings of eagles on 520 consisted of solitary Ernest on his light pole watching for salmon to swim under the bridge. Two weeks ago, however, both Ethel and Ernest were together on the same light standard...hunting. I assume this means that Ethel has hatched a chick or chicks and is back to the business of feeding her growing family. Later today I will go to Union Bay Watch and see what Larry has to say about the nesting progress. (UPDATE: Larry @ Union Bay Watch reports that the eagle parents are no longer returning to the nest. This most likely means that any egg or eggs in the nest did not hatch this spring.) Just returned home from coffee at Starbucks. In the air above downtown Bellevue was a low flying bald eagle, chased by at least a half dozen crows. It is always the same scenario, this play. The eagle soaring, not even flapping wings, and the crows in a tag team flying with all their might, expending crazy energy flapping their wings trying to keep up with the arrogant eagle, all the while probably knowing that they will eventually be the losers in this battle of wits. It is touching to see how crows work together in the endeavor. Aunts and uncles and neighbors and friends of the embattled nesting crows all combine to chase the persistent enemy...the eagle. As long as the eagle doesn't spot the baby rabbit that has claimed our yard as his sovereign territory I will not be too sad. We call 'him' Waldo. He may very well be Wilma. Who knows. He and another baby cottontail ('petite lapin savage) appeared on our back rock garden the day after Easter. The timing was coincidental....these are wild rabbits, not discarded Easter bunny gifts. One of the babies was considerably bigger than the other, and at first I worried that the smaller one was not going to make it. It is that smaller one, however, who has become our little visitor, and the larger one either moved on or did not make it. Perhaps the Swainson's Hawk found that one. It had been hunting in our back yard at just that time. Waldo has made at least two 'hidey hole' nests in our yard. One is in the middle of a clump of Shasta daisies on the east rock wall. The other is in the foliage of a thick bunch of wood asters in the front yard. He is adorable. And he has gradually become used to us watching him, though we do not ever try to get too close. The other night a crow flew directly above where Waldo was 'grazing' and he instantly ran for cover under a huge rhododendron. He does seem to know his enemies.

Winter Update

Not a lot of activities to report this winter. Ever since the eaglet fledged this summer we've only occasionally seen either of the adult eagles perched upon the 520 lamp posts. Lately Ernest has been back, and it won't be too long before the eagles mate again and start all over with nesting. Winter here has been unusually dry, and while the lead up to actual winter was much colder than usual, January is warmer than average so far. Poor Ernest seems to have a bad habit of sleeping all caterwampus on his feathers, or something, because almost every time we see him he has feathers askew on his backside. He's still unusually small, even for a male eagle. Guess that means Ethel can rule the roost and perhaps chose a smaller mate since Eddie did just disappear on her, and who knows....maybe having a smaller mate gives her a bit more...J'ne sais pas. (It is so much fun to anthropomorphize like this...not to mention learning to spell that word.)

Eaglet is Airborne

The youngster has fledged, and the author of Union Bay Watch has excellent photos. He also spotted the young eagle in one of the cottonwoods at the north end of The Arboretum one day last week. Late Wednesday afternoon Ernest was sitting on the 520 light standard, and upon my return trip, around 8:30 PM one of the eagles was circling in that same region above the bridge. Naturally it isn't possible to say for sure at that viewing distance, but I did not spot the brilliant white head of an adult eagle, and it could even have been the offspring! The salmon are running now, so there should be some good hunting for the eagles at this time. Eventually, however, the youngster will head off to new territory and begin a life of its own.

Ethel on Fountain

Twice this past week as we've traversed Lake Washington on the 520 Bridge Ethel has been back after a long absence. Maybe she's been around from time to time, but since March the only eagle we've seen above the 520 has been Ernest. So we now assume that the eaglet has flown. The cycle continues. This long warm summer goes on and on. Sitting on the egg then raising a baby eaglet is a big job, and in the weather we've been seeing, a very hot job. Every time we see this wonderful pair, Ethel and Ernest, we are again thankful that Ethel somehow convinced this very handsome male to return with her to the nest that she and Eddie (mainly Eddie) built in the tall fir over the golf course.

Make Way for Goslings

We saw a sight right out of the children's book Make Way for Ducklings the other day. A large family of Canada Geese was crossing one of the busiest intersections in Bellevue, on the cross-walk, with the 'Walk' light. There was a parent at the front and at the back of the long line of about 11 or 12 baby geese. They were all well feathered and turning dark, so several weeks old. But where they were headed, as well as where they were coming from is a mystery. They had obviously just crossed the I-405 Freeway Overpass. Perhaps from the location of Lake Bellevue, about a block behind Whole Foods on the other side of the highway. But once on the West side of 405 they turned north on 112th Avenue. They may eventually have been heading for Lake Washington, but if so they had a heck of a long march. There really is not any other body of water around in the direction they were heading. I did check online to see if anyone else reported the sight, but was actually relieved not to see anything. It gives me a bit of peace that the little family somehow made it to where they were going. Wish I'd had a cell phone with me to take a photo and didn't think to pull out my iPad mini for the chore. Dang.