Autumn and our Eagles

The record breaking drought is finally over. Nearly 90 days with almost zero in the rain gauge. The baby eagles are now fledged, and mama and papa are back to normal. Hanging out around the 520 Bridge, waiting for a naive salmon to swim under the bridge or a cocky seagull to fly too close to those waiting talons. But now they have only themselves to feed, do Ethel and Ernest, and not those pesky, ravenous youngsters. We have seen one or the other on the light posts west of the western high rise about every other trip across the bridge. When we do.....the toll we pay to cross the bridge seems a pittance. Winter is coming. Prognosticators are not agreed upon what we'll see in this area this year. Evidently it is neither a La Nina nor an El Nino pattern. It was the former mischief maker which brought us all the snow last winter. El Nino usually produces nothing but Pineapple Expresses, miserable warmish rain and wind storms that soak us for days and enhance our over-stated reputation for being a 'rainy place'. It is actually 'neutral years' like the one coming that have historically produced the greatest snowfalls around here, but it doesn't always happen by any means. However, the winters of 1968-1969 (70 inches snow) and most recently 2008-2009 (60 inches) were both 'neutral years'. We kind of like it when our precip falls fluffy and white....at least until we get really sick of it. So we will see. And no matter what winter brings we look forward to seeing more of our friends, Ethel and Ernest. And are so thankful they have chosen to make their lives in our neighborhood.

Yes, they really are back!

Both trips this week over the 520 Bridge I saw the eagles again. On Tuesday, Ernest was keeping watch for the next meal in the usual place, south side of the western end of the bridge. Today Ethel swooped in for a landing upon a light post in the center section of the bridge, the 'floating' part. We don't see the eagles there often. They seem to nearly always hold court on those westernmost light posts. But she landed there today, looking sharp. Apparently the parents are well rested after their summer of intensive child rearing, and now are back to the nest to settle in for the upcoming cold season. And the cold season just might finally be ushering in to the Pacific Northwest, after a record 3 month dry-as-a-bone spell of weather that has broken every record for drought since records began here. Since mid July we have seen exactly .03" of precipitation. A mere 14 minutes of drizzle on a day in September, and that has been IT. However the huge high pressure system that has parked just west of Vancouver Island since June or so seems finally to be ready to move, and we expect to see real rain by the weekend, or by early next week at the latest. Back to the weather we are famous for. The straw lawns and fried flower gardens in our area will welcome the change, but for many of us this has been a welcome long sunny spell.

Ernest is BACK!

Over a month went by with no reports of sightings of either of our eagles. I think Ethel and Ernest took a much needed vacation once the eaglets had both fledged (and fledged for good.......the younger one was extremely reluctant to give up the security of the nest, nor the continued feeding by the parents.) But on Tuesday afternoon, there was Ernest. Perched upon one of the southern high rises along the west end of the 520 Bridge. With umpteen huge cranes and even more barges clogging the area around the bridge during the current construction of the new crossing I even began to wonder if E & E had moved on permanently. But no. These dear friends have withstood the hundred thousands of cars whizzing below them every week, what is a little bit of construction chaos to them?! Anyway, great to catch sight of Ernest again. I hope this means they will be here throughout the fall and winter until it is time to restart the cycle of mating, nesting, hatching, feeding and fledging all over again next year. Now if only the famous 'Seattle Rain' would come back and save our crispy region. We are in our 3rd straight month without any precipitation. Zilch. Nada. Lawns are straw and the flower beds are kaput. And while summer in Seattle is always semi-arid (believe it, all of you who were sold the myth that all it ever does here is rain).....this dry spell is crazy. And nothing out there as far as the forecasters can see.