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.

Eaglet....Practicing Flying

Sorry to ignore this blog for such a long period of time. We have seen very little of the eagles this summer aside from Ernest hunting from the light post on the 520 Bridge at times. But now we hear from the Union Bay blogger that the single eaglet in the nest this summer is eating the parents out of house and home and is now practicing his flying skills by flapping his wings, rising up out of the nest, and back down. To eat some more. He is now larger than Ernest, and perhaps larger than his very large mother, Ethel, at this point. As it is getting on towards mid-July the youngster will soon fly. I will keep you informed.

It's been a quiet May...

Very little to report. I've seen Ernest a couple of times recently, always sitting atop the light standard on the Bridge. The other blogger following the eagles reports that Ethel is definitely sitting on an egg or eggs, and by now she may yet again be a mother. I will bring everyone up to date when I hear more. The construction on the 520 Bridge just keeps ramping up, yet it never seems to throw our eagle friends for a loop. I guess if you are complacent enough to sit atop a freeway Bridge year in and year out with tens of thousands of cars whizzing by daily a few construction cranes are not going to be an issue. At least they are replacing this bridge before it falls into the drink like the one up the way, the Interstate 5 Bridge over the Skagit River, did last week. Just WOW. What a shock. The Skagit River, by the way, is where there are vast numbers of bald eagles. In fact that is believed to be where Ethel went to find Ernest after her beloved Eddie met up with the windshield of the metro bus, RIP Eddie. Spring here has been mainly lovely. There has, however, been a little downturn lately. But we are looking forward to better weather to return by the end of the week. The birds begin chirping now before 4 am every morning and continue until close to 10 pm. These are the long, lovely days of summer here. Wish it would never end.....

Spring and Our Eagles

Nearly every trip across the bridge lately has been rewarded with the sight of Ernest on the lamp post, or occasionally on one of the fountains by Madison Park. All of his ruffled feathers from last season seem to be smoothed out, and he is a steady and steadfast presence. We have only seen Ethel once in the last several weeks, which tends to reassure us that she is once again sitting on the nest. I've checked in with the Union Bay Watch blogger several times recently, but he seems to know nothing more than we do about the state of the nest or the number of eggs...or if there are eggs at all. But we will assume the best. Which means another season of watching for an eaglet or perhaps eaglets to fledge once again. The construction on the 520 Bridge is going strong right now. They have sunk the uprights for the new highrises, and the entire path of the new bridge is marked with large buoys. Everything will shift northward several hundred yards when this project is completed. But for the time being it has to be disconcerting to Ethel and Ernest to have so much more chaos to contend with than usual. And the USUAL is bad enough.....they've made their home by one of the busiest freeway bridges in the country. More later....summer is around the corner. Hallelujah! Days now stretch out well past 8 PM and we are headed for 10 PM twilight in just a few short weeks. We have survived another grim, gray Pacific Northwest winter, and so have our friends, our eagles.

Who's sitting on the nest?

It is April, so we assume Ethel and Ernest have mated this spring, and that Ethel spends most of her time sitting on the nest until her egg or eggs hatch. But earlier this week I saw her on the lamp post again, so perhaps Ernest was egg sitting. Saw him earlier, however, out fishing in a drizzle. Will check in with the other blogger who is keeping sight of the nest and report anything interesting he has to say about the little family.

The moods of a mountain

The same 520 Bridge that rewards us with precious sightings of Ethel and Ernest also provides a spectacular view of majestic, magical, awe inspiring Mount Rainier. We locals call it The Mountain. And like our beloved eagles, The Mountain plays a game of flirtatious but shy enigma. We live in a land of clouds. It isn't rain that Seattle should be famous for, as we get only a modest annual rainfall. It should be the clouds that seem to settle in and remain almost immutable from November to April. Ah, but when those clouds part.....the glory of The Mountain amazes us. Sometimes it appears in a purely azure sky like a gigantic vanilla ice cream cone. Other times The Mountain wears a wide brimmed hat of lenticular clouds. Or the clouds will hang around the base of The Mountain and we will only see the white cap sitting above what looks like a fluffy platform of swirly fog. Today The Mountain was glorious. We are enjoying one of the driest winters in recent memory. And today it is a beautiful sunshiny 50 degrees and The Mountain looked like an expert had photo shopped it on the southern horizon, with a skirt of gauzy white clouds around its middle. What made it all perfect...one of the eagles was way up high in the air, soaring around on the updrafts, barely needing to move its wings to stay aloft. Sometimes those of us who find the short, dark, gloomy days of a Seattle winter to be a bit depressing think maybe we should move to Santa Fe or travel to Maui to avoid the grayness of the season. But then....there is The Mountain. And our eagles. And we know why we stay.

Oh, Ethel....be careful!

Headed into the city yesterday and spotted one of the eagles soaring above the lake just north of the fountain west of the western high rise. Then, all of a sudden, up from the surface of the water, flew Ethel.....DIRECTLY in front of our windshield. She couldn't have been more than 6 feet above the bridge deck. And, as many of you know, it was at exactly that spot on the bridge on a beautiful August morning two years ago that Eddie (Ethel's mate prior to Ernest) flew a bit too low and collided with the windshield of a Metro Bus. A fatal error. Hopefully Ethel has a better sense of distance and clearance than Eddie did. All ended well, and it was thrilling to see both eagles, especially having Ethel so close we could see the small fish in her talons. Looking at the calendar.....it is that time of year. Tomorrow begins the month of March, and that has been when Ethel has mated. So if she soon disappears for several weeks we will assume she is sitting on the nest. The cycle begins anew.

Eagles, and a Sharp Shinned Hawk

Heading toward the 520 Bridge earlier this week I saw a pair of eagles soaring above the Overlake Golf Course, probably looking for some tasty varmint for an afternoon snack. While they could be Ethel & Ernest, I suspect they were more likely the resident Hunts Point eagle pair. Later, coming back home over the bridge I saw one of our eagles on the light standard. As I've said, it is difficult to tell which one it is when they are not together. Comparing them side by side Ethel is obviously larger. I tend to look for Ernest's ruffled feathers....but this eagle was facing the oncoming traffic and I didn't get a glimpse of its backside. We've had a sharp shinned hawk visiting our backyard several times recently. The hawk sits right on our stone wall outside the kitchen window, and is an impressive sight. It seems to be looking for an inattentive squirrel, or in desperation, a fat junco would probably make a decent snack. Our squirrels are so incredibly fat from all the sunflower seeds dropped by the birds at the feeders that they simply must be a bit slower than usual. Haven't actually witnessed the hawk catch any prey, but that bird isn't skinny, either. So it is eating enough....maybe I'll see it in action one of these times. Our winter has been unusually mild. Very little snow, and none in the forecast. The end of 2012 was very soggy, but so far 2013 has been extremely dry. At least here in what is obviously a region affected by the rain shadow cast by the Olympics. Farther north, and only a few miles north at that, they've been soaked. But we are actually droughty here on the east side of Lake Washington. This area is famous for its mini-climates.

Sweet Valentines ~ Ethel & Ernest

Regular weekday trip across the 520 Bridge yesterday afternoon, and there on the 'as usual' 2nd lamppost from the Western high rise, south side of the bridge, were Ethel and Ernest. Interestingly enough, Ethel was facing the oncoming traffic and gazing northward, Ernest with his back to the traffic, searching the waters to the south. It is always nice to see them together. Monogamy of the feathered sort, or something. Soon it will be March, and mating season once again. After raising two eaglets last spring and summer, wonder what nature has in store for the happy couple this time around. Have heard no follow-up on the two eaglets that fledged in early August and late August. There is probably not enough territory for the youngsters to remain in the area of their original nest. The vast majority of the eagle population is around the Skagit River, about 50 or 60 miles north of Lake Washington....as the eagle flies. We hope they are well and learning the fine art of hunting. They had good role models in their mum & dad.

Ethel&Ernest and the Albino Crow

Not a lot going on with our eagle friends this rain soaked winter. But that does not mean that they are not around. I've spotted one of them at a time upon the 520 light standards, and last week both of them were up there together on the same post. They don't do that very often. It appears that they tend to hunt independently for the most part, but one morning last week there they both were. Ernest appeared to be helping Ethel with some feather issues as we passed by. Another morning one of the eagles was just arriving at the sentry post atop the favored light pole, but when they are flying like that I have a hard time telling which one it is. When one sits alone atop the standard, however, it is usually possible to tell Ethel from Ernest by the size. He is considerably smaller than she is.......... I've also been entranced by the albino crow, who I first noticed several months ago with a small murder of crows upon the telephone wires on 100th Avenue NE. Ever since then I watch for him (or her) and have seen the same white crow several times since then, most recently this morning. Interestingly enough, this was the first time I've seen the albino crow with just one other crow. And I wonder if perhaps they are a mated pair? How nice, if they are, that crows do not appear to harass another crow for 'looking different'. Surely they notice that this one is the 'wrong color'....? From a bit of reading I've learned that albino animals are often sterile, though not always. It makes one wonder what the offspring look like from such a pairing should the albino mate be fertile. Maybe come springtime, if I see some more albinos on the telephone wires I will have my answer about the offspring of such a mating.