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.