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.)