The Bird-Man of Bethany Pond

a fledgling bald eagle (not my photo)

Not long ago I noticed a gray-bearded outdoorsy-looking man staked out by the north parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near Bethany Pond, about three miles from my house. He was there every time I passed and I took him for a photographer. He uses a tripod and has a camp chair to sit in when needed.

But no, he's not a photographer but a bird-watcher with a powerful scope, and his focus is a bald eagle nest containing a 115- day-old fledgling. Probably 99% of people (including me) would not know it is there, except you can't miss this wizened bird-watcher sharing his scope with others who have stopped by to see what he's looking at. He points out various interesting facts. For instance, I did not know that bald eagles don't get their white head until they are five years old.

This morning I watched "baby" bald eagle through the scope. He was relaxing part way down in a tree about 1/3 a mile away. Suddenly, his wings flew out and he took off. I stepped away from the scope and saw the fledgling being playfully pursued by 2 red-tailed hawks. The eagle alighted in a tree not very far away from us, near his nest.  

The bird-man told Craig that the mother eagle flies over to the St. Johns area (over the mountains) to bring back fish from the Willamette River. Presumably that's where she was this morning as we didn't see her.  

I love lots of things about this "event." First, bald eagles are alive and well. Wasn't it about 40 years ago they were nearly wiped out by pesticides? It has become close to routine to see bald eagles around our metro area. Second, they are living a short distance from my house! Third, bird-man cares enough to study them. Fourth--others take time to see and learn about these magnificent birds.

You can't see the nest in these photos, but it is barely left of center and just a little below horizontal center in this photo. The fledgling is sitting about 10 feet below the nest. Next time I stop by I'll ask bird-man how he discovered the nest in the first place. Inquiring minds seriously want to know.

Wildlife Galore

I spent a wonderful week in Ithaca, New York with Bridget's family recently. Their apartment complex is full of young families, most of whom are associated in some way with Cornell University. Their building faces the local bird sanctuary so at least once a day Meme and Majd and I walked the network of trails that lace through the area.

The boggy land is pocked with scores of tiny ponds, lots of tall trees, wooden bridges to cross the marshiest areas, and at one end is a very large pond filled with ducks and geese and other water animals. There is a visitor center near the pond.

Some of the more common birds seen in the sanctuary are red-wing blackbirds, goldfinches, jays, robins, chickadees, various ducks and Canada geese, but sometimes scarlet cardinals made an appearance. One day we passed Canada geese parents swimming with their eight goslings! We see great blue herons often here in the Pac NW but not so often sitting on their nests. In the bird sanctuary were two sets of herons  nesting in adjoining tall trees.

Muskrats swim through the pond, raccoons climb the trees, and squirrels and chipmunks are everywhere. The last night of my visit as we walked at dusk, two beaver were splashing near the shore of the pond just yards from us. We crept closer as they came onto the bank to investigate their surroundings. They still hadn't spied us and we got within about 8 feet of them. Then Majd startled them and in a flash they dove back into the pond to head for deeper water. Funny that someone from Beaver-town Oregon would get a better view of beaver in NewYork than I ever do here.