A bit of action from this past winter near my local bald eagle nest and a cool shot for Freedom Friday.

It was a crisp, cold February morning along the South Platte River as I hung out with my favorite pair of eagles. They spent much of the morning at the nest doing some housekeeping and, even took a break to mate for a bit.

When the male departed for a bit, a third eagle arrived at the nest and that set the stage for some excitement. The female began calling to her mate, not happy about the intruder. Soon the male returned and chased off the third eagle. He then went and perched across the river, confident he had taken care of the threat. That, however, was not the case.

The interloper returned, trying to share a perch with the nested male – something this image shows. As you can see, my resident friend was none too happy and raised a huge ruckus. Eventually, the other eagle left and peace was restored.

I am confident this intruding eagle is why the nest ended up failing. I would see the intruder a few more times, always insistent on disturbing the nested pair. This is a scenario that was seen at some other nesting spots here on the Colorado Front Range this past winter – an intruding eagle attempts to take over, causing issues. As their population continues to rebound, these types of things will probably become more common as the eagles fight for territory.