Well check out this little dude (or dudette)! I visited my favorite bald eagle nest this morning and while there wasn’t a lot of action, I did get my first good look at the eaglet.
It is actually quite big already and has lost its down and is getting its feathers. I would guestimate it is 5 to 6 weeks old.
Now, if you look close you will notice something else in this image, something a bit disconcerting that I didn’t even notice until I got home and processed the pictures. Just to the left of the eagle you see a mass of gray and another talon. The gray would be indicative of a younger eaglet, one still with its down.
I don’t know for a fact of course, but I am thinking there may have in fact been two eaglets in this nest and one passed away. I had only seen one eaglet on my previous visit but there may very well have been two and I just never saw it. It is certainly sad that is may have happened but, it is of course nature and not all that unusual.
I will look forward to watching the little one that survived grow and eventually leave the nest, contributing to the extraordinary comeback the bald eagle has made from the brink of extinction.
