A long shot, heavily cropped and not the greatest quality but one that made me happier than most that I have taken. I have been watching this nest for several years and in November of 2022, tragedy struck when the female died from the bird flu. I was the one to find her and it was a devastating discovery.
Since then, it appeared a new female was sometimes around but there was no nesting last year and recent visits showed no activity. I was resigned that the nest was a failure. Sunday morning a friend and I hiked in at sunrise for a look and it appeared I was right, no activity to be seen.
We waited a bit and started to hike out. We got about a quarter mile away and I turned for a final look and lo and behold, a white head! We just couldn’t see her from our initial angle! This was the first view of her from a long ways away.
While I ended up with far better pics of her and her mate when he returned, this will be my favorite from the day. With incubation apparently underway, it will be about 35 days until hatching. Then, months of growth before the little ones take flight. A lot can go wrong in that time but for now, I am renewed with hope.
