Newest Neighbor-Baby Bald Eagle

The Turk and I headed out to Honeymoon Island this morning, bikes in the back of the truck. We were on a birding mission - likely influenced by the rescue earlier this week (see earlier entry). Once on island, we hopped on our bikes and peddled the Osprey Trail to check up on our feathery neighbors...and Mark's fishing competition.

The osprey were very active caring for their young chicks, catching fish for breakfast, and renovating their nests. (seems they are always 'adding on'). We saw a bright red cardinal who was brilliant in the pine forest. The cool morning was beautiful as we peddled, stopped, peddled, stopped..our way across the island trail until we reached a net fence. A ranger was there with a couple who had a camera with a very looong lens. Hmmm....we quickly realized that we had come to the bald eagle nest.

Its the first time in 40 years there has been a bald eagle nest on Honeymoon Island - so there is a lot of excitement about it. There have been families on Anclote Key, just north - near Tarpon Springs. And the guess is that this is one of those families who have relocated to Dunedin (just like us!). The ranger said that the county flew a reconnaissance mission over the nest to check for eggs in January, and when they spotted one, the area was fenced off for their protection. Because bald eagles are still protected by the federal government, there are mandatory steps that must be taken to ensure their safety. And any breech of security is a federal crime.

The baby, a month old, is large and dark. There isn't anything 'bald eaglish' about it to the untrained eye (that would be me and mark). It will begin to fly in the next few weeks, but in the meantime one parent is hunting for fish while the other watches from a nearby tree. Perhaps baby's largeness is crowding the nest a bit.

We finished our ride to find a festival of sorts going on, complete with bagpipes (well, it IS Dunedin), a lot of information on nature related activities, recycling, kayaking and biking, along with some history displays of the area. We were quite 'in' with our bikes and didn't admit to anyone that our truck was parked 1/4 mile away.

A great morning! We left just as the masses were arriving to the island via their vehicles - which were backed up to the end of the causeway. I really dont like sharing the island...except with the birds!

Mark's Wildlife Rescue

Mark was hanging around the causeway on Sunday, checking out the fishing action. The woman next to him threw out her fishing line and inadvertently caught an osprey's wing. He was circling low to catch fish and he got caught instead.

The bird was brought down to the water with the fishing line and it appeared its wing was broken. The bird was unable to fly and was being carried away by the current. The disabled osprey floated under the drawbridge and was heading out to Caledesi Island when Mark ran to that side of the causeway to begin the rescue.

With it traveling so quickly beyond the beach, Mark asked some jet skiers to retrieve the bird and bring it to shore. It took several jet skiers to accomplish this as no one wanted to get bitten. The bird was finally laid on a jetski foothold and driven to shore, but it laid motionless. Mark called me and I contacted the Honeymoon Island park ranger station where they prepared a cage for the wounded bird. Mark gently wrapped the osprey in his shirt to keep it contained in case it started fighting, and brought it to the rangers.

The rangers quickly caged the bird and took it to the shelter. Mark was worried all day for that bird. He worried that the bird's spouse would be waiting for the fish it was catching. And when it was clear the mate wasnt returning, they wouldnt be able to leave the nest to hunt food.

So, we went out to Honeymoon Island for sunset and to ask the ranger about the osprey. He sadly said that the vet had to put the bird down. That in addition to a broken wing, it had an illness that was weakening the bird and that it couldnt be cured.

Mark was devastated. But I assured him that since this bird was really sick, it likely didn't have a spouse and a nest to support. So there wouldnt be a waiting spouse.

We watched a wonderful sunset at the beach that evening, while the birds were actively catching dinner, and the dolphins were doing their synchronized sunset dance. And that is the way nature works.