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!