Fly like an eagle.....

 By my calculations.... there should be little eaglets ..or maybe only one... won't know til it happens.......on or around the Easter weekend.... 

The couple has been sitting on the nest and incubating eggs .. sometimes she gets off for an hour and he takes over.... then, she gets back on and stays for hours.  It has to be so tiring and how weak do they get after weeks of that?  Poor thing.. 

I hope the eggs survive the poor weather... they certainly do begin long before winter is over around here.  There is going to be more cold and wild winds too this coming week....fingers crossed. 

The Poplars are just beginning get some buds and when they fully leaf out....the nest will be invisible I'm sure.  It is in a big Poplar in a long line of them on the golf course.  Leafy branches all over the place.

I hope they are safe from stupid golfers and their wild shots on that fairway..... I hear balls whack that line of trees all day.  As a matter of fact, I, myself, have whacked a couple...albeit a lot closer to the tee box than the guys hit them.  Some of the shots will definitely make it to that particular tree.  Darn it.  

The other day, one of the eagles was sitting on the tree right near our house.  Just sitting there.  Preening.  Picking.  Trying to find something to keep himself busy.  Basically just hanging out.  All alone.   Of course.  Missus was on the nest.  I can only tell it was him because he doesn't have the tiny black mark on one of his tail feathers that she has.  It is really the only way to tell them apart unless they are sitting side by side as she is slightly bigger than he is. 

Then he began to stretch one wing ...this way and that.... and then, moved them both around and spread them out a few times ... .... and, then... kind of turned around and hopped up and down on the branch a few times and took off.  

He sailed around towards the nest in a huge figure 8 and bypassed it.... then circled.. and onward and upward .... OMG did he go up!!  I've never seen them do that before although once in a while I see some hawk or big bird (could be an eagle) fairly high...but, this guy didn't quit.  He went around and around in huge circles ... and, so high that finally I could not see him anymore!  It brought tears to my eyes.  So Amazing. Hardly even flapped a wing.  Just soared on the currents.  Once he made a slight adjustment with tail feathers and one wing and then... just upward he continued.  In such huge circles. Unbelievable.  I watched him for several minutes..til he disappeared way up there.  Totally out of sight.  So beautiful.

Here he is before he began his stretches ...just looking bored or ticked or ... lonely, or something..... then, he did a few calisthenics and off he flew almost into the stratosphere .... no wonder he decided he needed to do some good stretching.  

This is the last one I could even focus on him... he was going in and out of clouds and mist by this time and then.... I couldn't even see him anymore.