Greetings tweetsters,

What a gorgeous weekend. Full of birding....does it get any better?
This afternoon Sunday, I walked down to Green Lake to check on the pair of
Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) hanging out there.
Last Wednesday I saw them copulate on the island for the first time and I
requested reports of nest building activity here on tweeters. Thanks to
those people who reacted to that message. Just to be absolutely clear, there
is no nest on Green Lake yet. There never has been, although rumors are
persistent (I guess thats their nature). The birds often perch (sit) on the
island. They roost (spend the night) among the dense foliage of evergreens
in Woodland Park.
Today I found the pair in the top of an evergreen in Woodland Park. The sun
behind them they must have had a perfect view of the lake from their vantage
point, some 90 feet/30 m above the lake. The sub-adult female was in plain
view, the male directly behind her, mostly obscured by branches. Eventually
the male moved to a perch slightly to the south. Around 4 he flew across the
lake, turned to face into the light breeze and ripped a 6 foot (1.5 m)
branch out of one of the cottonwoods, flew back across the lake with it
(directly overhead) and disappeared in one of the evergreens in Woodland
Park with it. Meantime the female had flown out over the lake also, but I
lost track of her when I followed the male into Woodland Park. I found a
good vantage point from where I could watch him wrestle the stick into a
crotch below the crown of the tree. Not very successfully.
I sure hope they won't try to build their nest there. There are only two
branches which, while solid enough, are spaced too far apart to adequately
support an eagle nest. I'm hoping these are the very early stages of
nest-site selection, when sticks and branches are placed in a variety of
locations, before the birds (mainly female?) decide on one location.
When I got home I found a message from Tom Aversa who works in the Zoo
(situated on the ridge above Green Lake). He saw the birds gather sticks and
fly towards the lake earlier in the day and urged me to go take a look. It's
good to know the birds are gathering sticks from all over.
Anyway, it's clear the birds have entered the nest-building phase. I hope to
be able to report a choice of nest tree within a week or so.

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com