This morning I visited 3001 Hogum Bay Rd ( I think I've previously spelled it wrong if you are Googling for a map.) just off I-5 at Marvin Rd in Lacey to check on the Bald Eaglet. ?Said bird that I call Imp is pretty much out of the nest and can be seen perched in the limbs around it. ?Emp is a ?late hatch, maybe a second clutch, and I have never seen two adults attending him at the same time. ?I've come to believe he's a one parent child which I believe to be the male. ?I'd be interested in hearing if someone sees or has recently seen two adults in the area at the same time. ?Emp is short for Emperor. ?I've read that there is an order of royalty in?Falconry. ?That the Eagle is the Emperor, the Gyr Falcon is the King, the?Peregrine?is Duke and so forth. ?Emp is also unisex because I realized that, if it survives, it will?assimilate?into the eagle population and we will loose track and not?recognize?the adult as Emp so we will probably
never know it's sex for sure.? ? Emp looks like a week or so away from flight training. ?I just hope he gets proper supervision. ?The single parent seems to be gone (hunting?) most of the time. ?Emp doesn't have the same parenting?environment?of the Osprey's at Chambers Bay which I visited next. ?

Things are much better for the Osprey's at Chamber's Bay Central Meadow. (Google Chamber's Bay Golf Course) This year they are?successfully?raising three babies which are also nearly grown and approaching flight status. ?This afternoon as many as 5 large birds were?crowded?into the nest. Unlike Bald Eagles,?juvenile?Ospreys are colored very similar to the adults and if anything are even prettier. ?Their feathers are bright and?shiny?new and they have gold neck bands and gold rings on their mantle. ? ?If you do photography now's a great time to visit. ?

I found it interesting that one of the adults was making repeated nest repair flights bringing in bunches of grass and sticks. ?To me it looked like it was getting ready for next year. ?At first I thought it was cleaning but they were one-way trips. ?Bring nesting material in and carrying nothing out. ?I guess we assume that birds don't plan that far ahead but raptors have?territory?and nest?fidelity. ?The nest is a great location that produced two chicks last year and three this time. ?The parents are likely to return next year if they survive the winter so how do we know that they don't already know that? ? A big chunk of the nest slid off the platform in a Spring storm while they were sitting. ?Fortunately it wasn't the part where the eggs where. ?It needs some fixing so why not get a head start? ?As usual, the more I learn the more questions I have. ????

For added fun walk across the lawn and if you are lucky you will soon find Barn Swallows circling round and round you at ankle height or lower scarfing up the bugs you stir up. ?You can do even more to feed the swallows by scuffling your feet in the brown areas of the grass. ?They are brown because of a bug infestation. ?Take time to really watch these fearless fliers. ?Watch their tail feathers flare like little airplane rudders as the adjust for the sharp turn. ?I've seen them fly so low that their trailing wing actually touches the grass but the never crash. ?When scaled up, the 30 or so mile per hour swallow flight speed equals about 300 mph in a jet fighter which they resemble. I think of them as?miniature?Blue Angels. ? Very few people seem to notice what a wonderful thing is happening right at their feet.?

PS- This works in lots of parks this time of year. ?Not just Chambers Bay. ? If you see Swallows flying low, try it out.?

Happy birding. ?
?
Ray Holden
Olympia, WA

Life is for the birds.