As I posted a few of weeks ago, there was a new Bald Eagle nest on the north shore of Highland Lake near Mead, Weld. A pair of eagles had been hanging around for weeks. I observed them in the nest and changing places. There was one almost all the time, hanging out about 50 yards away, chasing off the Red-Tailed Hawks that usually nest in several trees along the north shore. One of the more interesting sights was one of the eagles chasing a hawk off. The hawk was flying as hard as it could and the eagle was right on its tail. Feathers flying, but it was pretty clear that the eagle was more intent on chasing off rather than killing the hawk. As soon as the hawk crossed over the dike on the south side of the lake, the eagle returned to its perch near the nest. Eventually, there must have been a treaty reached because the hawks established a nest several trees to the west of the eagle nest.
I last saw the Eagles both on the nest, and hanging out nearby, about a week ago. One of my neighbors to the north said that was about the time they last saw them as well. A few days ago, I observed that a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks are now occupying the nest and the eagles are nowhere to be seen. My question is, What are some different scenarios that would have happened to the eagles to make them leave/abandon their nest? Could the eggs have failed to hatch? Was there too much activity along the inlet ditch east of the nest (they are slowly removing trees and bushes along both the inlet and outlet ditches and pilling them up along the bank to burn later), or just maybe, as the wildlife officer suggested, they are a first year "couple" and are still trying to figure things out. Obviously, those of us who live on the lake and have been watching the eagles, are disappointed as we realize that this was an unique situation, unlikely to repeat itself again. For while Highland Lake has some good habitat for ducks, geese, and of course, Red-tailed Hawks, it really isn't the best location for a Bald Eagle nest. Pauli Smith Highlandlake/Mead, Weld, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/COL402-EAS308B0CF5706D0A4FAA0BBFADF560%40phx.gbl. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
