I was working on another Cooper and Packrat story when I came to a stand still . . .
stuck . . .
wordless . . .
so I set out for the hiking trail and the lake to find my inner Cooper. Halfway there, I saw black skies in the distance. The wind picked up. There was a dampness in the air. So I went home.
An hour later the sun came out, so I tried again. Lakeside, this was the view . . .
Someone else had her eye on the clouds too . . .
I managed to snap a few pictures before it started sprinkling again. My camera in a plastic trash bag, I ran home for the second time.
An hour later, I trudged to the lake yet again, shaking my head in wonder at my determination to get there. This time I took a different route to snap a picture of the eagle from over by our beaver hut. It gives you a really good look at how the nest is built and how it’s grown.
I’m not sure, but I believe the eggs haven’t hatched yet, by the way she’s still sitting on the nest. I think she’d be perched on the edge if the little ones had arrived. Any day now . . . any day.
Another patch of gray clouds loomed in the distance. I began to pack up and walk back.
A few steps later, I turned for one last look at my eagle and there, just off its island, I saw this.
My loons! They were back.
Gray skies had returned, but I only had eyes for them.
They fished . . . and preened and dove . . .
And they were together. Sigh.
I’m looking forward to documenting their 2013 summer as I wait for Cooper and Packrat to be released.
The Eagles nest really has some hefty size branches / sticks in it’s makeup. Nice shots! We drove by on 26 last weekend and saw all the water. It’s a wonder you could get to the beaver hut area.
Have you been able to tell the Male from the Female loons at all?
Ed,
Those eagles are still adding to the nest! They certainly do drag some huge branches up there.
It’s really hard to tell a male from a female loon. The male is usually slightly larger than the female, so in the last photo, I would say the male is in the foreground. Another way to tell, is only the male yodels.
I haven’t seen them since I took those photos, but it has been super windy down at the lake this week. White-cap windy! I wouldn’t be surprised if they were hanging out in a cove somewhere. Plus, we’ve been working like crazy on redoing the registration area, so I haven’t taken as many walks as I’d like. Hopefully I’ll get more time down there over the weekend.