The first eaglet fledged five days ago. I made no siting of him yesterday or the day before and no vocalizations, so I was growing worried that he had come to some demise. Last night, it poured rain…it’s just been that sort of summer. If I wasn’t going to get out to Ptarmigan Cirque this morning with my guests from Louisiana (Preston and Angela) due to severe thunder storms, then I was going to get them down to the Bow River to hopefully site Mr. and Mrs.
Initially, we spotted Dad on the horizontal branch on the dead tree across the way. It was pretty obvious it had been a rough night. I took my guests south on the river to see if Mama was on this side in her favourite hang out.
Along the way, I pointed out the American Pelicans and the spot where the juvenile Northern Flickers had been eagerly waiting to fledge.
No Mrs. Hmmm….I thought to myself, “Where can she be?”
I talked to Preston and Angela about skat…pointing out the coyote poop and its contents. By this time, we were soaked to the knees, although the rain had stopped and there was just a sprinkle. The colour and texture of mammal skat is very much impacted by what they have available for food. Just yesterday I found some skat that contained a lot of animal content, likely rabbit fur and the dark colouring was reflective of old blood. To me, this didn’t look so much like the coyote poop I most often observe on my circle.
The skat pictured below contains more berry content and a different texture. This is what I generally think of as coyote skat. I’m pretty certain that yesterday’s sampling (if you do a search, this will be confirmed) was Bobcat skat.
(I’m off topic, right?) It my readers are out in nature a lot, it is important to be able to recognize or identify these clues so that you are somewhat aware of what animals you are sharing space with at the time. This can contribute to your safety in certain situations. But moving on.
By the time we had done our circle and returned to the edge of the river, Mrs. was perched a short distance from Mr. but in an unusual spot for her…balancing on the top of one of the high branches of a tree across from us. We watched both of them for some time and I was feeling very grateful that at the very least Preston was able to see the two adults that I blither on about constantly on social media.
The adults consistently stared downward and so Preston and I talked about what might have happened to the fledgling. Given the silence, I believed that the youngster was at the very least injured, and at the worst, gone. I got a big hug from Preston as we silently acknowledged that the first fledge had come to some sort of end and the adults were doing some grieving. I took the lead as we carried on north along the very edge of the water.
As we came out of the tall grass and made our way onto the bike path, going south, I noticed through the trees that Mom was no longer there. I shouted to the other two that I was going to walk ahead and go down to her roosting tree on our side to see if i could get them a better look. As I came through the clearing and faced the water, my mouth must have fallen open as I saw the juvenile, with much grace and strength, fly directly for me….I shouted out, “He’s coming right into my arms!” And he alighted into a tree branch just above my head.
I was exuberant! (understatement) Quickly, I readied my camera and started snapping. Then, hurriedly, I surmised that he must have followed Mama and I shared that I was heading south on the river to see if I might see her in her favourite tree. Dad remained aloof on the horizontal branch right across from us.
Before launching off, I quickly said to Preston, “I’m still not convinced that this is fledge #1…I will check the nest for Junior #2 once I’ve located Mom.
I rushed ahead and Preston and Angela followed, but when I got to the tree, no Mama. From where I stood, Angela and Preston said, “Look. Is that Mrs?” I did a pivot and there in the tree neighbouring Junior, Mom sat and surveyed all. Back we went.
At this point and after confirming that, indeed, Junior #2 was still disgruntled and sitting on the nest across from us, in my private thoughts, I was thinking how grateful I was that we had such a private showing of these two raptors and that indeed, Junior #1 was safe. I was also thinking how happy I was that we weren’t at Ptarmigan Cirque.
I was snapping photographs of the two when things became even more dramatic and Dad headed for his family. Alighting shoulder to shoulder with the female, she became unbalanced and was knocked off, leaving Dad in her place. She headed north over the water, a tad annoyed. (But that is me personifying the situation…AGAIN.) The following photographs were taken by Preston or Angela.
Preston and Angela, with their phones at the ready, documented this bit of drama as I was just gawking at the goings-on, very much in disbelief. What a wonderful experience.
After watching Dad track a fishing Osprey within his territory for some time, and after sharing our happiness with the experience, we headed home feeling pretty satisfied with our morning in nature.
At home, I whipped up some sausages, eggs and brown beans and toast and we shared in another coffee. I’m so grateful that Junior is doing so well…thriving on the river. I hope that they will make their way back to the island where their environment is less-traveled by human beings. Some days I just feel that creation was made for my pleasure. This was one of those days.
The great thing about having some one with you when you witness such as this, is that you can share in the joy. I’m glad you were with me, Angela and Preston! Oh! And, Max!
