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In early January the eagles in my neighborhood were sticking close to the nest. Louise (the Project Eagle Watch coordinator for Pinellas County) and I were both keeping close tabs on the nest. We were thinking the eggs had hatched at this point but the babies were to small to see yet.
Mom was always on the nest while Dad was flying back and forth. I still hadn’t been able to catch him with food but I hadn’t made it over to the nest early in the mornings. It looks like Mom is looking down at something.
By mid-January I could just make out some fuzz between the sticks. Louise could see 2 babies through her scope from across the field.
A week later I could make out one big baby from far down the field. Louise had seen 2 babies a few days earlier but we could only find one this morning. We were hoping the other one was sleeping.
A few days later I got a good sighting of one of the babies. His all black head was just sticking up over the sticks. Still no sign of the other one.
The next day I found both parents on top of the nest tower.
For several days after this was all we saw. Only the Mom was now on the nest tower and spent all day crying for her mate. Dad was missing and we could not see any sign of life from the babies. We found out that someone in the area was spreading rat poison pellets all over the condos. I spent several days walking around picking up dead squirrels and talking to all of the people living in the area, asking if they knew about the poison pellets and talking to them about what happens if a raptor eats a squirrel (or rat) that has died from rat poison.
It has taken me a while to write this. I am crushed. Both babies and the Dad are missing, presumed dead from rat poison. Their main diet here in the area are squirrels. The Dad had been nesting here since 2007. The original Mom died in 2015 from rat poison and the Dad got a new mate the next year. He would not just abandon the nest. The Mom stayed on the nest tower for a week crying out. It was so sad.
A week later I was heading to the grocery store not expecting to see the Mom still up on the nest tower but she was still there. I saw another eagle on a light post nearby. At first I got excited thinking the Dad had come back but when I got my camera out I realized this was a sub-adult eagle (maybe a 4th year based on the brown still in his head and tail). Eagles don’t get their all white head until their 5th year. We think this was a new young male that heard the Mom crying and came to see what was going on. I hope next year he doesn’t come back to nest with her. The stakes are too high with all of the residents nearby using rat poison pellets and boxes. Guess what he’s eating. Yep, a squirrel. I am heading up a campaign in the neighborhood and areas nearby to stop the use of rat poison. There are other options.
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