Grey Cloud Island Eagle Nest

Earlier this year I heard about an active eagles nest out on Grey Cloud Island. So while I was out checking to see if any osprey were nesting on the osprey platform on Grey Cloud Island I decided to see if I could find the eagles nest. The nest was located on a portion of the island that is still wild. Fortunately it was located right on the shoreline so it was visible from the roadside across the water.

I made several stops to the nest in May to photograph the three you eaglets that were in the nest. My first stop was on May 2nd. The first photo in the post was taken on that day. At that point I could barely see the eaglets. It was not until I got home and looked at the pictures that I determined that there were 3 young, at first I only saw what I thought was two. Eagles generally lay one to three eggs. In this second picture, which was taken one week later, you can see that the eaglets still have not begun to grow in feathers over their down but they were begin to sit up more often which made them easier to see and photograph.

By May 27th, which was when the photo above was taken, all of their feathers were in and they had grown quite a bit. Mom no longer had to stay in the nest all of the time to keep them warm, which is fortunate, because she could now help dad catch fish in the surrounding Mississippi. The three young eaglets were almost as large as their parents. Unfortunately because of bad weather and my schedule I did not get the opportunity to photograph their first flights but that leaves me something to look forward to in 2011.