Johnkr that is very interesting information about the eagles hunting the herons. I had no idea, thanks! That might explain why I have not seen any around. We do live by a lot of natural water. Well that's one thing in favor of eagles. Carol I just googled scarecrow like you suggested and found the info. Thank you. I can see how that would be very effective. I can also see my Malamute playing in it! LOL It sounds like you have lived in some wonderful places. I would love to live by the sea some day. Sounds great just saying it. hehe Sandy I imagine your very correct about some critters liking the scarecrows. My silly Mal for one. LOL She loves to play "chase the hose" whenever I water. Nancyd I believe you are very correct about the cats safety. These are big birds. This was the closest one had come to the house. In the pictures you will see how a pergola is going to be a challenge to say the least. The pond runs 40ft by 20 with a bend at one end. Carol thanks for asking me to brag... I mean post pics. We only got the pond running last fall so I am still pretty excited about it. I also included a link to an older post on the Cottage garden forum if you are interested in some "extreme" ponding/gardening or as I like to think of it, "when I should have been shot on the spot for even thinking of it." This is one end of the pond. I had to take two shots to get the opposite end. I have just begun working on this new falls area. I still have to trim the foam and disquise the liner and tubing here. I put a planter pocket on top of the rock and planted trailing plants so that should help. This is the little pond, it is 100gal. Thank you all very much, LeSan Here is a link that might be useful: Ground Zero

Well, yesterday I decided to go a little deeper with my investigations and set off for the new nest site with binocs and the spotting scope. I hate messing with the tripod, and it's tough to be able to quickly pan left to right if something nmoves, but boy you feel like you are right next to your subject!! I was in for yet another surprise. Sure enough, a single eagle was poking around on the ground after something when I got there. The bird continued for a short time, flew up to the nest, and then began climbing up into a thermal . Immediately after this, I spotted the second bird rising up from a group of trees to the north, following the first. I hadn't been able to see this other bird so I was excited to see both were around. I had my sister on the cell phone giving her the details when the third bird appeared. I was certainly not expecting this. The three were rising incredibly fast...the first two were already small specks, and I had quit following them with the binocs. By the time I noticed the third eagle joining them, it was too late to say for sure if it had the white head and tail, but I think I did make this detail out before it got too high. Not being 100% certain, I can't say whether it was a juvenile or an adult. At first I tried to tell myself it had to be a turkey vulture, but there was no mistaking it and it soon caught up with the first two as they drifted off to the west. But what the heck was a third bird doing at the nest site? I guess I have questions for an eagle specialist....I think I read that they are monogamous. Was this a hopeful interloper? Maybe the other nest two miles away has a male that swings....How long does the chick (chicks if it's a really good year) from a single season hang around after it fledges? And of course, this wasn't last year's bird at all if it already had the white feathers. I guess one thing that needs to be done is to atake out the old nest back at the highway and see if there's a white head hunkered down in there. It's possible we have been missing the activity and sitting is already taking place. Later, two of the three birds did return to the nest, with one sitting on the nest itself and the other taking up a post at the perimeter. Then it got too dark for the scope and I decided to pack up and head home. So , the story continues!! BTW, several people stopped to see what I was doing, and a few of them were people I know who live right across the field from the nest/s. I managed to get some good info from several of the ones who stopped. Amazingly, the couple who live closest to the site thought the smaller nests were swan's, and had not even noticed the huge monster so out of place there in the middle of them. When I told them it was an eagle nest and that there was a bird on the nest right now and held out the binocs, they just said how nice and drove off. Before they left though, I did ask them if they could recall what month the herons had been coming back to the nests, and they said closer to April. That was the time of year when we first found the rookery, and the leaves were just coming on. Then another fellow pulled up, and seemed a bit more interested. As it turned out, he had just been in charge of logging this same area last year (yippee) and decided at the last minute to leave the few big trees right around the site. He said you could walk right up underneath it all (although the mess and the ruckus was unbelieveable)and they didn't even seem to notice. Then in the fall they just vanished. He thought something bad must have happened but I wonder if they didn't just fledge and move on. so that's the story for now.

Looks like one ... yellow feet with black talons, extremely LONG central toe, feathers stop before they hit the feet (bald eagles have "bald ankles" and golden eagles have feathered legs) , dark bill turning to yellow, and patchy white feathers. Immature golden eagles also have a dark-tipped white tail feathers, and this bird has mottled ones.

I have seen them almost daily. They perch on the tops of very tall dead trees. I wish I had a camera with a strong zoom. They are beautiful mature Bald Eagles with bright "white" heads. Today it must be the male and female (larger is the female). I have also seen young Bald Eagles that don't have the full-on-white feathers yet. For the want of a good camera...! This is in Sanford, Florida at Lake Monroe. Anyone near here? Sharon