Eaglets

We set out as the tide is in its last hour of rise and a small current and a bit of a tailwind help to drive us up into the marsh.  Tomorrow will be bona fide hot but today the temperature is pleasantly in the mid 70's and the wind makes it perfectly comfortable under a full sun.

We paddled along the forested east shore.  Our first wildlife sighting was a woodchuck.

But the real purpose of the trip was to take S deeper into Lords Cove to where I had found an eagle nest earlier in the spring.  On that trip I had been aiming my camera at a large Bald Eagle on its perch when it got flew just before I could press the shutter.  That's how I found the nest as the eagle flew the ten feet over to it...so well built that I did not notice it.

When we got into that farthest arm of the cove a large adult eagle flew along the shoreline...we were in the right place.  The nest was still hard to spot even though I knew where to look.

S, with the binoculars, saw that the nest was occupied.  Sure enough, three young eagles were perched just above the nest.  It is normal for a pair of eagles to raise one chick.  A skilled set of parents can raise two.  I imagine it is quite rare for three to survive.  We got one more look at one of the adults, and she (I assume as females are larger than males) was a very large eagle.

Lunch time