JulieAloha

March 23, 2017

I’m grateful to have been privileged today to see one of the wild Bald Eagles who nest in the Elk yard at Woodland Park Zoo. The nest is very visible just now as the maple tree in which it is built is still leafless and doesn’t hide its massive bulk of sticks from view. I could just barely see and hear one of the eagles sitting in the nest, though it’s very hard to see the bird in the short video I took below.

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I watched as the mate flew in to take its turn in the nest – they may already have eggs brooding. A wild pair has been returning to Woodland Park Zoo to raise their family since 2002, though the current occupants may not be the original pair. There was an article in the Seattle PI on them the first year.

WPZ Wild Bald Eagles, Photo: Melina Mara/Seattle PI

It’s thrilling to see them return each year, they only stay long enough to raise one or two chicks; once the chicks fledge the family disappears until the next Spring.