Out of the two eagles that we can see in the Canadian Rockies, most of us will see the Bald Eagle. To see the Golden Eagle, you must spend a lot of time at higher altitudes. Bald Eagles can live 20 to 30 years in the wild, with some weighing near 6 kg and having a wingspan of 2 meters or more. They are impressive birds to see up close. The same can be said about their nest. The largest Bald Eagle nest on record was 2.9 meters in diameter and just over 6 meters tall. And the weight was almost 2 metric tons. That’s around 4409.25 pounds.
Several years back, a nest that was being used by a mating pair stopped being used. They started using a new nest they built. The eagles knew something was up because it was long after the tree holding the nest came down. Even with the old nest spread out from the fall, it still came up to my waist. I can still recall looking at all the branches they had gathered over the years lying on the ground.
This mating pair was done with the nesting for the season and were hanging out last month. For a couple of hours, I watched them through my binoculars, every now and then pulling out the camera. Together, the called out several times, watching them react to other birds, including a close flyby of an Osprey. It’s not too often you get to watch a pair of Bald Eagles from forty meters away in the Rockies. Time just flew by.
