Mood:
chillin'
It is that time of year again. Time for our annual bald eagle monitoring. Actually it started a few months ago but I forgot to mention it. LOL This year we have had some exciting news. We have discovered a 4th eagle nest on the lake. It is unfortunate though that this nest is in a location only accessible by canoe or kayak. Our current canoe is in a horrible state so I am pushing for a new one.
In other eagle news I have been monitoring the Norfolk Botanical Garden’s Eagle nest from the web again this year. The eagles moved to a new tree and NGB have set up a new camera with night vision. Very cool. You can check out the nest here. Norfolk Botanical Gardens There has been some drama this year with the mating pair but all seems to be going well and they have successfully laid 2 eggs. A new feature this year is some snap shots of the days monitoring as well as some night shots. One of which was the squirrel incident mentioned in the title line.
I was amazed when I saw imagines of the little squirrels and wondered if these squirrels were either very smart of very dumb. In the first picture below taken from the website you can see the squirrel building its nest just below the eagle nest. What is it thinking? Does it not realize that eagles eat squirrels? Granted they are not part of the Eagle’s main diet but they will do in a pinch. And how convenient for the eagles. If they are in the mood for a night time snack all they need to do is reach down below the nest and grab a squirrel. Maybe the squirrel is betting on the fact that an eagle would think that a squirrel wouldn’t be stupid enough to live right under the nest so they may never realize they are there.
In the second photo you can see the squirrel taking advantage of the eagles feeding time by scavenging the nest for down feathers so that they can line their own nest. Once again not a smart move. Eagle are very protective of their nests and don’t often fly far for fear that that another eagle might move in. To risk this move you would have to be on constant guard.
I haven’t noticed the squirrels moving below the nest. They could be really good and slipping out unnoticed or the eagles could have discovered their new “neighbors” and invited them over for dinner. Or the squirrel figured it just wasn’t worth the price of getting caught and have moved on. But in any case…it is neat to watch.
