One of the best parts of bird watching, at least for me, that is, comes from the occasional and oftentimes unexpected opportunities to find new bird watching encounters.
Just last week, for example, I was made aware of the second pair of nesting bald eagles located right here in Box Elder County.
Both of these nests, as of last week when I checked them out, are still active and both are 5 miles or so from the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge visitors center.
The first bald eagle nesting site has been around for a few years now and is located on a nearby farm and is not easily viewed unless you have a spotting scope and know exactly where to look.
This new nesting site, however, is quite a different situation, located on what I am thinking is public land and within 50 yards of a popular walking trail in very easy view for all to see, even with just the naked eye.
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I visited the new nesting site last week and found 2 growing eaglets in the nest along with one of the eagles perched nearby in the upper portion watching over the nest.
But here is my dilemma, one I have been wrestling with since I first learned of the new bald eagle nesting location.
Nesting birds can be and are oftentimes susceptible to abandoning the nest due to too much human disturbance.
Despite the bald eagle nest being so close to a very popular public walkway, the eagles do seem to be handling it very well as they have 2 young eaglets in the nest.
This is one of those situations where I am not sure what is fair for the public and at the same time best for the eagles.
On one hand, I am always advocating people getting out and enjoying some bird watching and think we shouldn’t be stingy with bird sightings and should pass them along so other people can enjoy them as well.
That reason right there is actually a big part of the purpose of this blog, to help others find and see interesting things in nature they may not be aware of.
But on the other hand, I have seen situations where certain bird sightings have caused the public to show up in droves and many times disrespect not only the birds themselves by not giving them their due space but disrespecting the property the birds were residing on, both public and private.
With this being an active nest so close to a public thoroughfare, I am a bit worried about the nest if people choose to leave the walking trail and get closer to the nest.
This is a big concern actually because someone could literally walk right up to the tree the eagle nest is located in, even though the nest itself is very high up in the tree.
I personally think the bald eagles would be fine with people staying on the nearby walking trail as it is used daily by the public and so far they appear to have no issues with it, but it’s those few individuals that feel they have to get even closer are the ones I am concerned about and why I am hesitant about giving out the exact nesting location.
For years, I have had a pair of cooper’s hawks nesting in the trees right above my house, and this year the nest was taken over by a pair of red-tailed hawks that also seem to have no concern for me as I do yard chores right below.
From years of nesting raptors in my very own yard, I know firsthand that birds can be pretty tolerant of minimal human intrusion.
But I wonder what would happen if 100 people were there at the same time, would those raptors feel as comfortable as they do now with just me and an occasional neighbor walking by, or would they abandon the nest if droves of people showed up day after day with no end in sight.
All of this reminds me of when a great gray owl was spotted in a small town in northern Utah years ago and it was a chaotic mess for weeks as an endless stream of people showed up daily, some even trespassing into people’s backyards where the bird commonly perched during the day just to get a closer look or a better photo.
So I am on the fence on this one, I want to be fair to my readers and give out the best bird-watching info I can but I am also concerned about what can and sometimes does happen when people think they need to get closer to the bird than they should.
My concern isn’t as much for the nesting site this year as much as it is for years to come.
I think the eaglets are big enough that it would take quite a bit of disturbance for the adult bald eagles to abandon the nest this late in the brooding season
What I worry about, however, is more so the eagles not returning in years to come and just leaving the area altogether and we lose such a rare opportunity to have a nesting pair of bald eagles so close to urban life here along the Wasatch Front.
I’m not certain how long this nest has been active and I would feel a bit better about it if the nest had a good history of use being so close to a public hiking trail.
All of the bald eagle and nest images on this particular blog post were taken from the gravel walkway and with my 600 mm camera lens so as you can see, there is really no reason at all to approach the nest as it is in great viewing position for all to see without having to disturb the eagles.
So, from not being sure what the right thing to do here is, I’m going to mull it over for a few days before I decide if giving out the exact nesting location is a good thing to do or not.
I hope everybody understands my dilemma on this one as once something like this hits the airwaves, it can have a lot of unexpected consequences and nesting birds like these bald eagles deserve to be protected so we can continue to have them around for years to come.
On a different note, I appreciate everyone that responded to my last blog post via email and gave me a bit of encouragement.
Please forgive me for not responding to the emails as I just haven’t had the time lately to do so and I recieved quite a few of them so thank you to all who reached out to me.
Thank you all for your readership and support for this website.
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