Thursday, April 28, 2011

Flying With Eagles

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run,
and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint
- Isaiah 40:31 -
I've been watching a beautiful pair of eagles for quiet a while. I watched Mom Eagle lay her second egg. She had a hard time with that one! Dad Eagle was close by, and brought her a fish after the egg was with the first one in the massive nest. He was so good to her, so kind and gentle. Another egg was to come for a grand total of three.
The nest is in the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

Great parents, and they have been together since 2003 in the garden.


On Tuesday this week, April 26th Mom and Dad were hunting together. Mom was carrying a fish when she was struck and killed by the landing gear of an airplane. Dad came back at least three times to feed his eaglets....

After much, much discussion it was decided by the people that know best (and there are many of them that do indeed know all about eagles) that the eaglets should be removed from the nest and taken to theWildlife Center of VA.
Click above for a complete transcript of reasons for removing eaglets.
You may also want to 'LIKE' the Wildlife Center on Facebook!
Julian was so gentle with them.


Dad came back a few times and searched for his family.
The last few days my heart has been repeatably broken.


Soar High on Angel Wings Momma Eagle,
and watch over your babies from above.


It has been said that Dad Eagle will find a new mate and possibly return to the gardens next year. We are thankful that we had the opportunity to meet this little family, and wish him the best. The Gardens have a facebook page HERE

After the eagles were removed, Dad brought another fish to the nest, and searched over the edge, looked above, listened, walked around on the nest then left the fish.
Later, he came back again. I found this video of Dad on YouTube:

I'll Fly Away

15 comments:

  1. A story both sad and hopeful... thank you for sharing. This truly touched us. We have watched for many years an eagle's nest not far from us, and it is an amazing thing to see them year in and our with their new families and the care they give.
    (glad to know you were safe through the storms)

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  2. Oh no! :-( Oh that is so sad!! Oh dad eagle would have done well, I'm sure, but nevermind, the people there mean well and hopefully the chicks will be ok! I hope dad eagle finds another mate too!!! Good luck to these magnificent birds!

    Take care
    x

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  3. Oh that brought tears. I love raptors and eagles in particular. They do grieve for their mates and to know he was looking for his family just breaks my heart in two. BUT at least they are being cared for..and that is a brilliant light in my day.

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  4. That is a sad story but also amazing that the Dad was so concerned. Poor thing, he just couldn't figure out where his kids went. Thanks for posting this. It was very interesting. Take care and have a great week end.

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  5. Oh, poor dad. He lost his mate and has no idea what happened to his young ones. We hope he will have a good life.

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  6. This is so sad. :( I hope the best for those babies and for daddy! He must be so heartbroken to lose everyone all at once. I hope when they release the babies, they'll find and know their daddy.

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  7. Oh, we are sad for the Dad, and for the Mom. But hopeful for the babies. And those are great pictures, by the way.

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  8. What a beautiful post! My heart is breaking for papa eagle. Did he see mama eagle die? I wonder if he has any understanding of what happened. Probably not ...

    Your pal, Pip

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  9. It's sad that there wasn't some way of telling Mr. Eagle that his eaglets were safe.

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  10. Very touching post. it is too bad that Mama Eagle passed.

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  11. Oh this made us a little sad. Poor momma eagle...poor daddy eagle. But we hope the babies will be okay.

    We had something similar happen in our yard about a week ago. We had 2 bunnies that obviously were mates. Our dad found one of the bunnies laying on the ground, it was still alive but its legs didn't work. We think a hawk got it and then dropped it. The other bunny was right there too, watching its mate. Dad called animal control and the nice person took the bunny away. After that we kept seeing the other bunny in the yard, looking like he/she was searching for his/her mate. It made us a little sad. We don't think the bunnies had babies yet, thank goodness.

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  12. Thanks for the update! It is so sad ...I hope the papa eagle will find a new mate. Keep us posted on the babies.

    Thanks!

    Your pal, Pip

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  13. Oh my!! We just know he cared for his wife and babies!! Such a sad and happy story at the same time!! Thanks for sharing!!
    (((((HUGGGGSSSS0))))) from your TX furiends,

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  14. How sad for the male eagle that he lost his female, and then the babies disappeared. He must have been so puzzled. I am sure animals do grieve ~ he certainly knew his family needed him, and then were gone.
    At least the babies will now thrive ~ and I am sure if their momma watches from Heaven, she will know how well they are being cared for. Blessings to the little family ~ how sad that they could not stay together.

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  15. My heart breaks most for the daddy. First loses his mate. Probably saw her get killed and then tried to keep his babies fed and then they disappeared. I wonder what he was thinking. I hope he finds another mate and returns. Glad to see the babies are growing wonderfully.

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