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As I begin planning this newsletter in mid-October, the yellows and oranges of Fall are hanging on, but just barely. We had a splendid warm spell which allowed me to find time to slide my kayak into the mirror-like lake for one last paddle, in spite of feeling a bit under the weather. And while I brought my camera along, I didn't see much in the way of wildlife. But I did capture some beautiful reflective shots. You can see them on my social media pages. The links are below.
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A teacher in my school recently asked if I've always been interested in studying wildlife. Truth be told, no, I wasn't. Moving to Maine to live on our 40 acre campground with hiking trails and frontage on Lower Range Pond certainly helped. Away from the hustle and bustle of a year round cubicle job, I learned to slow down (the camp wasn't as busy in the early years) and really look at the world around me. Having little ones was another boost. Alex and Ben were super curious toddlers! "What's that bird? Who's track is that? Does something live in that hole? Where do loons go in the winter?" The questions were rapid quick and never ending!
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There are two key wildlife events in my years at camp that really made me sit up and take notice, though. The first was the year the loon nest flooded and their two eggs were lost. Finding out that the water had risen overnight due to crews fixing the pond's dam had me a bit angry, truth be told. Hadn't anyone thought the timing of the fix through? What other nests on our lake were flooded by fixing the dam in early Spring? And the second was when the eagles moved into an old osprey nest on an island close to our shoreline. At the time, they were listed as threatened. It was so much fun to watch those eagles raise their chicks, and the experience inspired me to get my first long zoom lens to capture their behaviors.
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If you asked me to even more closely pinpoint the exact moment I became a full-on nature geek, I'd have to say it was probably back in 2005 when I tagged along with a biologist who was banding "our" two eaglets. "Won't the adults attack you?" I asked him. "How do you lower eaglets safely? Won't they be squirming?" I asked questions like my kids had when they were toddlers.
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Read on below to hear about that adventure with the eagle biologist which led to a scene in Mystery of the Eagle's Nest. Also, check out what I'm reading now, and see our summer and fall backyard wildlife visitors. Click the Cooper and Packrat adventures below to learn more about the series, including where to find them. Christmas is coming and if you pair them with a stuffed animal from the story, they make great presents for wildlife lovers!
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Banding Eagles Adventure
Back in July, I returned to our campground for a visit. As I slid my kayak into Lower Range Pond, so very many happy memories hit me all at once! I couldn't wait to explore all my favorite places.
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The loons called. A heron was foraging in the weedy area of the lake. And a pair of young eaglets called loudly for a meal.
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Each time those eaglets flew overhead, I snapped a bunch of pictures. It wasn't until I returned home, that I saw a flash of red on one of the eaglet's legs. Zooming in, I realized the eaglet was banded!
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This all reminded me of a warm day in June 2005. I was working in the gardens outside the office. We were open, but it was too early in the season to be busy. A truck drove through our gate and right away, I eye-balled the motor on the boat he was towing.
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Getting out of his truck, the driver said hello and introduced me to his three passengers before asking permission to use our boat launch to Lower Range Pond. Nodding toward his motor I told him in no uncertain terms, in my best business owner voice, that I couldn't give access as it was “too big for our lake.” (In my defense, I often got arguments from boaters insisting they could launch with their large motor in spite of the 9.9hp regulation.)
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“I have permission from the wardens,” he assured, pulling out his card to hand it to me. Bill Hanson was a senior biologist, sent to band the eaglets.
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Of course I apologized profusely! I'm sure my face was red in embarrassment.
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"Would you like to come along?” he graciously asked. "You can hold a chick!"
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I didn’t think twice. I grabbed my camera and followed. I didn’t lock the office door. In fact, I didn't even close it. Nor did I radio my husband to tell him where I'd be. All I could think about was how I was about to witness the banding of eaglets on their island!
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One of the first questions I asked Bill as we motored over, was what the eagle parents would do when he took their chicks. I mean, I'd seen those eagles dive bomb ospreys that'd come too close. Wouldn't they dive bomb him as he climbed the tree? Try to to swipe him with their talons while picking up the chicks to put in a burlap bag?
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"They'll just fly away," he explained. And that's exactly what happened, although the parents didn't go far. They kept a close watch from two hundred or so feet away.
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The eagles did holler from time to time though to let us know they were still around. And they flew over two or three times to check on their little ones.
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After being lowered to the ground, the eaglets staying in one spot. They didn't try to escape or hide. They didn't make a sound as blood was taken to check for their lead levels (the battle to get rid of lead sinkers had just begun), or while talons, beaks and wings were measured, weight taken, and the red and silver bands attached to their legs.
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I learned that the red band tells which state they were banded in, and it has an ID number that can be seen with binoculars. The silver band is a federal band. Whenever you see a banded bird, you should report it to aid biologists in their studies of the species.
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While the crew on the ground wrapped up, Bill was high in the tree checking out the contents in the nest for prey remains and other items. He found fish bones, eagle feathers and the great thing of note - he found turkey bones and feathers! I remember he seemed surprised by this, as turkeys are normally a bit too heavy for an eagle to lift. He wondered if the parents had brought it to the chicks in pieces.
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It was finally time to put the eaglets back in their nest. "Send your camera up in the bag," Bill called down.
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He took these photos over the top of the nest for me before descending.
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As we motored away from the eagle's island back toward our shoreline, I looked up at the sky. "The parents will return, right?" I asked. (I didn't know then that birds don't abandon their little ones if they're handled by humans)
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"They usually do," he replied. "But call me if they don't-"
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I didn't hear the rest of his reply, as I could already see the female adult eagle approaching her chicks with a fish.
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I smiled, knowing this adventure would land in a book one day.
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Read And Read S'more!
I'm really enjoying Scouts, by Shannon Greenland, published by James Patterson Presents in 2019. It was highly recommended by a student. I'm only about half way through, but I couldn't wait to share it here!
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Set in 1985, it has a Goonies meets Stand By Me kind of feel to it.
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Annie, Beans, Rocky and Fynn are best friends and have been since kindergarten. During this summer before seventh grade, they go out star gazing during a meteor shower and witness one strange meteor come by low over their heads. Annie thought they were going to get hit! Instead the meteor passes too close for comfort and seems to crash nearby.
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The friends make a pact to try to find it, right then and there. Here is a blurb from the publisher:
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"Their fun overnight jaunt through the woods soon takes a turn for the worst when they discover a series of disturbing clues about the meteor -- and suddenly find themselves on the run from the wild, violent Mason clan. Bonds are tested when new kids join their adventure and the group's true feelings are revealed. Will the Scouts survive this journey together -- or will their unbreakable friendships prove vulnerable after all?"
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I love these characters and care about them already. I can't wait to see the trouble they get themselves into!
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Wight House Wildlife Sightings
This month, I have a montage of wildlife visitors to show you!
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We have three trail cams; one outside my office pointed at the bird feeders, one above and behind them just before our little patch of woods begins. And then one beyond that just inside our treeline pointed to the back of the property. It seems like a lot of cams for one little acre, but oh, what they pick up!
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The first video has snippets of our backyard visitors from July through October.
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The second video is footage from two of the three cams showing one quick visit from a black bear! They visit so rarely, I thought it deserved to be the star of its own movie.
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I enjoy using trail cameras to spy on the backyard visitors passing through. I see as much varied wildlife here on my one acre slice of heaven, as I did on my forty acre campground.
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Follow me on social media
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