An Homage to our Nation’s Symbol – The Bald Eagle

Text and photos by Ken Robinson

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time in Maine. When we were out boating, we spotted a bald eagle’s nest on a small remote island, so the following day I was dropped off on the island with my gear.

We couldn’t get close to the island due to rocks, and getting on the shore without dropping all of my gear in the lake was a miracle. My equipment may be weather-sealed, but I know it wasn’t designed to be submersible!

I then forced my way through the sharp thicket as quietly as possible, and eventually found a spot where I could see the eagle’s nest clearly.  One of my photos shows how far away and high the nest was. As you’ll also see in the photos, there was one baby in the nest and one on a branch.

I stood there without moving for over four hours, and during that time the mother returned to feed the youngsters twice. The noise from the young birds became deafening when they realized that dinner was on the way.   Seeing the emerging shadow of the bald eagle was breathtaking. Surprisingly, the eagle on the branch never moved in all the time that I was there. 

My time on the HHS Panthers’ sidelines has taught me how to capture action at speed. I put that learning into full effect on this day. I was completely overwhelmed by the number of mosquitoes.  I suffered over 100 bites on my body, but the experience far outweighed my concerns of being bitten.

I was interested to read on Wikipedia, “In the late 20th century the bald eagle was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States. Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U.S. government’s list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the contiguous states on June 28, 2007.”

I hope to get back to the lake again later this year, though I’ll be investing in some mosquito gear!