JAN 28: A really big stick

[NewMexiKen]

This morning, after watching Pride, the male Bald Eagle, bring in loads of hay to line the nest, I was in for a surprise. His final offering of the morning was a truly huge branch-- I would almost call it a small tree. It was so large that I could not fit the bird and the entire stick in one frame of my camera. He carried it in from the west, with the wind at his back, so he had to circle around the nest and approach it upwind from the east side. At first he held the stick with both feet.





On his first attempt to land on the nest the female (Jewel) called out. Pride continued westward and again circled to try to land on the nest. However, he appeared to had lost his grasp and was only holding the stick with one foot.







He flew back to the west and suddenly dropped the stick.



I had to wonder whether Jewel told him that they were finished with major construction and she only wanted straw for nest lining. In any event, Pride simply continued on and took a roost along the road in front of the old nest.