female? Taken nov 7th around 6:30 pm

[Kathy]

sorry for the grainy pic it was take from a point and shoot november 7th at 6:30 pm

[Kathy]

When I was ,at the nest Nov 7th there was also a police officer with me who stopped to see what I was looking at.  I was on the paved section west of the nest in front of the maleluca trees.  I was coming home from work and the sun was setting fast, it was around 6:30 pm.

I have been to the nest only a few times since and only saw one bird, I am wondering if the nest is very deep and there is a bird on the nest, we just can't see it?

I will go this evening around 4 and stay for an hour or so to see what I can see.

[NewMexiKen]

Can we be sure that the foot shows signs of injury? I don't see a deformity, but am I missing something?

The body shape does look like the female, but others may not agree and I cannot be entirely sure. Joy tended to look heavier in the rear, "pear-shaped," and seems to be the case in these shots.

Another shot of Joy, also January 25, 2014:



On January 13 2014 I cropped this from a photo that I discarded. I think several other photographers have captured the leg hanging. I may have reversed this image for aesthetic purposes so I can not reliably state which leg it is.

[NewMexiKen]

On closer look, one toe does seem to be extended or flexed an a sharp angle. If it is the rear (hallux) talon it seems to curve the wrong way, or the claw is simply extended because it is catching on the tree trunk. If it is the middle toe, with the hallux obscured by the recurved toe, it would be dislocated and abnormally flexed. Sure is difficult to interpret. I tried a very close crop and strong sharpening to the point of pixillation, but not sure it adds anything. You could try this with the original which may be a higher resolution photo than that downloaded here.

Also if you want me to manipulate the original photo, send to me at this link via e-mail 

[JLD_photography]

I took this picture in 9/5/14 and Pride has the feet on the air

[Lisa G]

Well I am still hoping Joy is around .. I will be at the nest tomorrow and will report what I see ..

[NewMexiKen]

I found another shot of Joy hanging her RIGHT foot this time, on January 11, 2014. She seemed not to be favoring one foot over the other.

[Kathy]

I wonder how old she was?  When I was there the weekend before last I saw a lot of vultures hanging around

On Dec 9, 2014, at 8:11 AM, NewMexiKen [via Bald Eagles of Broward County, Florida] <[hidden email]> wrote:

I found another shot of Joy hanging her RIGHT foot this time, on January 11, 2014. She seemed not to be favoring one foot over the other.

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[NewMexiKen]

Kathy, we assume that the same pair, Pride and Joy, were the eagles we have been observing at this nest since the 2007-2008 breeding season. Since they do not breed until about 5 years old, she would now be at least 12-13 years old. However, local residents (and a bus driver) said that they saw eagles flying in and out of this spot for over a year and some said more than two years. Further, there was a report of a Bald Eagle nest in NW Miami-Dade that was destroyed by a fire around 2006 or 2007, so these birds may have been displaced, adding one or more years to their age. Average age for eagles in the wild, after they survive the very high mortality of their first year is said to average 15-20 years. Urban eagles face even more hazards than average (motor vehicles, wires, electrocution, vandalism).

If anyone has knowledge of the Miami-Dade nest that was said to been destroyed, please let us know.

[Kathy]

Ken about a week ago I saw a lot of vultures circling the nest area

Keep smiling so that others will wonder what you are smiling about

On Dec 9, 2014, at 11:33 AM, NewMexiKen [via Bald Eagles of Broward County, Florida] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Kathy, we assume that the same pair, Pride and Joy, were the eagles we have been observing at this nest since the 2007-2008 breeding season. Since they do not breed until about 5 years old, she would now be at least 12-13 years old. However, local residents (and a bus driver) said that they saw eagles flying in and out of this spot for over a year and some said more than two years. Further, there was a report of a Bald Eagle nest in NW Miami-Dade that was destroyed by a fire around 2006 or 2007, so these birds may have been displaced, adding one or more years to their age. Average age for eagles in the wild, after they survive the very high mortality of their first year is said to average 15-20 years. Urban eagles face even more hazards than average (motor vehicles, wires, electrocution, vandalism).

If anyone has knowledge of the Miami-Dade nest that was said to been destroyed, please let us know.

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[NewMexiKen]

I searched for more information about an eagle nest in NW Miami-Dade that may have been destroyed by fire before the Pembroke Pines nest was located. So far I could find no such news item but perhaps others are familiar with this.

The Florida FWC Bald Eagle Nest Locator shows a nest labeled DA002 at LAT/LONG [25 50.76] [80 22.76] that was active at least until 2005. This location, west of Hialeah Gardens and north of Doral is just NW of the intersection of NW 79th LN with NW 112 Avenue. I am not familiar with the area, but Google Earth shows it to be a tract of wooded land bordered by a disturbed area, which looks entirely cleared as if for development or for use as a construction site or dump, to the north and back yards of homes to the south.

The timing of the alleged fire and the first sightings of Bald Eagles in Pembroke Pines roughly coincides with the last time this nest was reported to be active.

[Kathy]

This is a gruesome thought but I wonder if someone has been taking pot shots at the birds?

On Dec 9, 2014, at 12:10 PM, NewMexiKen [via Bald Eagles of Broward County, Florida] <[hidden email]> wrote:

I searched for more information about an eagle nest in NW Miami-Dade that may have been destroyed by fire before the Pembroke Pines nest was located. So far I could find no such news item but perhaps others are familiar with this.

The Florida FWC Bald Eagle Nest Locator shows a nest labeled DA002 at LAT/LONG [25 50.76] [80 22.76] that was active at least until 2005. This location, west of Hialeah Gardens and north of Doral is just NW of the intersection of NW 79th LN with NW 112 Avenue. I am not familiar with the area, but Google Earth shows it to be a tract of wooded land bordered by a disturbed area, which looks entirely cleared as if for development or for use as a construction site or dump, to the north and back yards of homes to the south.

The timing of the alleged fire and the first sightings of Bald Eagles in Pembroke Pines roughly coincides with the last time this nest was reported to be active.

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[NewMexiKen]

Kathy asked: "This is a gruesome thought but I wonder if someone has been taking pot shots at the birds?"

To be honest, we have all worried about this sort of thing. It crossed my mind to ask Florida FWC to look under the nest to determine whether there may be a carcass, but there is no evidence that someone had ever attempted this. Of course the eagles fly about widely and shooting is a significant cause of loss in some places and especially during hunting season.

Concerns like yours are part of the reason we feel so much better when there are many eyes on the nest.
   

[johnnye]

Ken, there is a nest in south dade, Cutler Bay area. Would it be too far for a female to travel to find a mate? My co-worker is a photographer and has pics of the south dade eagles on his site at gaspeedwayphoto.com. There is a file labled south dade eagles if you would like to view. I will check with him tomorrow to see if he has more current photos of them. I passed by the nest today about 4:30pm and there were no eagles around.

[Mike Fossler]

Ken,

I've been over to the area of DA002 and DA003. DA002 does not exist - a housing development was put in there and the neighboring woods is virtually gone. DA003 is in a deeply wooded area which seems to be an FPL easement or similar. You cannot get back to where the nest is without trespassing, but the area certainly looks suitable for continued nesting. Several years back I had posted that I was driving south on I-75 or 826 in Miami and saw an adult eagle flying west-southwest which puts it in this general heading.
Also, the Quiet Waters nest is not very far of a flight. Furthermore, there could be countless nests just west in the everglades which are undocumented - so there could be several sources for mates.

[NewMexiKen]

Mike Fossler said: I've been over to the area of DA002 and DA003. DA002 does not exist - a housing development was put in there and the neighboring woods is virtually gone.

Thanks, Mike. I guess Google Earth is not quite up to date. It shows the southern (and western) part of this area still covered with vegetation with the disturbed land to the north. I still wonder if there was a fire there during this time frame. Back in those days there was pretty good documentation of nests.

Agree that there could be many eagle nests in suitable hammocks (where they exist). Otherwise the Everglades do not provide much suitable habitat for a nest. Also they are known to nest in the coastal mangroves where they may build only a few feet off the ground. Now that the Bald Eagle is no longer endangered there seems less priority (and resources) to continue the aerial searches that formerly were conducted about every three years for each area of Florida.