Bald Eagle

Growing up, I remember hearing that bald eagles were a very endangered, very protected bird. I don't know that I was ever told this necessarily, but because I never saw one, I assumed that they were on the brink of extinction and their last strongholds were remote places like Alaska or Idaho. Maybe this was true 20 years ago when I was in elementary school or maybe they were rarer in Texas than in Georgia, but in the past year, I have suddenly begun seeing eagles here and there. Last year during a family photo session at Allatoona Pass, we watched an eagle flying over the lake and resting in the trees along the shoreline. It was the first one I had seen in years, and I was very surprised to run into one so close to the Atlanta area and on such a busy lake. I mentioned it to a good friend who is a native to the area, and he told me about the famous eagles at nearby Berry College where they have set up an eagle cam.

Then last night, that same friend called during dinner to say he had heard about an eagle's nest about 5 minutes from our house.The nest is on private property, but it can be seen from a little dirt trail off the road by the fence-line. The eagle was in the nest and was moving around, but it was only with binoculars that we could really see any detail because of the distance. I also learned last night that the head on an eagle only turns white once it is fully mature. Until then, the entire body is dark, and such was the case with this one. I only had my phone with me, so the photo isn't good, but you can hopefully see how enormous the nest is.