Having relocated to my new forever home in the Upper Delaware region of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Pocono Plateau, I have been blessed with the best of Mother Nature’s wonders, right outside my own doors and windows. There always seems to be something happening almost every day that catches my attention and diverts my attention from the mundane tasks that always are calling to me, such as cutting the grass or tidying things up around the property.

There’s one thing that always sends me scurrying to grab my camera, and that is a visit from the bald eagles who are frequently seen flying above and sometimes landing around the property.
The beavers take advantage of the lowlands and keep their dam in order. That’s despite the objections of the neighbors and the township road workers who need to keep a handle on the level of the pond to protect the road and the basement of the adjacent house. This provides a habitat for fish, ducks and other water birds and mammals who could all be potential prey for the raptors.
While I have never seen the eagles catch anything, I have heard some of their altercations with a great blue heron. And I have also seen them perched on stumps or the beaver hut. Then they fly up to the trees to dry their feathers before flying off to their home territory. There is a nest along the Delaware River not more than two and a half miles from my property.
The success of the banning of the chemical DDT and the re-population of the eagles is something that remains an inspiration, reminding us of what can be done by determined individuals. The peregrine falcons have also benefited similarly and are slowly returning to their ancestral nesting cliff sites along the Delaware River as well as the rest of New York and Pennsylvania.

My hope is that these successes can be used as a catalyst for the conservation of other species in peril, so that following generations can have the same or better wildlife experiences than we are enjoying today.

The photos I have shared to accompany this article were taken on or adjacent to my property in Damascus Township from the beginning of February through mid-May. I reached out to Scott Rando, a friend and a regular contributor to the River Reporter for some information about these eagle encounters. I asked about the adult with the juvenile in the spring, and Scott said, “Nestlings are independent by the fall of the year of their hatching.” So I guess the prey in the area and or the presence of another eagle in the territory drew them together for a short visit.
Scott continued, “I have seen immature eagles in this area with leg bands from Maine and Massachusetts, especially over winter. Young eagles can be wandering nomads… but when they approach sexual maturity at 4-5 years of age, they return to their natal area, find a mate, and establish a breeding territory within 50 to 100 miles of their original nest.
“Eagles other than breeding adults display some social behavior by perching or roosting together. This is usually a short-term relationship.”

In the last sighting I photographed, I was fortunate enough to capture images of the bands on the legs of the eagle. The blue band identifies that the bird was banded in New York, and the silver band is from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I again contacted Scott, who funneled the information back to the folks he worked with on the eagles in the past. They were able to identify the bird as one that was rescued in 2018, found in New York State and was rehabilitated successfully and released back into the wild.
I had to check back through my photo archives, as I had been involved in two rehab releases—could it be? Well, it got my hopes up, but it was not to be, as the releases I was a part of happened on either side of that year.