Eagles live on the James River all around us here and we see them often from the nursery. They are beginning to get busy, as spring is not too far away. Pairs are together defending territory and building giant stick nests. As a parent of teenagers and young adults, I understand the pair’s conflicted feelings as they drive grown offspring from the nest. And I totally do not understand how, having raised one brood, they steadfastly set about raising another.

The eagle nest on our property has produced young for many years, I personally have seen nine eagles in sight at one time. It wasn’t too many years ago there were no breeding eagles here, having been decimated by DDT and locally Keypone, which was allowed to drain into the river. The eagles is proof of Nature’s ability to heal and repair old damage. We love watching all the bird life on the river; eagles are our favorites.

Want to learn more about how eagles are bouncing back from the brink of extinction? Check out this great documentary from PBS’s Nature: American Eagle.

Briscoe releasing an eagle that was tagged by biologists from the College of William & Mary last winter.