This young eagle was photographed peering out of the new nest, south of Portage Bay, while looking towards the Montlake Community Center.
My friend, Martin Tweedy, deserves credit for being the first person to spot this eaglet on May 10th. Nice work, Martin!
Depending on where you stand and whether the eaglet is sleeping, eating, or staring out at the world, he or she is often impossible to see.
For example in this photo from the west, the nest and even the adult female are mostly obscured by the cottonwood leaves. The male Eagle on his favorite perch, 5 or 6 feet above the nest, is visible. Both adults will sometimes use this perch, and either one, or both, can at times be seen in the nest.
Female eagles are generally larger than males, which is usually how I guess their gender. Plus, I understand that females tend to do more of the incubation. In turn, I think this implies that a second adult Eagle, sitting close by in a nest tree, is likely to be the male.
If you would like a quick overview of Bald Eagle nesting and development, Click Here, to read my recent contribution to the Salish Magazine.
I found this 'Life After Monty" post a bit difficult. I had not realized how emotionally hard it would be to finally admit that Monty and Marsha are gone. After years spent watching their struggles with nesting and raising offspring, it feels a lot like losing a couple of old friends, before their time.
Beyond that, catching adequate photos to identify the Portage Bay adults did take some time. This process was helped by their spending more time around their nest this Spring. Even though I do write slowly, the written portion of this post was pretty straightforward. Surprisingly, the second hardest part was trying to decide on names for these new Portage Bay Bald Eagles.
Over the years, I have come to prefer names that relate to the territory or place that the eagles have chosen. I feel this makes it easier for all of us to be specific about which of our avian neighbors we are watching and discussing.
This works because resident eagles tend to consistently use and defend a specific area. They will often sit and hunt from the same trees and even the same branches, day after day. I use these positional clues as my initial method to "identify" them. These assumptions about who is who are often right, but not always.
Migrating adults can pass through a territory and look very similar to the resident Bald Eagles. By the way, Bald Eagles are monomorphic, meaning both genders have the same colors and pattern of feathers. This is unlike ducks, for instance, which are sexually dimorphic. During breeding season, male ducks typically have brilliant colors, while most female ducks wear feathers in shades of brown.
Also, when one Bald Eagle dies and is replaced, I may not even know what happened. I could easily mistake the replacement for the previous resident. However, if I start with my territorial assumptions and view them as theories, then over time I can attempt to gather evidence to prove or disprove my initial assumptions. By posting all this on my blog we all have the opportunity to exchange insights, learn about our high-flying neighbors, and attempt to discover the truth together.
If you read my posts from November and December of last year, you may have already realized that my initial assumption about these Portage Bay Bald Eagles was incorrect. Last year, I suspected they were Monty and Marsha. I thought it most likely that they had relocated from their nest on Montlake Cut. This idea was based on having watched Monty and Marsha come and go between Montlake Cut and Portage Bay many times over the years. However, I now have enough photographs to prove to myself that these two adults are a new and different pair of Eagles.
By the way, the names I have finally settled on for these new adults are Porter for the male (since their nest is south of Portage Bay) and Cece for the female (since their nest is also quite close to the Montlake Community Center).
In this photo, Cece brings a fish to the nest.
Virtually, all of the rest of these photos were taken from the east side of the nest. Specifically, from the southeast corner of the intersection of E. Calhoun St. and 16th Ave. E. Taking photos in the mornings when the sun is not backlighting the nest is also helpful. In my opinion, this is the most accessible view of a Bald Eagle nest within walking distance of Union Bay.
In the past, I only remember seeing adult Bald Eagles eating in their nests when they have eggs or offspring in the nest. This case was not an exception.
Cece tore off small portions of food to feed to the newest eaglet in Montlake.
If we assume the egg containing the eaglet was laid during the last week of March and that April was spent incubating the egg, then by the end of May, this eaglet should be approximately four weeks old. In addition, if we assume two to three months from hatching to fledging, then this eaglet's first flight is likely to be sometime around July 15th, give or take a couple of weeks. (FYI - Neither I nor anyone else I have talked with has seen more than one eaglet in this nest.)
The nest is in a great location for observing the eaglet's progress and watching its journey from nestling to branching to flying. These are not easy steps. Mistakes happen. Often, Monty and Marsha's eaglets left the nest prematurely.
If you should happen to see this eaglet on the ground and unable to fly, I would suggest:
A) Please protect it from any off-leash dogs and B) Call:
Seattle Animal Control @ (206) 386-7387
If SAC is unavailable, you may choose to use the Progressive Animal Wildlife Society's online help, i.e. Click Here or Call the PAWS Wildlife Center extension at:
x 817 @ (425) 787-2500.
However, I am hopeful that this eaglet's odds of success are a bit better than average, since it appears to be the only one in the nest.
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My next quandary was, What is the best name for this eaglet?
Zooming in, we can see that the eaglet's feather development, as of May 22nd, was very patchy. In time, the feathers will fill in and become functional. Although currently, on rainy days and during cold nights a parent's body is probably still helpful to cover the eaglet and keep it appropriately warm.
Given its patchwork feathering, I have been calling this eaglet Patches.
You may be wondering what exactly made me decide these two adults are not Monty and Marsha. First of all, the central talon on the male's right foot is black, not ivory colored like Monty's was. (Click Here to see photos and learn more about Monty's unique ivory-colored talon.) However, there are additional differences between the two sets of Eagles.
If we zoom in on the previous photo, we get a better look at Porter's left eye.
Here is a look at Monty's left eye for comparison. To me, the area between Monty's eye and bill is cleaner, less smudged, than Porter's. Admittedly, these are subtle differences.
This photo shows both Monty and Marsha. Hopefully, the differences between them are less subtle. Monty is the smaller eagle on the right, and Marsha is on the left with a smudge behind her eye that Monty never had.
This is one of my last photos of Marsha, taken Feb. 9th, 2025, on Marsh Island. (Note: Marsha consistently had smudges behind both of her eyes.)
Cece, on the other hand, does not have much of a smudge behind her eye, and even more obvious is the consistently large area of yellow keratin between her right eye and her bill. I do not remember ever seeing anything similar on any other Bald Eagle.
Here is another look. Sorry about the stick. However, it does serve a purpose. The keratin immediately above the top end of the stick is precisely the unique area I am talking about. If you scroll back to the photos of Marsha, Monty, or Porter, you can see they do not have obvious keratin at this location.
Could this be the result of an injury and/or lost feathers? Perhaps it is scar tissue? I wonder if the short white feathers, seen on other Eagles, are growing out of keratin? Might that explain why the keratin is not visible on other Eagles? If not, perhaps this "extra", keritan is just a unique variation in Cece's genetic makeup? I do not know. However, every other Eagle I remember has white feathers in this spot.
This photo of Porter's right eye shows the white feathering he has above and between his right eye and his bill.
During the next month, or maybe two, we will be privileged to, not only reliably identify Cece, but also we will have the opportunity to monitor Patches' progress. Once the young one leaves the nest he or she may hang around Portage Bay to be fed by the parents, but normally the young become fully independent and strike out on their own long before the next set of offspring arrive. So, in my opinion, the next few months are a limited opportunity to see and experience this small functional family of Bald Eagles living in our local neighborhood.
FYI - Neither Porter nor the new male in the Arboretum appears to be Monty. Although, I would be very happy to be proved wrong about this assumption. In addition, I am guessing that the new Bald Eagles in the Arboretum did not lay eggs this year. This is based on the amount of time they have been spending away from their new nest. Hopefully, next year they will be more productive.
In the meantime, I will continue watching for a central ivory talon on the right foot of every Bald Eagle I see.
Have a great day on Union Bay (or Portage Bay) ...where nature lives in the city!
Larry
Going Native:
Each of us who breathes the air, drinks water, and eats food should be helping to protect our environment. Local efforts are most effective and sustainable. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and the local native creatures. Even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape.
I hope we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors, and local businesses to respect native flora and support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:
1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (When native plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.4) If you feel you must add a new plant, then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.
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Keystone native plants are an important new idea. Douglas Tallamy, in the book "Nature's Best Hope, " explains that caterpillars supply more energy to birds, particularly young birds in their nests, than any other plant eater. He also mentions that 14% of our native plants, ie Keystone Plants, provide food for 90% of our caterpillars. This unique subset of native plants and trees enables critical moths, butterflies, and their caterpillars that provide food for the great majority of birds, especially when feeding their young.
Note: Flowering plants and trees, i.e. those pollinated by bees, are also included as Keystone Plants.
This video explains the native keystone plant concept in more detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5cXccWx030
The Top Keystone Genera in our ecoregion i.e. Plants and trees you might want in your yard:
Additional content available here:
https://wos.org/wos-wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Native-Plant-Resources-10-7-22.pdf
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In this area, I typically display at least one photo with each post to challenge us to know our native lifeforms.
Which of these currently-blooming flowers are which and which are native to the PNW?
Their names are:- Black Twin Berry- Thimbleberry- Salal
Scroll down for the answers.
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The Answer:
They are all three PNW natives and were presented in the same order as mentioned above.
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The Email Challenge:
In response, I have set up my own email list. With each post, I will manually send out an announcement. If you would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Something like:
Larry, Please add me to your personal email list.
My email address is:
LDHubbell@comcast.net
Thank you!
FYI: I have begun using gmail to publish my posts since it allows more email addresses in a single batch. However, it still takes multiple days to send out the notices of a new post. Thank you for your patience.
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The Comment Challenge:
Bottom Line:
If you write a long comment, please, copy it before hitting enter. Then, if the comment function fails to record your information, you can send the comment directly to me using email.
My email address is:
LDHubbell@comcast.net
Larry
Parting Shots:
