Tsuloss

Marsha with a fresh fish. Notice how her eyebrow obscures the upper portion of her iris.

On Wednesday morning, not long after dawn, I was directly offshore from the University of Washington Waterfront Activities Center (WAC). My kayak was bobbing gently as I glanced at the tops of the cedars just north of the WAC. I was looking for one the adult Bald Eagles, either Monty or Marsha, from our local Montlake Cut pair.

Moments earlier, I checked out their nest high above The Cut. One of the two was visible in the nest. In spite of the help from my camera, I could not tell which one. It made sense to search for the other eagle in the trees north of the WAC, since that is their favorite hunting roost.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of dark wings and a Bald Eagle was heading directly at me. If I was a duck, I would have dived. Technically, I am sure I wasn't in danger but that was not the way it felt. I grabbed at my camera and fumbled with the focus. With every wing beat the eagle was getting larger. Neither I nor the camera was capable of focusing with the speed required. I felt quite lucky when Marsha landed on the off-shore dock directly in front of me.

Mentally, I struggled to comprehend what had just happened. In retrospect, as Marsha flew straight at me she descended to the surface of the water and apparently she reached down and grabbed a fish. The offshore dock, between us, obscured my view which explains how I totally missed the moment. The wet feathers on her legs and the fresh fish in her mouth provide obvious evidence to support this theory. Most likely, she rapidly transferred the fish to her mouth so she could land on her feet.

This is not the first time I have seen her carry a fish in her mouth, but so far she is the only Bald Eagle I have ever seen do it in flight. In my experience, most Bald Eagles carry fish with their talons. 

Marsha had obviously been focused on catching the fish and coming face to face with me may have been somewhat of a surprise. She quickly took to the air and headed north, just above the water.

As she lifted off I got a fairly good look at her talons. Based on eagle talons I have handled in museums, hers are probably at least an inch and a half long, exceedingly sharp, hard and durable. I suspect the curvature helps eagles to close their talons into a ball shape, which is much safer when moving eggs in a nest.

Marsha flew a short distance and landed next to this log or islet. I missed where she placed the fish, but she did not have time to eat it.

A moment later, she took to the air again. This time she flew back towards her favorite hunting perch. There was no fish in her mouth or talons.

Another closeup of her talons helps prove they were empty.

After she landed back in the cedars, she threw up her head and then called out - apparently to Monty.

Within moments, Monty was coming in low from the direction of the nest. From my location I could not see Monty's initial response, but apparently when Marsha called, he dove out of the nest and then headed north just above the water's surface.

The mental image of his descent from the nest reminded me of an incident two weeks earlier. In mid-May, I was on the south side of The Cut attempting to document the growth of their newest eaglet, when Marsha left the nest tree and swooped down to the water.

She did not execute the classical Bald Eagle catch off the surface. Instead, Marsha ended up in the drink.

Once an eagle's feathers are waterlogged it must become difficult for them to get airborne. Ospreys produce an oil to help their feathers resist water, apparently, eagles do not.

Marsha turned, struggled, and fought her way through the water.

She repeated these strokes dozens of times as she slowly 'rowed' her way to safety.

Finally, she reached shallow water where she was able to scramble out onto the shore and shed the weight of the water. After a few minutes, she flew back to the nest.

I never got a clear view of what she caught. I suspect it was a fish. She must have carried it in her talons with it hidden beneath her tail. When she reached the nest, she began feeding the young eaglet. At this point, I am guessing the eaglet was about one month old.

On Wednesday, Monty continued north. Surprisingly, he went directly to the same small island where Marsha had been. Notice how his 'eyebrow' usually does not cover his iris.

Once there he immediately began eating a fish. Again, I began to question what I had just seen. The following options came to mind.

A) Marsha left the fish for Monty, at a location out of his sight. Then called and told him where to find it.

B) Marsha left the fish for Monty, at a location out of his sight. Then called and told him to look for food. Even though he was probably a quarter mile away and close to the water's surface he saw the fish and headed directly toward it.

C) Monty left the nest earlier than I observed. He saw Marsha leave the fish behind from a considerable distance and immediately descend to the water's surface, flew to the spot and ate the fish. Clearly, Option C seems like the most logical scenario. However, on site and in the moment it certainly felt like they executed Option A. 

In any case, I think we can all agree Bald Eagles have some amazing talents. 

I suspect there is some level of special communication and understanding between mated pairs. Given that we are talking about intelligent creatures, who spend potentially decades together, a lack of communication would be the more surprising outcome.

However, even if the communication in this situation was minimal then it reinforces that an eagle's eyesight is phenomenal. The National Eagle Center says, 'An eagle can see something the size of a rabbit running at three miles away.' 

Note: From Husky Stadium, looking directly east, the beautiful homes on Webster Point are only one mile away. Imagine being able to a see rabbit at three times that distance.

Eaglet Update:

After approximately six weeks it seems obvious that Monty and Marsha have only one offspring this year. Their young eagle is beginning to look more like a juvenile than an eaglet. 

Given that Monty and Marsha had two young in both 2018 and 2019 this is their fifth offspring. In recognition of the Native Americans, who shared this bay with eagles for hundreds of years, it seems appropriate to call this new eagle by the Lushootseed word for five. 

Sadly, I can only approximate the sound of the word with English letters. With the utmost respect for the complexity of the language and the culture, the best I have been able to do is, 'Tsuloss'. 

Clicking Here will enable you to find the word for five and the link to the pronunciation guide, which I attempted to use. I would be very happy to receive corrections or improvements from anyone with greater knowledge or understanding of the language. (Note: Apparently the guide has been discontinued. I found a new source with and improved pronunciation for the number five. Click Here to learn more.) 

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature still lives in the city!

Larry 

A Small Challenge:

Based on what you have seen and read, Is this Monty or Marsha? The answer can be found at the end of this post.

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that 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 to 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. (If natives 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.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms. 

By the way, my friend Tom Brown pointed out that the application named 'Wildflower Search' is extremely helpful. Click on the highlighted link to see for yourself.

What species is this? Is it native to Western Washington?

Scroll down for the answer.

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Himalayan Blackberry: The most invasive weed in our area. Clicking on the highlighted name will take your to a document that shows you the difference between this invasive blackberry and our native, non-invasive blackberry.

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional workaround is to set up my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is: LDHubbell@Comcast.Net

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This is Monty. If you can consistently see the full iris, and you are looking at an eagle from the pair that 'owns' Montlake, then you are most likely looking at Monty. Also, the white feathers on his head generally look brighter than Marsha's, to me.

An Eagle's IQ

Marsha and Monty are the newest pair of Bald Eagles that nest on Union Bay. Marsha, on the left, is slightly larger and her white head feathers never seem as clean as Monty's. 

They often sit on top of the old world cedars just north of the Waterfront Activities Center (WAC). This location, on the southwestern shore of Union Bay, is obviously their favorite hunting roost. By clicking on this Union Bay Map you can get a more precise idea of the location.

(Roosting locations for all three pairs of Union Bay Bald Eagles are indicated by white diamonds. Clicking on the diamonds will bring up clarifying descriptions. By the way, a significant number of other updates have been added to the map.)

This is Monty struggling to break a branch off a cottonwood tree near their nest on Sunday.

Marsha, being larger, has less of an issue procuring a branch from a cottonwood tree on the north side of The Cut.

Currently, the Montlake Cut nest is not too impressive. Last years nest, as well as their original 2018 nest, fell apart as the eaglets grew. The resulting struggles of last year's young can be read about in these posts:

Cutter and Bay and 

Cutter Thrives

Once again, the parents are rebuilding the nest on the southeast corner of the Montlake Cut. By the end of March, the nest should once again be at least large enough to hold Marsha and this year's eggs. Marsha and Monty get credit for their tenacity, but their engineering and construction skills are still a bit suspect.

By the way, do you know why their nesting location may be the best nest site in King County? 

This October photo shows their nearest neighbors, Talia and Russ. This pair nests on the north side of Union Bay, in the old Talaris property. However, they commonly roost in the first cottonwood immediately north of the WAC. This roost is quite close to where Monty and Marsha prefer to sit. Both locations are shown on the Union Bay Map.

By mid-winter, the leafless tree looks pretty bare, but it is almost always the same pair in the same spot. Even the winter wind does not disturb their hunting focus.

A couple of years ago, I watched Russ pulled grass from an offshore island. He then carried it directly back towards their Talaris nest, which certainly helped to validate which pair I was watching.

The next week, when the sun broke through they landed on the nearby log. Both of them called out their greetings. Clearly, this little island and log are in the southern part of their territory.

Commonly, when an eagle from either pair heads directly out over the water, all four of these eagles take to the air. There is lots of circling, diving and calling as they enforce the invisible boundary between their territories.

Lately, I have occasionally seen Monty or Marsha wander over the line apparently looking for food, whenever Talia and Russ were not nearby. Often, the northern pair will notice the incursion and the two of them will come streaking across the bay to chase the invader away. As apex predators, eagles tend to take whatever they can easily get. I have never seen them actually fighting. Apparently, intimidation is less risky.

During the last few weeks, there have been as many as five Bald Eagles in the cottonwood tree on the north end of Foster Island. Most of them appear to be immature, like this one, which is most likely a second-year eagle. From the second through the fourth year immature eagles are generally as large as adults, but size does not translate to skill. Mature eagles must learn to be capable hunters in order to feed themselves and their hungry offspring.

This secondary hunting roost on Foster Island typically belongs to Eva and Albert. It is also shown on the Union Bay Map.

Eva and Albert are the local Bald Eagles that nest in Broadmoor on the south side of Union Bay. They generally defend Foster Island, the 520 light posts, Duck Bay and the Arboretum. 

I suspect the five eagles are hungry transient eagles stopping by to hunt for food. Last Saturday, as we watched, one of the young flew out over the bay and dived at American Coots. Finally, it wore itself out and gave up. I have seen adults fly out over the bay, pick off some food and return with no visible delay.

The young are not all the same age. This one looks like it may have an eyestripe indicating it is most likely a third-year Bald Eagle.

Last Saturday, I believe I saw Eva and Albert circling overhead high above the transient eagles. I suspect the reason they did not attempt to drive them out of their territory is simply a matter of numbers. 

This week's best example of an eagle exerting its influence, when the odds were in its favor, was sent in by Jeff Graham.

A male Common Merganser, on the left, approaching a female.

Jeff sent in the following photos and reported, "...A common merganser came up with a fairly large fish. Just then a gull aggressively flew at it and the merganser dropped the fish. 

The gull plucked it out of the water. It flew over to the dock just off the boat rental building. 

A mature eagle flew right at the gull and the gull dropped the fish on the dock.

The eagle came down and ate the fish. So interesting to watch....The eagle flew off to the nest tree across the Cut when it was done eating."

Thank you, Jeff!

The Bald Eagle in Jeff's photos was operating in Monty and Marsha's territory. It flew to their nesting tree and sure looks like Marsha to me.

By the way, Marsha and Monty's nest site is optimally placed because the complete Lake Washington watershed drains through Montlake Cut. This means all seagoing fish that enter or exit the watershed must pass below Monty and Marsha's nest. Looking down from a hundred feet in the air, with the sun behind you must make the migrates quite easy to see.

When it comes to nest building Monty and Marsha may not be engineering geniuses but in regards to site selection, they are certainly sitting on the upper side of the bell curve. Mature Bald Eagles often catch prey on the first pass, consistently extort fish from smaller birds and carefully choose when to defend their territories. It may be impossible to accurately estimate an eagle's IQ, but it is obvious they calculate optimal odds with ease.

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that 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 to 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. (If natives 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.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms. 

What species of duck is this? Is it native to our area?

Scroll down for the answer.

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Ruddy Duck: This is the more subtly-colored female of the species. The shape of the female is virtually the same as that of the male. Both, have a relatively large head and bill with a fairly long and stiff tail. They are native to Washington and most common in our area in the Winter.

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional workaround is to set up my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is: LDHubbell@Comcast.Net

One more photo as a reward for reading this far.

This is Marsha, in 2018, feeding a fishtail to one of her young in the nest.

Thankful

No doubt Bald Eagles are thankful for their food. Around Union Bay, American Coots are much more plentiful than Wild Turkeys. Plus, the Coots are a more appropriate size for Bald Eagles to catch, carry and consume.

I am not sure that most people realize how thankful we should be to have Bald Eagles for neighbors. On Thanksgiving Day, Ed Deal, from the Urban Raptor Conservancy, sent the following email. "...today I'll be offering up a toast to a great man who passed away yesterday. As you all know (or should know), William Ruckelshaus was the first Director of the EPA, who enacted the ban on DDT against significant political pressure...' Ed also sent the following link.

Click Here for a brief NPR update regarding William Ruckelshaus.

Previous to the ban, DDT was widely used. It bioaccumulated, which was particularly damaging to raptors. It weakened their eggshells and caused them to break before incubation could be completed. The numbers of Bald Eagles and raptors, in general, plummeted in the United States. No one I have spoken with remembers Bald Eagles around Union Bay in 1972. At that time, there were around 100 nesting pairs left in Washington state and less than a thousand in the lower 48 states. By 2014, forty-two years after the ban began, there were over 13,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48, more the 800 pairs in Washington and two nesting pairs on Union Bay. 

Thank you, Mr. Ruckelshaus!

In 2017, a third-pair of Bald Eagles moved into the southwest portion of Union Bay. They built their nest at the southeast corner of Montlake Cut. Their new territory included Portage Bay, Montlake Cut, and Marsh Island, which explains their names, Monty and Marsha. I believe, they are living examples of the continuing raptor recovery from DDT.

Monty bringing a branch to the pair's first nest on Montlake Cut

I suspect that in 2017 Monty and Marsha were a newly mature pair of Bald Eagles, e.g. approximately 5 years old - since they started their nest from scratch. By the way, Bald Eagles mate for life and can live for decades.

This is Monty placing one of the first sticks in the nest.

By January of 2018, the nest was beginning to take form. Among raptors, the females are larger. In this photo, Marsha is on our right and Monty is on the left. 

In Marsha's case, if you look closely you can see she has a gray smudge behind her eye. It is particularly apparent in the very first photo in this post. In the second and third photos, you can see that feathers behind Monty's eye are a brilliant white. Also, Marsha has a much heavier 'eyebrow' than Monty. Take a look at the next two photos and see if you can tell which is Monty and which is Marsha.

A)

B)

The first photo is Marsha and the second is Monty.

In 2018 Monty and Marsha had their first two offspring. This is Marsha in the nest with their two young, Charlie and Lucy.

As the young grew the new nest experienced issues. A branch broke, one of the young ended up on the ground. It was injured and unable to fly. The second young bird continued moving about in the remains of the nest and ultimately the nest disintegrated and the second young bird ended up on the ground and also unable to fly. Both of the young were rescued and spent time at PAWS before ultimately being successfully released.

In 2019, Monty and Marsha constructed a new nest in the same tree. It was slightly lower in the biggest crotch in the tree. Once again they had two young. 

This time the branches remained intact, although one of the young ended up on the ground again, and unable to fly, but at least uninjured. The juvenile bird was also recovered by PAWS and successfully released nearby. Monty and Marsha resumed feeding it and everything turned out fine for the family. Except, that once again the nest slowly broke up and by the time the young left home the nest was virtually gone.

Just before Thanksgiving, Monty and Marsha began rebuilding again.

Currently, the nest is more crow-sized than eagle-sized. However, the pair is building in the same location as last year. No doubt by March the nest will be large enough to hold their eggs and their 2020 young. Whether the nest will last until the young fledge is open for debate. Monty and Marsha are committed to their territory and their nest site. The technical term for their commitment is site-fidelity.

It warms my heart to watch Monty looking through the treetops while searching for the next branch to add to their 'new' nest.

New life is inspiring, amazing and beautiful. However, if the Bald Eagle recovery is to continue we need to follow in Mr. Ruckelshuas' footsteps. We need to mitigate the impacts of humanity's expansion. The next limiting factor to Bald Eagle recovery is most likely food.

Marsha (pictured here), Monty and all Bald Eagles, also love fish as a food source. To enable the full recovery of our Bald Eagle population we need to continue to restore water and fish habitat. The local restoration of habitat is critical. However, Union Bay is an interconnected piece in a much larger puzzle. Restoration is needed throughout the Lake Washington watershed and in Puget Sound. 

Monty and Marsha are either the smartest or the luckiest pair of Bald Eagles in Seattle. Their choice to carve out a territory and nest over Montlake Cut puts them above a narrow span of water through which all migrating fish must pass, to enter or exit the Lake Washington watershed. I am thankful Monty and Marsha are finding food, rebuilding their nest and raising young. They are doing their part to aid the Bald Eagle recovery. The question is, 'Are we?'

The following are some of the organizations which are helping.

Friends of Arboretum Creek

Long Live the Kings

Wild Fish Conservancy

A Thankful Update:

Jerry Pinkepank responded to this post with the following comments.

"We should add to that thanks to Rachel Carson (I note that there is a small research ship moored at UW that now carries her name). Her Book, Silent Spring, set in motion the political will that enabled Mr. Ruckelshaus to get his regulation through. My mother was somehow very aware of the dangers of DDT even to humans and in the 1950's a neighbor boy and I would hurriedly pick the pie cherries of the big tree in that neighbor's back yard, just ahead of the B-17 spraying DDT over the entire city of Lansing, Michigan to combat mosquitoes. After the plane had passed she would not allow me to pick or eat any of those delicious cherries for the rest of the season. -- Jerry"

The Rachel Carson is the larger of the two vessels.

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that 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 to 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. (If natives 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.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms. 

What type of tree are the Montlake Bald Eagles nesting in? Is it native to Union Bay?

Scroll down for the answer.

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Black Cottonwood: Cottonwood is native to Union Bay. It not particularly appreciated because of its weak lumber. However, it is the primary tree in which our local Bald Eagles nest. Its supple branches are their primary nest-building material. Its seeds are often the initial food for Mallard ducklings, fresh out of their eggs. Plus, bees are known to collect the trees sticky sap-like substance because it repeals pests in their hives. Beavers use it to build their lodges. Plus, woodpeckers and even chickadees have been seen using the dead standing trees for nests and roosting spots. Cottonwoods are critical to our co-existence with nature.

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional workaround is to set up my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is: LDHubbell@Comcast.Net