South Apopka Eagles

Happy New Year! We celebrated the New Year by visiting the South Apopka Eagles. We got a few flight shots from grass and stick runs. Then what started looking like another run, turned into a fly away to the lake. We waited about 90 minutes for a return but no luck. Then, as we were leaving, I got a message from our friend Diane (who was there watching with us) that the eagle we were waiting for returned! It was still a great way to welcome in the new year.

One of the Bald Eagles went out across the street from the nest to grab a big chunk of grass for the nest.

You can see in this shot how close to the busy road the eagles are as they prepare their nest. The eagles return flight is only about 20 feet above the traffic. This is becoming more and more of a problem here in Florida as native fields and forests are replaced with apartments and multi lane roads and highways.

Bald Eagle flying in with grass for the nest

After delivering the grass, the eagle moved over to the snag next to the nest tree

After a brief rest, the eagle was off to bring back another stick for the nest

Powerful wings in flight

Bald Eagle making a turn as it brings a stick back to the nest

The Bald Eagle made a loop right over where we were standing

Bald Eagle flying directly overhead

Bald Eagle watching over the nest and little ones that can’t be seen yet from the ground. It’s believed that they were born around Christmas Eve so they should start to be visible over the edge of the nest in a couple of weeks.

Mom and Dad spent a brief amount of time together in the nest. With little ones, one stays at the nest while the other gathers nest materials and food.

Flying off for what we thought was more nest materials, turned into a long trip out of sight.

Rearranging the stick that was recently brought back

We had planned to go to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive after making a short stop at the eagle nest. However, we stayed for almost 3 hours (most of it waiting for the eagle to return) at the nest so that was it for the day. We’ll be back agin soon to check on the little ones once they start peeking over the edge of the nest.