Bald Eagle Nest in West Newton - in our backyard!

Our little street here in West Newton has had a lot of excitement over the last few weeks.  A bald eagle couple has taken up residence and regularly hangs out in the trees behind our house!  Our street list-serve has been sending sighting announcements back and forth so others can try to catch a glimpse, and we've finally figured out they're building a nest at the end of our street.  This is very exciting - if all goes well they'll be here all year!

Friday, I stood outside and watched one of them fly back and forth with sticks for about 30 minutes.  Another neighbor watched both work on their nest earlier that day.

It's pretty amazing!

Here are a few shots of our new friend(s).

He accidentally dropped that giant stick, and it fell to the ground.  

Eagle butt!

Photo by my neighbor, Paul Shoemaker, before they'd found their home

Another shot on a cloudy day

Last week, Travis' parents came up for a visit.  Travis' mom LOVES bird-watching and was ready to take our eagle's picture. We were certain we'd see them at least once while they were here, even though sightings had become less frequent...

We took walks several times a day to their favorite spots, and even drove around to other sites where they'd been spotted, hoping Jenny would be able to see one of them.  Owen especially enjoys looking for eagles...


Finally, the next-to-last day they were here, we found a bird.  Even though it wasn't the eagle, it was fun to see this beautiful hawk who must have kicked the eagle off his regular tree.

After 5 days of looking, it was time for Terry and Jenny to go home.  We did one more sweep around the neighborhood and took them to the airport.  On the way, we joked that we'd see them again now that they were leaving.

Well...Travis, Owen and I returned home, pulled into the parking spot behind our house, and BAM!  Before we could even turn off the car, the eagle landed right in front of us, on the baseball field in our backyard!  We couldn't believe it.

We jumped out of the car as he flew away.  Travis watched both of them swoop around the field and I managed to get one picture of him through the trees.  Poor Jenny.

If you live in the area and would like to know where the nest is, comment below with your email address and I'll share.  (Don't want to post someone's address on the internet!)

Update:  After posting, someone from Mass Audubon contacted me to hear more about our neighborhood eagles.  Here's what she had to say about them...

"This is really exciting to say the least. A bit more on this pair. The location is really intriguing. Eagles typically chose a site near the water, and if they were going to nest in that area I would have expected a site along the Charles River, not half a mile away, and certainly not in a suburban back yard. The pair consists of a full adult male and a 4th year female. The only difference between the male and female is size - as with all raptors, the female is larger. You can tell she's a 4th year because although she has a white head and tail, there are still traces of darker plumage on the face and tail as evidenced on your photo "another shot on a cloudy day." This is extremely late in the year for breeding since most breeding eagles now have young. So, I think this pair is just getting ready for next year - strengthening their pair bond by cooperatively starting a nest. Eagles will use the same nest year after year, so the efforts won't be wasted. If by any chance they do breed this year I wouldn't be surprised if the nest failed."