Shadow and Jackie were awake early Wednesday morning and were out and about after their busy work day at the nest the day before. Shadow began his day perched on top of the Stick Depot Snag tree. He stayed there for a while until he heard Jackie's call and responded back to her. Their chortles were so lovely, along with the beautiful morning mix of bird songs that could also be heard loud and clear in the forest.
Meanwhile, over at the eagle's nest, there were a couple of stunning Steller's Jays visiting. They've been seen regularly, popping in early to dig around in the nest fluff looking for buried treasures. They were busy snooping around but then they saw Jackie on her way in and they quickly high-tailed it out of there! Jackie arrived through the back porch as the sun was rising and just after Shadow left the Stick Depot Snag.
She immediately began wrestling with that large awkward-shaped branch she hauled in the day before. Shadow gave a valiant effort and did all he could to place the branch yesterday, but without much success. He gave it “the old college try” but when nothing seemed to work, he ended up just leaving it in the middle of the nest. Yes, even our favorite Stickman was having a bit of a time with this one!
Jackie managed to move it to the right side of the nest and mostly out of the way. Shadow must have heard all the construction noise happening at the nest and may have decided to check it out to see what was going on and maybe offer his beak to help. He brought a smaller, less complicated stick in with him and easily placed it on the front porch while Jackie was busy working.
Jackie had some noticeable feather bling on her beak from preening but as she worked it didn't seem to bother her. Some coyotes were heard howling off in the distance while Jackie continued to work and she just didn't seem quite satisfied with the placement of this stick yet.
Shadow stepped in to help and they both used their beaks together to try to snap off some smaller branches from the big tree branch but without much success. The stick was hidden by Shadow's body
but he must have been standing on part of the branch. We couldn't see the branch but Jackie suddenly looked as if she figured something out. She verbalized something to Shadow, then all of a sudden she just yanked that big branch upward in her beak and stood tall while Shadow appeared somewhat surprised by the forceful move. She laid the stick right down and that was that... done!
Seeming satisfied, Jackie moved to the front porch and perched there while Shadow was watching something intently out the back porch window. He took off and returned quickly with a new stick in his beak. They perched together for a little longer before both flew off. Perhaps they also built up an appetite and were off together for some breakfast down at the lake.
Even though a new clutch of eggs will not be laid again until the beginning of next year, the nest seems to be tidied up a bit now and it's taking on a nice circular form, with the larger guardrail sticks in place on the outside and some fluff and smaller sticks still remaining on the inside. The Steller's Jays came into the nest again for an early afternoon visit and had a little fluff and posing party as they enjoyed some sunning, digging and nibbling.
Jackie paid an evening visit to the top of the Stick Depot Snag and she stayed for quite a while before popping over to the Cactus Snag for a couple of minutes. She chortled loudly, likely calling out to Shadow, but she retired alone to the Roost Tree for the night. Fiona, the flying squirrel, stopped by overnight to pay a visit to the nest and it's always a special treat to see her!
Thursday was a fairly quiet restful day around the habitat. A few other local feathered friends visited the nest, perching and fluttering around in Jackie and Shadow's absence. A vocal raven spent some time hanging out in the basement of the nest tree and left without much disturbance.
Later in the evening, either Jackie or Shadow was spotted perched on the Stick Depot Snag tree. Whoever it was, they flew off to collect two sticks to add to their alternative nest which is located in this same snag tree.
As we wait for more visits from our favorite eagle pair, we hope you all enjoy a safe and wonderful weekend!
BKind22
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