Eagle Nest Update
It’s been a couple of weeks since we made the complete circuit out to all 5 of our monitored nests to see how our eagles and owl are doing. I’m happy to report that we are batting .800 with four of the five nest sites having apparent success.
Apparently vacant eagle nest - Landis St NSB - 2/23/26
Our first nest has had eagle activity in the immediate surroundings, but so far, we have not been able to verify that the nest is being used by any adult birds. With a little imagination, I can see the top of what could be an adult eagle’s head just barely poking above the nest’s edge, but we watched for some time and did not perceive any motion whatsoever. So for now, we have to assume that this is a vacant nest. Looks in great shape….ready to move right in! We can only hope and continue to monitor this site for future activity. 0 for 1 at the beginning of our loop.
Our second location is on Volco Road in Edgewater. This is a great site to watch and photograph because of its proximity to the road, the fact that the road is relatively quiet, and the fact that it is indeed occupied by adults and two young eaglets.
Adult with two chicks - Volco Road - 2/23/26
Two chicks on the nest on Volco Road in Edgewater 2/23/26
And so, with the sighting of the two chicks obviously doing quite well on the Volco Road nest, we are know 1 for 2. Things are looking up. Next stop, the Kennedy Parkway nest near Weather Tower Road in Merritt Island NWR.
At first, we did not see any activity at the nest. There were a few cars along the road and a photographer set up with his long telephoto lens trained on the nest. That certainly gave us hope that there was still activity here. Soon, we saw a chick’s head poke up over the edge of the huge structure.
Initial sighting of a very young Bald eagle in the Kennedy Pkwy nest - 2/23/26
Eaglet with adult - Kennedy Pkwy - 2/23/26
Eventually, we did see a second little head pop up and soon one of the adults came in to check on her brood. Since then, I spoke with another spotter, Maggie, who showed me her wonderful photograph of three chicks in this nest!!! That is pretty rare and we have hopes that all three will make it to maturity. All too often, the youngest is not strong enough to compete with its siblings and ends up either starving to death or being “tossed out” to insure that the older two will thrive. Mother Nature can seem cruel sometimes. But let’s hope for the best. At this point we have two successful nests out of three. Pretty good!
The next nest that we have been monitoring is the one that was seized from an eagle pair by an aggressive Great horned owl. These owls don’t make their own nests. They either take over abandoned structures or forcefully evict the present residents which is what happened in this case. Now that the owls have this real estate, we’re rooting for them to be successful.
Great hired owl with chicks - Bairs Cove Road - 3/23/26
Success! The roadside is packed with vehicles parked by the myriad of birder/photograpers in search of the perfect shot. Fortunately, the nest tree is set back quite a ways from the road and is not easily accessible. Too often, overzealous photographers overstep their bounds and get too close to the nesting birds, causing the owls to abandon their nest. So far, this looks like a pretty good location for this family. While Mom is on the nest with her chicks, Dad was seen perched on a tree not too far from his family. So far this looks like is will be a success story, even though it was at the expense of the original owners of the nest. Three for four with one nest yet to visit.
A little better view of one of the chicks.
Our last nest is found on the return trip to New Smyrna Beach at Ranken Drive. We’ve monitored this nest for several years and it has been very productive. This year appears to be no different. These young eaglets are older than the ones in the previous nests and will likely be the first to fledge.
Adult eagle at the nest - Ranken Drive - 3/23/26
Adult with her two eaglets - Ranken Drive - 3/23/26
And so today’s trip to see how our eagle/owl families are doing was quite rewarding. With four of the five nests now showing obvious activity, we still have hopes that we will see 100% of our nests produce offspring . Regardless of how that one inactive nest fares in the near future, we are quite thrilled to see all these iconic birds doing so well.
