One of the things I love about wildlife photography is the surprises you never know are coming. On this day, I was checking a Bald Eagle nest to see if it was a candidate for future documentation. I wanted to get the elevation of the nest since putting a blind up is very difficult at extreme heights.
To get a measurement, I launched my drone and flew to the height of the nest. I found it curious that neither of the Bald Eagle adults was there. Typically, one adult should be on the nest with the chicks at this time of year, and the other would be sitting in a tree nearby. Once I got the measurement, I also shot a few pictures, hoping to see the babies and get an idea of their age. Unfortunately, the day was so bright that getting a detailed view from the drone’s controller LCD was impossible. So I shot blindly. It all lasted less than five minutes, and the brief project seemed mundane.
The excitement came when I loaded the pictures onto my laptop. There, in the middle of the eagle nest, was the banded face of a raccoon. I can only guess that he either ate the eggs or preyed on the baby eagles. Either way, there were no eaglets in the empty nest.
As difficult as this is to accept, predation is a natural occurrence in nature, and so is the element of surprise. The eagle nest project will have to wait another year.