I’m guessing that somebody out there knows more about Bald Eagles than I do. This pair is currently in residence in a tree just south of my yard. They appear to me to be a male/female pair and behave as if bonded. I observe lots of mutual chatter and screaming between them, mutual preening on occasion, sometimes brief flights in which they fly in unison. At least one instance of an attempted copulation. They defend the tree fairly assiduously with the male usually being the most active attacker. They spend the great majority of each day perched as you see them in the photo leaving only once or twice each during the daylight hours for brief periods. They spend every night in the tree. They have been here for several weeks now.
I have observed no sign whatever of any interest in nest-building. Neither Sibley nor the Cornell Lab has been of any help to me as I wonder what’s up. Do bonded pairs of adult eagles take the occasional year off from nesting? Do four year olds in their first year of adulthood enjoy a long engagement period? Is it more likely that they have been squeezed out of the housing market and can’t find a suitable nest-site? I am puzzled. Dennis
