saw two eagles in the branches of the tree with the nest in it. I was glad to
see them returned to this nest. So I stopped to watch them for a while, hoping
this meant we could soon have more eaglesā eggs and soon eaglets as another
generation of bald eagles is raised beside the Mississippi River. They were
perched beside each other until suddenly one hopped into the air and with his
wings beating furiously he hovered over and behind the other eagle. I assume
they were mating ( duh! ) - doing what I have learned is a ācloacal kissā (
look it up - a description may violate the rules of this forum ). After a
minute or two he plopped back down onto the branch and the female leaned over
and was using her beak to ruffle his feathers. I could almost hear her say
āCome on big boy, donāt stop now.ā. After a few minutes he was back at it
again, hovering over her in his gymnastic acrobatic feat, with his wings
beating strongly, then back down onto the branch beside her to receive a little
of her beakly attention and encouragement again. Then she jumped around to a
couple other branches for a few minutes, acting disinterested in my opinion,
leaving the presumably tired male on his own branch. Finally she settled back
down beside him and it started all over again. Sex in the city, Bald Eagle
style. I felt a little like your average voyeur but I figured they were
choosing, if you will, to 'do it in the road' ( or at least in the pine tree )
on a public boulevard - so I couldnāt be accused of any suspicious behavior -
other than admiring the male eagleās strength and persistence and on the other
hand the femaleās patience with his antics. At 75 my wings arenāt that strong
any more. And I lost any semblance of patience two decades ago.
Dave
David Gagne
E. 26th Street