Anyone who has been following this blog for the last several years will know that I love eagles. In fact, I have been following a pair of bald eagles for the last 7 or 8 years. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Raptor Resource Project, I have had a "bird's eye view" of the lives of these magnificent creatures. Located on the grounds of a working farm in Decorah, Iowa, I have learned a great deal about life, and life's true priorities, from watching these devoted birds tend to the business of raising young ones and sending them out into the world with the skills they need, in addition to caring lovingly for each other. Human families have a lot to learn from these symbols of our country.
This year I was distressed to learn that the original pair of eagles I've been following had played a "bait and switch" on the Project workers by waiting until all the cameras had been turned on for the season only to switch their home to another nest away from prying eyes. Eagles will do this every few years to allow their former nest to air out and let Mother Nature rid it of pests. Sometimes they return after a few seasons, and sometimes not. Luckily, there are other pairs of eagles on the same farm and those residents returned to their same home complete with cameras working and ready for the highlight of the year ... babies! Or, as they are properly called, eaglets, but being a Grandma I prefer "babies."
This year so far we have been blessed with two sweet little ones. I am not familiar with this particular pair of parents but they are just as devoted to their offspring and each other as the pair I've been following for years. After giving the nest a proper cleaning and renovation for the season, the eggs were laid. Mom and Dad took turns keeping the eggs warm and safe from predators. When the first egg started cracking, Dad even brought Mom some food so she wouldn't have to leave them to go hunting. When she needed to get up, she would call for Dad and you could hear him answering before coming to give her a break. They are never far from each other and share in the child feeding and rearing once the eaglets are born. In all of the animal world, with the exception of wolves - who embody the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" - I have never seen such love and devotion.
With all that has happened over the last year, not knowing what the future will bring or what the "new normal" will look like, it was so very reassuring that in spite of it all, Mother Nature continued to perform her work regardless of what else was going on. Spring has come. The temperatures are warming, the trees are budding, the first shoots of dandelions and crocus are poking up through the ground, and the baby eaglets have arrived. No matter what else happens going forward and in the years to come, I know that I can find my footing, my foundation, in nature, and in the love and devotion of a pair of eagles and their offspring. May it always be so.
And so it is.
