eagle – Sharon's Iconic Travel Photography Blog

Osgood Pond

What makes a pond a pond? What makes a lake a lake? It is not always size in terms of acreage it covers. There are some ponds that are larger in size than lakes. Lakes are usually much deeper. Ponds they say are shallow enough to allow light to reach the bottom. One pond that seems larger than some lakes is Osgood Pond.

Osgood Pond is near Pauls Smith’s in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. You can access Osgood Pond by car by White Pine Road off of State Route 86. It has a boat launch maintained by the state. I visited there on two separate days. During the summer a recent university graduate was employed to check boats going in and out of the pond. The state tries to make sure invasive species are not carried from one body of water to another. I liked this boat launch. It was a gradual decline in to the pond.

There are not many houses on this pond. There is one on this island. Much of the land around the pond is designated wilderness.

One advantage of this pond is you can access other bodies or water without getting out of your canoe/ kayak. Some lakes and ponds have carries between them. This one has some passageways or outlets between it and other ponds and rivers.

This passageway is about 1.5 -2 feet deep between the ponds.

Passageway between Osgood and Church Ponds

Passageway from Church to Osgood Pond. It is very dark through the passageway. I rather enjoy taking these little outlets in between ponds and lakes.

Another advantage is there are some campsites accessible paddling from Osgood. There are primitive campsites along nearby Jones pond, accessible by paddling through Jones Pond outlet. There are lean-tos on Osgood and Church Pond. There are also primitive campsites on Upper Osgood River. These campsites are free and first come first served.

Thirdly, and most importantly to me, this pond has great access to viewing wildlife. There are ducks, multiple loon pairs, and eagles coming and going. There must be fish worth trying for. I did see a few fishermen.

One of two juveniles. The eagles go between lakes to find food.

So hungry I will eat a pine cone. These juvenile eagles (born in Spring) are at least a month or more behind the ones born along the Hudson River. I think they are born 1-2 months later. They flew but had trouble landing and in August did not fly much over water. They made no attempt to get food on their own, and the parents appeared to delay getting food for them.

After one fish was dropped off the kids fought over it and the parents flew back to the nest to break it up.

Loon behaviour on this pond was odd. I did not see them stick their heads above water for long and they did not hang out long on the surface at any time. I watched them the first day. The second day I saw the eagles. I attribute the loons’ behaviour to the eagle’s presence. Eagles will go after ducks and loons and their young. I did not see young loons on this pond. A local told me the eagles have been visiting for three years and they have not seen loon young in three years. They tie the two events together.

Overall it is a great place to kayak. I enjoyed it so much I went back again the following day. If you wish to canoe or kayak a few different bodies of water without carrying your boat, I recommend this pond. If you want a spot to camp for free arriving by boat, the lack of traffic at this location may make it ideal.

Caught a Fish

It has been raining a lot in New York. I have been working from home. Mornings, which are the best time to go out and view these birds of prey, have been out. Many times on the weekend, like tomorrow, the weather will be bad. Sometimes I am able to go down after work and view for a half hour or an hour. I have not seen them bring in a fish this Spring. Normally I spend my Easter Break watching this nest, but our break was taken away from us. These pictures were on one of those not so great weather days around 6 p.m. Although the lighting is far from optimal, I feel lucky to have seen this eagle bring one in from the Hudson River. Enjoy the parks! Enjoy wildlife!

They have one eaglet in the nest. So I don’t see them bring fish in as much as last year.

Tale of Two Nests

A few decades ago there was only one nesting pair of eagles in the New York. Today there are close to 500. Environmental policies banning DDT enabled this increase.

This first nest is along a major commuting highway that takes many drivers to New York City. They allowed us in to work for a little while on one day so I stopped briefly on my return. These first pictures are taken from the shoulder of the highway.

When the leaves are off the trees this nest is viewable as you are traveling south on the highway. It is on land that juts out into a lake. Since one parent seems to linger a lot in the nest I assume there may be a young one.

One parent briefly joined the other on a nearby tree.

It is the other one’s turn to sit in the nest.

This second nest is next to the Hudson River south of me. If you are lucky as I was today you will catch one of the eagles on a tree near the hiking trail in the woods as I did. The nest is too far away and more protected for some reason than the other nests are that are in parklands.

This pair’s nest is a few miles south of me next tot the Hudson River. You can not get near the nest, but I was able to see them perched on a tree together briefly near a hiking trail. They did not leave the nest unattended for long, so I assume this nest may have young ones as well.

It is good to see the population thriving in recent years. The Hudson River seems to draw them to build their nests. If the weather is nice next weekend I hope to see another local nest I have heard about. Stay safe and stay healthy.

Eagle Baby in the Nest

What do you call a baby eagle? An eaglet. Last year my favorite nest to watch had two eaglets. This year I am seeing only one head at a given time.

Luckily this nest still seems deep. It has high enough sides to keep the eaglet safe inside.

It has rained a lot. I did get a chance this past weekend to watch the nest near the Hudson River in New York for a little while. I finally saw the head pop out. I only saw one. I will have to ask the retired people who hang out there all day if they have seen more than that.

The parents took turns watching over the eaglet. A week ago a hawk was trying to get in the nest and the father eagle chased it away.

Parent coming in to rotate babysitting duties.

Unfortunately, as it usually does in April, it has rained a lot. That makes it hard to view the nest on the steep side of a hill. The window to view it is also rapidly closing with buds on the trees turning into leaves. More excitement awaits around June, when we may see the eaglet flying around near the nest.

Self Isolating in the Wild-Eagle Watching

What travel restrictions do we currently have in New York? They want us to stay at home as much as possible and only go out for essential items like food, business at home related purchases, pharmacy trips, and we are also allowed to go to parks and wildlife refuges to exercise. I decided to see if I could catch the eagles after working at home a couple of days ago.

These eagles live quite close to me. In fact there are more and more nests near me. I found another one near a walking trail this week. However, for some reason they restrict the land around the nest of that one more than any of the others. Out of respect for what they ask I did not get close to that nest. The pictures below show one nest one afternoon in order.

One parent in the nest. At least one egg has hatched. The parent keeps looking down and appears to feed little bits of food to an unseen youngster. So the guesstimate is the youngster hatched in the past week or so. We won’t know how many babies until they are big enough to see the heads popping above the top of the nest.

The other parent arrives to switch places babysitting.

The parent who had been in the nest flew out to a neighboring tree for a bit. Then decided to fly off.

The eagle then flies off towards the Hudson River. Possibly it was on its way to get a fish for the family.

It is always fun to watch the eagles after the babies hatch. There is a lot more activity coming and going from the nest. They bring in more grass, and they bring in fish or other land animals like squirrel. If you are working at home and self isolating, go out to observe nature. It can bring joy to your day.

Self Isolating in the Wild

It is the act of separating oneself from others. Self isolation is the new norm. Physically separating oneself is necessary in these times, however, remaining connected to others through social media, phone conversations etc. is important as well.

I would love to have been doing day trips to places farther away, but that is not prudent right now. The best thing to do is self isolate in nature. Parks are open and wildlife preserves are still open. It is a great way to maintain adequate distance and get some needed fresh air. Here are some animals I saw recently in nearby parks still open.

At a nearby park with a lot of open space. I think this one is a bluebird. They had a birdhouse on a pole near this tree. I suspect this one may live there.

This one appears to be an eagle with some white feathers coming in on its head. A sub adult? It was putting on an aerial show around a local nest that was not his/her nest. Could this be a juvenile from a previous spring checking up on the nest he came from?

This blue jay was an area I drop seed. If you feed them they will come. I don’t do that all year, but in winter and early spring.

Late afternoon-early evening lift off. It took a few days to catch the father eagle coming back to the nest. I usually only go down to watch for 30 minutes or so.

Everyone keep in contact with friends and family, follow what they ask you to do, stay safe and stay healthy. Keep a positive attitude. Clean or organize your house if you now find yourself with extra time. Put on positive music. I am in different What’s App groups with different people who meet regularly to stay positive and stay in touch. Watch a church service online. Think of others. We shall all get through this together.

Self Quarantined in the Wild

Do eagles self quarantine? Do they know about Corona Virus? They mostly keep a distance from other animals unless they are looking to eat them.

I was told to not report to work Monday or Tuesday. On Friday we set things to work remotely, online and otherwise. I am sticking around my area due to Corona cases in the area I work.

I was not told to quarantine. We don’t know if we had any close contact with someone who has it. I will try to stay away from shopping as much as possible, gatherings and otherwise. Church service is online Sunday though a Utube channel. I am sure most of you are going though the same circumstances. I spent a little time today looking at the eagle near my place.

It appears they have an egg as one is always sitting in the nest. Last year they had two babies.

She was as interested in me as I was of her.

Let’s hunker down if we are told to. Think of others. Take care of yourselves. Let’s hope this situation turns around soon for everyone. I look forward to traveling in the future. If you can, spend time enjoying nature.

A Lake Eagle

Do you like finding new places to watch wildlife? I found another eagle nest recently. It is on a lake in New York north of New York City. It is close to a highway, a major commuting route for those traveling by car into New York City. I am trying to figure out a way to get closer to the nest. It is on a peninsula that juts out into the lake. These two pictures are taken from the highway quite a distance away without a tripod. I also cropped the photos quite a bit. Hopefully in the future I can get closer.