Flight of Hope
August 14, 2009Azalea vs. Hope (the Whimbrel)
August 15, 2009
This evening, August 14, just as it was getting dark about 7:55 a raccoon climbed into the NBG bald eagle nest. It stayed there only about one minute, sniffed around then climbed out of the nest, down the tree and away. Sorry the photo is so dark, but if you click on it the picture will go full screen and you can see the raccoon better.
11 Comments
We were watching it and knew you saw it too as the cam quickly zoomed in. Looked like it was looking for something to eat – maybe a fish bone or two? Earlier there was a squirrel playing around the nest. Lucky for the squirrel – Azalea doesn’t care for furry food and just gave it a funny look.
Too bad fish can’t climb trees!
I happened to be watching the Eagle cam at that time. Amazing what you can see at NBG. It would have been interesting to see “HH’s” reaction to the Racoon if it even decided to investigate the nest with her perched near/in it. This was a long climb for the Racoon…I hope it was worth the effort.
If mom or dad had been at the nest area ..would raccoon or squirrel been safe? Azalea has a preference for fish only I guess.
The top of this tree is still an active place even without the eagles. The squirrels are very busy and we’ve even seen a “Dancing Worm”
…now a raccoon. 🙂
I was able to capture a video of the raccoon’s visit if you missed it.
http://s580.photobucket.com/albums/ss243/picfile09/?action=view¤t=2000.flv
I wasn’t sure at first what I was seeing and got really tickled when I realized what it was! Thank you for the nice critter closeups 🙂
I did manage to grab a video clip for those that may have missed the fun.
http://s580.photobucket.com/albums/ss243/picfile09/?action=view¤t=2000.flv
ann has the video of it on forum
The video that Ann captured of the raccoon is much better than the still photo that I posted.
NCPatty ask whether the raccoon or squirrel that visited the eagle nest would have been “safe” if one of the adults had been there. While most of the diet of a bald eagle is fish, they do eat other prey. We have seen several birds and a muskrat be meals this season. Last season at the other nest, squirrels nested in the under side of the eagles nest, and the adults made many unsuccessful attempts to catch one of them. So would a raccoon or squirrel be “safe”. Not if one of the eagles could catch it.
Racoon in the nest! So Funny!
Racoon in the nest! So Funny!