Eagle fledges on Housatonic

FALLS VILLAGE — On a wintery February day, a fellow birder and I took part in an event known as the Mega Bowl. The challenge for each team was to identify as many different species of birds as possible within a five mile radius of home.

The most amazing discovery was a bald eagle’s nest, tended by a pair of adult eagles, and apparently unknown to anyone.

I monitored the nest from a respectful distance. I was hopefully unknown to them and with a very good camera lens I was able to document their progress as potential parents.

They built a nest, and fished along a hidden stretch of the Housatonic River, a pattern nearly erased in the last century by PCB pollution.

The eagles kept a single egg warm, even in snowstorms, taking turns handling the uncompromising responsibility.

In early April I noticed one of them delivering food to the nest, and I knew the family dynamic had changed even as the contents of the nest remained largely hidden.

By mid April an eaglet’s fuzzy head emerged, seemingly frail and small against the imposing beauty of the adults and the vastness of the elevated nursery nest.

It grew quickly.

By mid May it was moving around and began stretching its wings, as yet unready to fly.

By June the adults’  caretaking seemed to change. Instead of constant tending they seemed to drop off food, in an effort it seemed to encourage independence.

And oh the imposing wings as they spread wide, the suspense of waiting on an eaglet hopping about on limbs wings beating, as if revving the engines making ready for a first test flight.

Every day brought a greater confidence and courage to leave the safety of the nest.

Then, on Friday, June 16, graduation day at nearby Housatonic Valley Regional High School, it readied for flight, as if lining up on that familiar branch for the first roll down the runway.

That was the first leap.

Days later I had confirmation that it had made its way into the world, that the adults knew where to deliver a snack of fish, and that one more icon of American freedom had returned to claim its rightful place.