Many people who travel to our National Parks and wild places are thrilled and excited if they happen to see our national bird, the Bald Eagle, so called because of the white feathers on its head. But some residents of Westminster Heights may not realize that we have a nesting pair of these magnificent birds every year right here in Westminster Heights, in the Royal Palm Cemetery.

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is the only eagle only found in North America, and was once widespread. It is the world's fifth largest living eagle (an eagle nearly twice the size has been extinct since around the year 1400) out of about 60 living eagle species. There are only about 70,000 of them left, of which about 55,000 live in Alaska or British Columbia, Canada. So we are privileged to have a pair here. The bird is not regarded as endangered, but under the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 it is illegal to kill or capture bald eagles, or to disturb their nests or eggs without a permit.

The birds fly here every year, usually in October, from their summer home in North Carolina and repair their nest (called an eyrie) in the same tall tree, a Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris), itself once widespread in the southeast. Their diet sometimes includes a duck or two from the cemetery pond, and owners of small dogs are warned to keep an eye on them. They usually raise two chicks, and we can watch as these are fledged and learn to fly and catch prey. And then in May they all fly away back to North Carolina.

When they came back last fall (2009), one of the chicks from last year, now adult, turned up at the nest, but was quickly seen off by the male from the original pair.

The local Audubon Society maintains a volunteer watch schedule for the birds, to try to protect them from human interference. One of the volunteers is Kathleen Finnerty. Kathy is also a photographer, and all the pictures on this page were actually taken by her last year or this year in Royal Palm Cemetery. She kindly agreed to share with us.

This spring (2010), the eagles had only a single chick. It so happened, the Audubon Society had found another eagle chick which had been orphaned. An expert climber scaled the tree in which our eagles nest, and placed this other chick in the nest. It seemed that the eagles adopted it without hesitation and it thrived and learned to fly with its new family. Interestingly, the first chick to hatch often kills its sibling, but fortunately this did not happen.

Kathy has created a slide show documenting this challenging but ultimately successful activity.

Click to view Kathy's slideshow here

Latest news August 30, 2010: The eagle pair has been sighted back here, earlier than usual. They have not started repairing and augmenting their nest yet. Check back for more news.

November 20: The eagles are settling in. They like to perch on a nearby dead tree, as well as lately spending some time on their nest. See new picture at top. As with most eagles, the female is larger than the male. We see them almost every day.