Shiloh National Park Eagles

This is the "Eagles Nest Pine Tree" at Shiloh National Battlefield Park.  We decided last minute on the way home on Monday night (after Katie called me and said it was worthwhile) to make the stop. It was so worth it. We have known about the Eagles for a couple of years, but sadly have never made it a priority to take the time and effort to stop. We are so glad we finally did it-the WHOLE family LOVED it! 

We pulled up and got out of the car and were greeted by the nicest man (just a local) who was so knowledgable. He gave us a lot of good facts that made it even more interesting.  He makes it a part of his daily routine to check on the Eagles. He has been watching the nest for several years now. 









Some of the FACTS...
...This nest is 4 years old
...There have been 4 different sets of Eagles hatched from this same nest
...Each set has had two babies hatch and develop, with only one dying
...The Mother and Father feed the babies fish and turtles
...The babies will be leaving the nest in the next week or two once they learn to fly

The NEST is about the size of a Volswagon Bug..simply AMAZING!  The picture doesn't do it justice, it is magnificent in person.

The siblings sitting in their tree waiting on their Mother and Father to fly in to their tree to roost for the night. We were able to see ALL FOUR EAGLES and see the Mother and Father FLY.  The local man said we were treated to a show because people rarely see it all at one time.  Their wingspan (8 feet) was UNBELIEVABLE.   He also said that right before we arrived, the Mother was teasing the babies with fish to try to teach them to fly.  She would fly by their nest with a fish, land in a nearby tree, and sit and wait. He said they starve the birds a little at a time until they learn to fly.  NEAT

The Father flying in to a nearby tree where he will roost with the Mother for the night. 

The Mother and the Father roosting for the night. They are keeping a close watch on their babies.  There is a neat webite that has more interesting facts and a link to a blog Shiloh Eagles.