In response to last issue’s column about bald eagles, we heard from Bill Brown about his experience with the huge raptors.

Bill and Brenda live on Eagle Pond Road and Bill works just down the road at the camps, so for much of the day Bill is able to observe wildlife in the area. While he says he has been seeing eagles occasionally at Eagle (!) Pond for years, this season was different because there were so many sightings – at least 12.

Most memorable was an event that took place in the late fall, shortly before the pond froze. Bill noticed a pair of eagles, one perched in a tree on the eastern side of the pond, the other chasing some ducks. He watched for about half an hour as the eagle swooped down and dove right at the ducks, again and again, trying to catch one for dinner. Bill managed to get his dump truck stuck as he tried to get a better view of the eagles, but that’s the sort of price we pay for some of our special moments with wildlife.

Sometime during the night of December 8, coyotes chased a deer out of the woods near Bunker Road in New London and onto the frozen surface of Pleasant Lake, where the deer broke its leg and fell. The next morning, observers reported that crows and bald eagles were feasting on the carcass.

According to Chris Martin of New Hampshire Audubon, there were confirmed sightings of two adult eagles and one juvenile on the kill. There was enough moonlight that nearby residents were able to watch coyotes returning to feed in the night for another week.

The last time I visited the site I noticed that somebody had set up a game camera adjacent to the carcass, so there may be some very up-close images to come from this remarkable event.

In mid-November, landowners at the northern end of Lake Sunapee invited Chris Martin to visit their property and confirm the existence of an eagle’s nest there. New Hampshire Audubon has been gathering reports and photos of some adult and sub-adult eagles on Sunapee and Otter Pond for a couple of years, but had no luck finding the nest, so this is an exciting discovery. According to Chris, the size of the nest suggests recent maintenance, and he expects there will be egg-laying and incubation during the 2014 breeding season.

Cardinals

We’ve had some lovely northern cardinals at our feeder this winter, and it seems that many other backyard birders are enjoying them. Experts tell us that northern cardinal pairs stay together year round, but during the winter they frequently feed separately and, in general, are less attentive to each other.

While both males and females sing, males sing the most: at least nine months a year. Gradual lengthening of our days suggests that soon we’ll hear the first “birdie, birdie, birdie” of the season.

If you are suffering from cabin fever, remember that there are still a number of Saturday winter hikes sponsored by Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway that you can join. Details are at SRKG.com.

Please contact me at AndoverNaturally@nullgmail.com with your questions, suggestions, observations, and photographs concerning Andover’s natural world.