[Bristol-Birds] Sullivan County Bald Eagle nest first ever in Northeast Tennessee 5-counties.

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:55:05 -0500


















     






              Adult female eagle stands atop nest (photo by Mike Sanders).

The first known Bald Eagle's nest ever found in the five-county
Northeast Tennessee area has been discovered in Sullivan
County.  It is located along the South Fork Holston River.

The eagles were found Saturday, 28 January 2012, along the river 
and Tennessee Route 44 by a working team of birders who have
spent several days on the project.  

The birders include Wallace Coffey, Mike Sanders, Lois Cox,
Wilma Boy and Carolyn Coffey.

The nest was observed about 2:15 p.m. when the group saw
two adults making several flights to the top of a pine tree,
carrying nesting material and working on the structure.  It is
about 60-80 feet above the ground and the nest appears to 
be an estimated 4-5 feet in diameter.

One eagle carried a large stick which was believed to be several
feet in length and placed it in the nest.  Small branches of pine
boughs were also included.  The eagles were seen to make
six to eight flights to the nest and photographs were taken
from a distance of about 50 yards.

The possibility of a nest unfolded 
during a systematic scouting
effort for eagles and possible 
nesting to include South Holston 
Lake, Boone Lake and Fort Patrick 
Henry Lake and rivers.

Coffey and Sanders believe, because 
of the large numbers of Bald Eagles 
reported in the region this year, that 
2012 could be a breakout year when 
the number of eagle nests significantly
increase.

The discovery unfolded Friday, 27 Jan
2012, about 4:04 p.m., when an adult 
eagle flushed from a small tree along 
the roadside.
       Pair perched Friday near nest site
              (photo by Mike Sanders)

A wide-area perimeter was quickly established with a Garmin GPS
centering on the sighting latitude and longitude as the bird flew away.

Eventually, carefully working the area, two adults were found perched within 
about two
feet of one another on the same branch of a tree.  Coffey witnessed the bird 
perched
above in Sander's photo to fly to the back of the lower bird and copulate.
  
Thus the male is the bird with the lighter face markings and the bird with much 
more brown 
around and behind the eye is the female.

After sunset a 5:48 p.m., 
the pair again copulated 
and the male flew to a tree 
the birders had already 
projected as the nest 
location.  He then left and 
flew out of sight to roost 
for the night with the female 
joining him.  Darkness caused 
further searching to be 
discontinued Friday.  Plans 
were made to continue the investigation Saturday 
afternoon.
        Eagles mating Friday
    (photo by Mike Sanders)

Today, for the first time, the group was able to actually see the nest 
structure and get
many good photographs.

Due to the sensitive nature of the location, the precise location of the nest 
is not
being revealed at this time.  As far as we know, today was the first time 
anyone has known
the whereabouts of the nest or seen it.

Let's go birding . . . .

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN

[Bristol-Birds] Sullivan County Bald Eagle nest first ever in Northeast Tennessee 5-counties.

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