[Bristol-Birds] Two-hour show Sunday on ETSU Bluff City Eaglecam !

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2015 11:24:09 -0500

etsucam 112915 pair 0700.jpg

Two-hour show Sunday on ETSU Bluff City Eaglecam !

Hearts were pounding, phones ringing as families huddle around

televisions early Sunday. Little folks must have been rubbing

morning eyes as they were ushered in pajamas by parents to watch

the first real eagle nesting show live from high atop a pine tree

towering above the South Fork Holston River upstream from Bluff City.

The Bristol Tennessee Essential Services' cable TV channel delivered

the unfolding drama as the ETSU Department of Biological Sciences

was flooding hundreds of early-morning screens, gushing into the

lives of good folks across most of Sullivan County in living color.

I tuned to the 1001 BTES channel at 6:50 a.m. and watched the

first minutes of daylight spread over the treetops of eastern

Sullivan. In the dim shadows, among the branches of a Loblolly

Pine, three Eastern Gray Squirrels scampered about the nest

doing whatever squirrels are about at daybreak.

Fifteen minutes into that ho-hum viewing, they vanished to

cover as giant wings of an eagle fluttered into the nest.

A minute later its mate arrived.

The Romeo and Juliet show must have brought hundreds

to their feet as they summonsed everyone to come quickly. You

can only imagine the phone calls hurriedly placed to neighbors,

friends, families, grandparents and others.

Only Santa, standing by the chimney with care, could create more

astonishment and excitement.

The ETSU eagles will change our TV viewing habits and occupy

many hours of otherwise often-boring social media for the next

eight months until eaglets fledge to further populate the

region and farther.

This morning, the pair spent two hours working on the

the giant nest. Both diligently adjusted sticks and brought more

nesting material to prepare for eggs we anticipate after the

first of the year.

Throughout the season, and sometimes even during fall and winter, eagles

keep adding sticks to the nest, and they reuse nests, continuing to build
on them,

for many years.

Only Saturday afternoon, a Bristol Bird Club interpretive field trip had
watched the

pair at the old mill along Riverside Road, about 1.8 miles northeast

of the nest site. Dr. Andy Jones, a trip leader and Secretary of the

American Ornithologists' Union, had just mentioned that the record

size for an eagle's nest came from Ohio. That famous nest, known as

the "Great Nest," was located in Vermilion, near Lake Erie. It measured 12
feet

in depth and weighed two tons. It was used for more than 35 years until

destroyed after falling 80 feet to the ground during a storm in March 1925.

This will be the fourth nesting season for the Bluff City nest and pair.

It was the first eagle nest known in the five-county Northeast Tennessee

area when discovered in early 2013. The pair has been successful each

year and is judged to be stable.

Most of us don't get many early Sunday phone calls but this was a

special Sunday with exceptions.

As my caller ID indicated who was calling, I answered with much excitement.

Without pausing to say "hello" I simply said:

"Yes, I am watching every minute !"

The voice on the other end would simply respond:

"Isn't this wonderful ..how exciting!"

The folks in the ETSU Department of Biological Sciences

will soon be lifting the live feed to the internet

where you can stream it live into your computer from

almost anywhere you may be.

Enjoy! Go Bucs!

Wallace Coffey

Bristol, TN

[Bristol-Birds] Two-hour show Sunday on ETSU Bluff City Eaglecam !

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