[Bristol-Birds] the man behind historic Watauga Lake Bald Eagle nest find
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 18:56:14 -0400
The man without a name
who had found a nest of
Bald Eagles somewhere
on Roan Creek way up
in Johnson County, TN
On 21 Jan of this year, my wife Carolyn and I began what we knew would be a
very
long search for a reported Bald Eagle's nest said to be near Roan Creek on
Watauga
Lake in Johnson County, TN. For more than an hour we drove mile after mile
over
the area, searching between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. attempting to see a pair
of eagles
perched in the evening sunset near a nest. We came so close it was amazing
but we
came up a bit short. The nest was so well hidden we could not have found it.
A wild
winter storm was blowing the trees when we were there and white caps were
breaking
over the lake until it looked like somewhere in the Arctic.
Carolyn loved the long hours of searching in freezing weather with the wind
howling
and my knocking on doors, questioning everyone who runs a country store and
flagging
down motorists anywhere they would stop. She thought it was funny when I
would flag
boaters in off the lakes to question them or walk down a slippery bank to talk
with
fishermen watching their poles and lines.
Of course we didn't know she was going to pass away on Saturday, March 30, and
never experience the thrill of the final discovery and standing to look at the
giant eagle's
nest. She had been in on several such searches and finds but I had to go this
one alone.
It was a thrill when I finally came face to face with a man
I had searched so hard for. I knew so much about him.
I knew his brother's name. I knew of a former girl friend. I
knew he came here from Michigan. I knew he loved eagles
with a passion. I had come up with phone numbers but
they turned out to be non-working numbers. Finally I set out
alone to go to his girl friend's house. But after nearly
50 miles of driving and more than an hour searching and
asking questions, one man told me she was a former girl
friend and would be of little help. Actually, no one was at
that residence when I found it. The man who knew about
the former girl friend knew enough to put me down a road
I would never have dreamed to search.
There, I called out for Paul ! He came out the door of a
cabin and I introduced myself from 30 feet or more away.
He was a tremendous guy. Very knowledgeable of eagles.
He invited me to walk a short distance into his front yard
and then pointed up to a monster nest with eaglets and an adult female he
calls Catori,
standing on the nest. All of this maybe a little over 400 feet from where we
stood. Catori
is a name which means "spirit" and her mate is known as Dakota which means
"friend."
It turns out the nest is actually not on his property but in a giant pine tree
of his neighbor's
who lives in another southern state and comes to the lake to visit.
Paul Schmees sits atop his scaffold behind
a blind he had covered his perch with, to
watch and photograph the beautiful and
fascinating Bald Eagle nest shown in the
small red box against the skyline in the
edge of the trees. That little spot in the
upper right corner of the red-line box is an
adult Bald Eagle perched beside the nest
and watching over her two large eaglets.
He has even arranged for new camera
equipment to document activities at the
nest.
What an amazing development to find
all this !
He invited me into his home and we
sat by a large window looking out over
the lake and scaffold. He had his
computer ready to show me a fascinating
section of video he had made of a male
bringing a very large fish to the nest and
then eventually trying to get it into the nest.
The female quickly arrived and began to
feed the eaglets while he sat on a nearby
limb.
We talked and shared thoughts about eagles for maybe a couple of hours.
Paul said I was the first person from the birding public or wildlife managers
or anyone
similar to come to see the nest. He originally reported the nest to the
Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency database and an official in Nashville. He was asked
about
his feelings and any reservations about birders and others coming to see the
nest since
all of it was on private land. He was hesitant because he had no idea how all
of this
was going to developed. He indicated he did not want people coming. TWRA
never
released any names or phone numbers or any specific information.
Now, he says the eagles have no problem with anything going on and most people
who
pass in boats hardly notice the eagles let along their nest. He has concluded
that he
wants to share it with birders and others who would like to see life at an
eagles nest
up close and will probably find a way to make that happen. The eagles are
very secure
with construction work as well as boaters, etc.
He says he may have a thousand photos he has taken of the eagles and their
nest.
Paul has put together an excellent timeline of the activities dating back
three years ago
when an eagle showed up and then later a mate came. They began building the
nest
last October and he was convinced they were going to breed there and raise
eaglets.
He remembers the morning the female laid her very first egg. He had seen a
video of
the time when an eagle laid an egg and gave a whiny call to the mate. She did
the same
at his nest and he knew the first egg was laid.
His timeline will be the first and also the best documented nest activity
every in the
region. It will set a standard for much more of what we know about eagles and
their
life history in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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