Even
though the train equipment was fascinating in of itself, our favorite
memories of riding the Potomac Eagle included spotting more than a
dozen American Bald Eagles from the train. Train staff communicate with
each other and even slow down when the train comes to a bald eagle. The
narrator provided us with a lot of interesting facts that we didn't
know about these amazing birds. For example, when a pair of bald eagles
build a new nest, their first job is to find a place for it. They will
often choose a location close to water, like here along the Potomac
River where they can catch fish for their babies without wasting time
flying back and forth a long distance. In forested areas, they select
one of the tallest trees. This allows the eagles to see all around the
forest, and also fly into the nest without hitting their wings against
branches. Eagles will often reuse nests, continuing to build on them
for many years; this is how we are able to note the nest here.
Throughout the season, and sometimes during the fall and winter, eagles
keep adding sticks to the nest. They naturally take as many sticks as
they can find close to the nest, but may lug some branches as far as a
mile, carrying them in their talons. During the warmer months when
leaves are on the trees, it is almost impossible to see the bald
eagle’s nest here. Making the nest even hard to see, eagles, along with
several other hawks, add sprigs of greenery to their nests throughout
the spring and summer. No one knows why they do this, but
scientists think it might be to provide a bit of camouflage, serve as
an insect repellent, or provide a signal to other eagles that the nest
is well-tended and will be occupied again. The average bald eagle nest
is around five or six feet in diameter and around two to three feet
tall; the first year it is built, the nest may be much smaller than
that. In most regions, a pair of eagles start working on re-building
their nest for the season a few months before the female lays the first
egg. Eagles will often line the very bottom of the nests with their own
feathers to provide a soft protective layer for their eggs. A pair of
bald eagles that was being studied in Ohio came back and used the exact
same nest for a period of 34 years, until the tree and nest were blown
down in a storm. Eagles will often remain at the same nesting location
as long as their nest is secure.
