Bald Eagles Nest Drama

Out on a country road in San Luis Obispo County, California, there is a Bald Eagles Nest on private ranch land. The scenery is very peaceful and beautiful, but in nature, not all is as peaceful as it seems..

A Bald Eagles Nest is a wonderful thing to see in nature, but this year (2024), there was an interesting and amazing development.
There were 2 Eaglets in the nest, but as of early May 2024, a Baby Red Tailed Hawk was dropped off in the nest by one of the adult Bald Eagles. The Baby Hawk was meant to be food for the 2 Eaglets. However, the Baby Hawk was still alive and the Eaglets did not try to feed on it.

Then an amazing thing happened. The adult Bald Eagles, out of instinct, started feeding the Hawklet as well as their own Eaglets. They cared for the Hawklet as if it were one of their own. For a short period of time, all was well.

Soon the Bald Eaglets grew much larger than the Hawklet. The smaller Hawk started to get picked on and pushed around by at least one of the Bald Eaglets. Because of the bullying, the Red Tailed Hawklet tried to keep away from the 2 Eaglets. It was not trying to get fed when one of the adult Bald Eagles came into the nest with food and stayed apart from the others for it’s own safety.

This meant that The Young Hawk was not getting enough to eat. I witnessed that it was only able to feed on leftover scraps of food when the Eaglets were sleeping. This did not look good for the little Red Tailed Hawk.

One day in early June, the Hawklet was pushed out of the nest by one of the Eaglets and fell to the ground. It survived the fall and was rescued thanks to some wonderful photographers, the property owner, and Pacific Wildlife. I am including a video link showing when the Hawklet was pushed out of the nest. This video was taken by: Robert Lutz. Here is a link to the video on his Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/robert.lutz.64/videos/448143304523002

Here are 2 links below to Pacific Wildlife’s Facebook Videos telling the story of the Hawklet in the Bald Eagles Nest, it’s rescue, and an update on the successful release of the Young Red Tailed Hawk.

Progress Report: Red Tailed Hawk 1516, Eagle Nest Survivor: https://fb.watch/ubwUdf742Z/

The Eagles Nest Survivor Soars Free: https://www.facebook.com/reel/981041487039265

Nature is not always easy for young birds and animals and it is true for the this nesting season. The younger Eaglet lost its balance and fell to a lower branch of the nesting tree when it was close to fledging. For a few days the Eaglet could not get back to the nest and it was not getting fed. That could have been a rescue situation. But, it finally made it back to the nest and was ok. Both the Young Eagles were able to fledge the nest successfully in July 2024.

A Red Tailed Hawk being raised by Bald Eagles is a pretty rare event and usually doesn’t have a great outcome.
However in this story, there is a happy ending. The young Red Tailed Hawk survived. It is free in the wild to live out a long and healthy life.

As a Photographer, I love to be out observing nature. I was thrilled and fortunate to be able to photograph and observe this fantastic behavior at the Bald Eagle’s Nest from 5-17-2024 thru 6-7-2024.

I am also honored to know the awesome photographers involved in it’s successful rescue.
It was an amazing adventure to photograph, witness and learn about.

Here are more images taken at the Bald Eagles Nest in 2024.