“Great men are like eagles, and build their nest
on some lofty solitude.”
Arthur Schopenhauer

There’s a new President and First Lady in Washington, D.C. and the election isn’t even over. These two birds flocked to Washington, D.C. after a 70 year hiatus. But they are not your typical Presidential Family.

The two birds I’m talking about are a family of Bald Eagles who built their nest recently in a Tulip Poplar tree amongst the Azalea Collection at the U.S. National Arboretum District. The nest is approximately five feet wide by six feet deep.

The “First Lady” laid her first egg on February 10th, and laid her second egg on Valentine’s Day. The high flying couple are expecting the arrival of two eaglets in mid-March.

Their story began in the spring of 2014 when a lone male Bald Eagle started roosting on Kingman Island, it was observed that this male would survey the Anacostia River system on a daily basis and return to Kingman Island every sunset. During the fall Bald Eagles began migrating through the area and it wasn’t long until the male seemed to have found a mate.

Why would these Eagles choose to return to D.C. after over half a century?  What I read was that the Ar­bore­tum has a num­ber of old trees that are large enough to sup­port an eagle’s nest. Even though the nest is in an urban area, the Ar­bore­tum pro­vides qual­ity wildlife habi­tat and enough open space to dampen the noise from the city. Also, the Ar­bore­tum’s close to the Ana­cos­tia River, which is a sig­nif­i­cant food source.

Thanks to the American Eagle Foundation and the National Arboretum who installed and stream two high definition video cameras from the top of the nest tree, you can watch these iconic birds 24/7.

Bald Eagle fans can check out the live video of the birds through an “eagle cam” that went live on President’s Day, hence their pet names.

I know I’ll be watching this Bald Eagle First Family daily. Who knows, maybe I’ll be the first to see these eagles when their new flock arrives.

Shine On