A pair of Bald Eagles appropriated a Red-tailed Hawk’s nest during the winter of 2014-15 and promptly set about enlarging the platform in preparation for mating and raising a brood. The nest was located in a white pine tree in Lower Moreland Township near Terwood Road and Inverness Lane. During the winter, the eagles were dependent on roadkilled deer carcasses that the Trust’s stewardship staff delivered to a field near the nest, but once the weather improved, the eagles caught fish from Pennypack Creek and several ponds nearby.

The eagle pair hatched two chicks. The eaglets soon were visible from an “eagle cam” trained on the nest, and Pennypack’s birders monitored the action closely from a vantage point on Terwood Road. Most Bald Eagle pairs hatch two chicks but are only able to rear one to fledging. Happily, the eagles in the Pennypack Preserve were able to raise both chicks. The young birds and their parents left the nest around June 15. While over the last few year Bald Eagles have nested near the mouth of Pennypack Creek, these were probably the first Bald Eagles to nest in the upper valley in over 200 years, and are a tribute to the Trust’s stewardship of our natural area preserve.

To see an Eaglecam view of the nest, visit http://potapov-nature.com/pipipi/.