eaglets fledge

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Tony King's eagle nest: 17 March 2012

"The bald eagles of Lenoir City fledged three good looking juveniles on Mother's Day (of course) May 13, 2012," writes KTOS's Tony King. "They are still flying to and from the nest tree after resting in between flights. Their parents have successfully raised 15 eaglets in the seven years we [Tony and Denise] have known them."

I first visited the nest in early March with Tony and again a week later with a group from Ijams. That's when the above photo was taken, three fuzzy, gray nestlings laying in a pile in the center of the nest after a rainy Saturday morning. They were huddled together to stay warm.

In early May, Eliot and I went back again to see the nest and discovered an almost full-grown trio ready and eager for their first flight.

Historically, bald eagles were not in the Tennessee Valley, they lived in West Tennessee: Reelfoot Lake, Land Between the Lakes, etc. But, starting in the 1980s, young eagles have been released every year on this side of the state. Now, there's successful nests on all the lakes and many of the rivers. 


A young eagle spends its first four or five years roaming, seeing the country fancy-free, but when it becomes sexually mature and molts into its adult plumage, it usually returns to within 75 miles of its first flight to find a mate and claim a nesting site.

For the complete story of bald eagles in Tennessee, look for my book Natural Histories.

Thanks, Tony for all your updates!

Three eaglets watching for their parents. 7 May 2012.

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