New nest, new eggs: Lake Natoma’s bald eagle pair resettles

In early January, storm winds and heavy rain knocked down a tree carrying a bald eagle nest at Lake Natoma.

The tree, a grey pine, was home to a pair of bald eagles named Mama and Papa that have been living there since 2017. Now, almost two months later, the pair have a new nest roughly a thousand feet away from the previous one, and have laid an egg, possibly two.

Kathy Kayner, the board member and head of the Bald Eagle Interpretive Program for Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma, said the new eagles’ nest was built in about three and a half weeks, and an egg was laid shortly after. 

“We finally have a new nest,” Kayner said. “There is an egg, or possibly eggs in there. We do not have the ability to see into the nest with a nest cam, because it's in a kind of remote area away from the old nest tree.”

Kayner said Mama is sitting in her new nest and when she gets up, Papa sits down in her place, signifying that there is a new egg in the nest and they are sharing incubation duties. 

The pair of eagles have successfully hatched 21 eaglets since they made the prior tree their home in 2017. After the eggs are laid, it takes roughly 35 to 38 days to hatch, according to Kayner.

“If she laid her first egg this week, there is a possibility that the eggs could hatch either the first week in April or the second week in April,” she said. “What's even more amazing is how quickly these eaglets grow from the time they hatch to when they reach three months.”

Kayner said as the eaglets grow, they perfect their flying and landing skills.She said the young birds leave home and usually come back a year later.

“As soon as they do that, they leave the territory, and they don't come back for the rest of the summer,” she said. “They could fly by and say, ‘hey mom, hey dad,’ but they are never allowed back in the nest, never. The parents will chase them away.”

Kayner believes the new nest is smaller than the old nest because they had to build it quickly so Mama could lay her egg. She hopes that Mama has laid multiple eggs.

Ultimately, it's up to mama,” Kayner said. “It's up to her. I don't know how many eggs she had ready to go, but whatever happens will happen. We just hope for two.”

Bald Eagle Papa flies with a stick for a new nest after the previous one was destroyed from storm winds.Photo courtesy of Kathy Kayner

Bald eagles, North America’s national symbol and one of largest birds, were close to extinction in the lower 48 states three decades ago, according to the California Department and Wildlife.

The birds had a large population historically in California, but by the early 1970s, they were put on the endangered species list because fewer than 30 nesting pairs remained. Eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007, but remain endangered in California, according to the California Department of Wildlife.

Bald eagles are protected in California by the Bald And Golden Eagle Protection and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which are laws prohibiting killing, harming and selling eagles, nests or eggs.