UPDATE: It Was The Father Eagle Killed By Car, Mom Caring For Eaglets
As it turns out, it was the father eagle that was killed by a car when trying to gather up some road kill, and the mom that’s taking care of the eaglets who, by the way, are getting close to leaving their Mooseheart nest.
The saga of the Mooseheart American bald eagles has been chronicled by Kane County nature photographer Dave Soderstrom and relayed to a wide Facebook audience by Deb’s Big Back Yard.
As you can see by the posts embedded below, the story has morphed quite a bit since the initial report, when it was thought that the mom eagle was killed and viewers held their collective breath to see if the dad would care for the eaglets still nesting in Mooseheart.
Fortunately, the mom has been a great provider, as you can see by the photos in Soderstrom’s Facebook collection.
June 7 Post
June 7 Post
June 8 Post
June 9 Posts
Original KCC Post (Unedited)
With Father’s Day coming soon, here’s a sad but also heartwarming nature survival tale that’s been playing out the past week on social and traditional media.
Dave Soderstrom photo.
According to numerous Facebook posts as well as articles in the Daily Herald and Patch, a mother eagle that has been nesting for years on the Mooseheart campus was struck and killed by a car on Wednesday, May 29.
Local nature photographer Dave Soderstrom has been monitoring the behavior of the male “who has tragically lost his mate and now is responsible for fledging his young one(s),” according to a post by Deb’s Big Back Yard.
In a post a few days ago, Soderstrom said that the father American Bald Eagle and offspring “look healthy, and were active. A few times it looked like the eaglets were eating something in the nest.
“Poppa was flying and circling above for about 30 minutes going up and down the river and over Mooseheart almost looked like he was looking for his missing mate of 10 years. He also flew to the river but we never saw him come back with a fish and feed the eaglets.”
In a Sunday (June 2, 2019) update, Soderstrom said the father was feeding the eaglets fish at least three times on Saturday.
“It is great to see him taking care of his eaglets,” he said.
Follow Dave Soderstrom on Illinois Bird Network.
