One Small Step – One Small Miracle

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Few experiences could be more life-affirming than seeing birds in debut flight. When those creatures happen to be two bald eaglets (fledging auspiciously close to July 4), gasps and tears are among observer reactions.

Among very few of their species in Sacramento County, a mated eagle couple is now completing a fourth breeding season on the American River. Having recorded each of those seasons, I note the 2020 nursery unique for surprise and heartbreak.

In spring, observers were astonished to find three chicks in the eagle nursery. In previous broods, the parents reliably raised only two babies.  Judging by its size, the unexpected baby probably hatched 10 days after the alpha we called Courage; and perhaps a week after middle sibling Hope. We named the surprise baby Miracle. “It’ll be a miracle if he survives,” predicted a riverside wit. But the smallest eaglet escaped bullying often suffered by raptor runts. His parents favored him with plenty to eat. A feisty, competitive personality quickly developed.

The family dynamic was disrupted when alpha Courage fell from the nest before he was old enough to fly. Though the parents fed him on the ground, coyote and bobcats must also provide for their own babies. One day the fallen eaglet simply disappeared. Crisis support arrived in the form of an eagle helper that has assisted the family in previous summers. The parents absented themselves as the babysitter we call “Hunter” dutifully mentored, fed and suffered the remaining two eaglets’ ingratitude. Mama and Papa took compassionate leave from months of exhausting hunting and childcare. 

In their absence, second eaglet Hope reached 12 weeks old and was poised for flight. Her debut promised a much-needed lift for her kin and for fans who had taken the family to their hearts. Hope did not disappoint. On summer solstice, she scrambled from the nest to a favorite branch. Here she spread massive wings and claimed her sky. An ungainly series of flaps got her 50 yards to an adjacent pine.

Before setting a course for the home tree, the debutante gave a "here I come" squeal. She flew with greater confidence to achieve a high limb. Though Hunter had just delivered a trout, she ignored his celebratory offering and chose flight over food. Off she winged to partly loop the river and descend on a new branch. Thence she sped to a new tree, then another. Alone for the first time in his life, sibling Miracle was beyond consolation. He screamed and screamed. An hour passed before Hope made a clumsy, talons-splayed touch-down in the nest. Hers was a text-book fledge that would have made absent Mama proud.

By last week, brother Miracle had also reached fly-by date and was jumping aggressively on branches outside the nest.  Mama and Papa returned, bearing fish and a small rodent as gifts. Unplacated, their runt screamed from noon till sunset, seemingly demanding maternal permission to fly. Perhaps fearing an evening fledge and the risk another of baby on the ground, Mama endured his awful cacophony and kept the wannabe pilot under her yellow thumb. By dawn, the reunited family and faithful Hunter watched Miracle’s brave first step into the abyss.

His 250-yard flight achieved a leafy bluff oak. Then he ventured a longer spin to a low, rotted stump. Papa and sister Hope perched encouragingly in a nearby pine. On an aborted relaunch, they saw him plummet over the bluff. Human observers groaned at the memory of Courage's ill-fated fall, but rookie Miracle did not tumble far. His eager little face soon reappeared and he regained his stump. His next flit -- to a mockingbird nesting tree -- brought on fierce harassment by its tiny occupants. Off he flew to join sibling Hope on a more hospitable pine. Though the older fledgling tried to bully him into takeoff, the new aviator stood firm.

When Miracle swooped to his next destination, his talons grabbed flimsy pine needles. This common rookie error flopped him upside-down and bat-like till he lost hold and fell to a solid branch. Here he quickly perceived a second error:  he was back in the mockingbird tree and under renewed attack.  Fleeing over the river, he soon returned to claim familiar cliff pines.

All morning and afternoon of a triple-digit day continued his thrilling adventure. Miracle’s fledge was a roller coaster of takeoffs, landings, a trapeze act, a tumbling turn and battles with wee birds. A fish dinner with the family would later crown his debut.

Days before a July 4 historically curtailed by COVID restrictions, the safe launching of new national bird generation came as a balm to nature lovers. May the spirit of Courage -- Hope and Miracle’s lost brother – forever be the wind beneath their wings.

Footnote: To protect the eagles, their nest location is not published. Susan Maxwell Skinner’s American River Nature Blog can be followed on Facebook.