[Jeff Higgins]

It occurs to me that I'm rather blessed in this regard. We have a mating pair of Bald Eagles right here in my neighborhood who have been here for over ten years. Yes, in what has now transformed well and truly into "suburbia" in the 35 years we have lived here, 20 miles north of Seattle. Replete with a shopping mall and everything.

Beyond that, this is my favorite time of the year to take my "Bald Eagle ride". Riding south down our Snoqualmie River Valley, I have four nests that I've monitored for well over ten years. They are easy to spot this time of year, with the leaves off of the trees. Granted, that starts in the fall, but what makes this time of the year special is just what we are watching on the nest camera - they are almost always in their nests, or at least one of them while the other is out hunting.

This was almost unheard of when I was a kid in the '60's and '70's. Our raptors, of all kinds, were virtually gone. The comeback they have made in the intervening years has been very gratifying to watch. Not just our eagles, but Red Tailed Hawks, Ospreys, various species of owls, falcons, and more. They are very common sights these days or, in the case of the owls, commonly heard at night. They are in our neighborhood too.

I wish more people would have the opportunity to be around and to observe these birds. I think the sentiment expressed on the Big Bear website is horribly misguided, and frankly just plain wrong.

This nest is in the San Bernardino National Forest land. It has been in active use since the fall of 2013. The surrounding area is closed to the public during nesting season to protect the eagles—bald eagles have been known to abandon nests when disturbed by humans..

That has not been my experience in what now amounts to over 40 years of living around these birds since their fantastic recovery. "Our" eagles, for example, live within a couple hundred yards of a big shopping mall, and even closer to a major freeway interchange (I-5 and I-405). Three of the four nests I monitor are right smack in the middle of active, busy farms growing corn and grazing cattle, with human activity right below the nests every day. Two are literally right off the shoulders of moderately busy rural farm roads, close enough that one might get a little "present" as one rides by. These birds clearly have no trouble whatsoever with human activity.

I think allowing closer contact would instill a greater appreciation for these birds. I know it has for me. Nothing like watching one catch a rabbit right outside one's front window, which I have been lucky enough to do a couple of times. Nothing like having one alight in the top of a tree in the back yard when we are out on the deck, which happens on occasion.