Rare bald eagles build nest in Ontario’s Cootes Paradise

In a Hamilton marsh, a pair of bald eagles are nesting in a white pine.

If they succeed in breeding, they'll be giving Lake Ontario's north shore it first bald eagle offspring in 50 years.

The patriotic (for our southern neighbours) birds were first spotted in Cootes Paradise two years ago, when the male bird was too immature to reproduce.

"We've just been waiting for the immature one to graduate to adulthood," Tys Theijsmeijer, head of natural lands for Burlington's Royal Botanical Gardens, said in a statement (via The Star). "In the interim they built a nest."

It appears the eagles have now reached maturity.

The eagle pair have moved from one tree to another and back again, essentially requesting privacy from the eyes of naturalists and visitors on a nearby viewing platform. The birds spend significant amounts of time sheltered from view in their nest.

Bird watchers cannot confirm if there are eggs in the majestic birds' nest, but assume that if there are, they were laid in the last two weeks. By mid-to-late April, little eagles' beaks could be popping out of the nest.

The Lake Ontario area was once home to many bald eagles. DDT and other toxic chemicals killed many of them off (mostly due to a thinning of egg shells); by 1980, only four bald eagle nests — about 15 birds in total — in southern Ontario.

Theijsmeijer says that there are now about 32 nests along the lower Great Lakes.

"It's been a slow but steady climb back," he said. "We're finally getting the big bird back to the big lake."

If you want to sneak a peek of the birds, your closet view will be from the Marshwalk Observation Platform. The nest is about 400 metres west of the platform. Bring binoculars.

(Photo credit: CBC)