A week ago I spotted a Bald Eagle's nest some distance away from the road near my house. I drove my car down a dirt road, practically under the nest.....maybe 300 feet away, I guess. I couldn't get a good picture, so I got out of the car and walked up the hill toward the nest. As I approached, the eagle flew off the nest and started flying around and was chirping at me. I guess that is the only way to describe the sound. I could tell it was very upset with me! He flew into a tree quite some distance away and I did get some pictures, although not very clear ones. When I got home, I went on line to read about Bald Eagles and found out that if they are disturbed, they will sometimes abandon the nest. I have been going by there every day or so to check the nest to see if the eagle had returned, but haven't seen any eagles in or near the nest all week. I can see the nest about 3 or 4 blocks away from my road and I'm not good at judging distance, but it is so far away that It looked like a squirrel's nest, even with 10 x 50 binocs. I was so disappointed because I thought I had caused this magnificent bird to abandon it's nest. I visualized eggs or chicks abandoned there in the nest. I thought that I had not only "messed with Mother Nature," but had messed up my chance to observe the eagles for the next 3 or 4 months. Well today, on the way home from town, I pulled over where I usually do..............3 or 4 blocks away, and got out the binocs and took a look. I thought I saw a blob in one of the trees near the nest that I hadn't seen before, but I really couldn't tell what it was...........I was so afraid that it was a Turkey Vulture scavenging the nest for eggs or chicks. I drove up to Everlasting Springs, an intersecting road, and tried to see if I could get a little closer and yet still stay on the road. The sun was behind the nest so I couldn't see if the bird had a white head. Then, I saw the bird fly over to the nest and it perched there for a short time. Then, when it took off, I could plainly see the white "rump" and knew for sure that it was the Bald Eagle. She was back!!!!!!!!! I had even prayed about this, "Please, God, let them come back to the nest!" I mean after all, it's our national treasure and, if because of my ignorance these eagles didn't have their babies, I would have felt awful! According to the rangers over at Land Between the Lakes where they take people out to see the eagles, the Bald Eagles arrive around Nov 24th, or around Thanksgiving time. They breed and nest here in Western Kentucky over the winter. An interesting fact is that about 40 % of the young chicks try to fly before they are ready and can die from falling out of the nest. Some of the nests weigh over a ton because the eagles are known to return to the same nest every year and keep adding to it. www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle4.html