February 24, 2010 11:04 am
I was driving up the GW Parkway this morning, and as I was going around one of the bends near the scenic overlooks, a giant bald eagle swooped right in front of me. (It was roughly the size of a small horse.) It glided over the cliff, heading across the river, and I am probably lucky it did not cause me to wreck. I watched it as far as I could, mostly to make sure I was not imagining it. But nope, definitely a genuine, in-the-feather version of our national bird.
I am pretty sure the only thing more American than a bald eagle fly across the Potomac (on a road named for George Washington, no less) would be eating a Big Mac and an apple pie while watching a reality TV show.
About a quarter mile down the road, I saw a second bird, from farther away, that I think may have been a juvenile bald eagle. The coloring was all wrong for any of the hawks in the area, and the shape did not look like a vulture, so who knows.
A quick Google search showed that there are actually quite a few bald eagles in the area — including 20 nesting pairs along the Potomac — and in 2009 a pair was even nesting in the median on the GW Parkway. There is even a photo gallery dedicated to George Washington Memorial Parkway Bald Eagles. So I guess I should have been less surprised to have seen one this morning and more surprised that I had not seen one before now.
Maybe the first eagle I saw was either Alex or Belle, a pair that seems to have nested in the area last year:
-Susan
[Edit: I am pretty sure I have located the eagles’ nest. If you’re heading southbound on the GW Parkway, just where the entrance ramp for Spout Run comes into the Parkway, their nest is on the left in the median, maybe ten feet down from the top of the trees. It’s pretty hard to miss once you know where to look.]
Posted by Susan Simpson
Categories: Everything Else
Tags: bald eagles, cool, DC, george washington
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Well, well. There are eagles all along the Parkway! There are 2 pairs of eagles that I see regularly between Old Town and Riverside Park (1 mile N. of the Mount Vernon Mansion). Alex and Belle are back in the cottonwood on Belle Haven Country Club property, and another pair are in a tree that sits on Fort Hunt Park property, but easily visible from the Parkway and bike trail. What a treat it is to see 1 to 4 eagles every day since some time in Feb!!
By Marjy on March 17, 2010 at 3:12 pm
The eagles must not like very much the stretch I regularly travel on, then. I’ve only seen one once since the first time, and it’s not for lack of trying.
So the one I saw ain’t part of Alex and Belle, it seems. Any clue on who the denizens of the Parkway median nest would be?
By Susan Simpson on March 17, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Where are Alex and Belle? There are two different birds that appear regularly in their tree. They look more like some kind of water fowl to me, but I can’t be sure because I am not a birder per se. So, what happened to Alex and Belle?
By Catherine on May 4, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I also saw one nesting along the south bound lane on GW Parkway 1 mile before Key Bridge in a Sycamore tree. Just across from Georgetown.
By steve on March 23, 2017 at 7:16 pm
They are still there!
By Anonymous on February 13, 2018 at 7:42 pm