A BIG, new 8-10 foot, wide nest is on a Power tower, what to do...

A BIG new, 8-10 foot wide nest is near my house on a Power tower, what to do...

How should I approach the the very big nest for the first sightings of the bird... Might be a Bald Eagle or a Heron... (I'm in NE Pennsylvania, in the Pocono's) It's on the edge of a power line on the line tower cross bars...It is being built up as we speak...

I'm just about to purchase a 100-400mm lens and presently have, just a basic 75-300 as my longest lens...Binoculars for viewing, I have...

Should I walk there and sit?.. or drive my P/U truck near there, park it, and walk in and sit? Or should I bicycle in and sit?

Please share your experiences and advice...I won't go there till I get the new long lens, unless you all recommend I try it...

Drive in and sit in the truck. It will act as a blind. They see a truck, not the person.

Great...It is visible from my local, sparsely used road...since the road loops around,the nest can actually be seen from either 70 yards away from the road, or 300 yards away from the road as it loops around...

I can carry a lot of gear in the truck and sit there for a long time from the 300 yard location, to first identify it... Thereafter, I would prepare for the close up approach.

Thanks for the camo reinforsement...I also have a lot of camo gear and a gilla suit...should I bother with camo clothing or the sniper suit?

Camo isn't going to work on a bird that can see a fish underwater from a steep reflective angle. They see movement, if the camo moves, they will see it, so it's useless. A blind allows you to move around a bit without being seen.

Can you drive closer legally? I'd get as close as I could without stressing them. A truck sitting there for a couple hours a day is going to become a rock after a few days and they will just ignore it.

canonloader wrote in post #2113339
Camo isn't going to work on a bird that can see a fish underwater from a steep reflective angle. They see movement, if the camo moves, they will see it, so it's useless. A blind allows you to move around a bit without being seen.

Can you drive closer legally? I'd get as close as I could without stressing them. A truck sitting there for a couple hours a day is going to become a rock after a few days and they will just ignore it.

Great, forget tha camo wear, I never use it anyway...

Believe it or not, I'm in real good luck...the nest is just a few blocks over in our community development...If I pre-warn our security department, I could probably leave the truck for hours at a time near the nest for a few days to acclimate the bird...

Or just sit in the truck and wait each day for an hour or two, till I sight it...It obviously could be identified while on approach, in the air...

If it's legal for you to be on the repair and inspection road, then your being there as many hours as you can be may also prevent the nest being torn down by the powerline crews or the birds harrassed by idiots. Witnesses put a crimp in vandalism. And, the birds will get use to the truck too.

I mentioned awhile back that I've trapped hawks and owls for a banding program years ago. There are a few things to keep in mind with raptors. First, they are not generally very brave. They will never attack you. Never even heard of that happening. Second, they are creatures of habit. They wake up, eat, hunt and roost at predictable times. Third, they are not very smart. Thats why blinds work at all. They can't see you, your not there, plain and simple.

canonloader wrote in post #2113716
If it's legal for you to be on the repair and inspection road, then your being there as many hours as you can be may also prevent the nest being torn down by the powerline crews or the birds harrassed by idiots. Witnesses put a crimp in vandalism. And, the birds will get use to the truck too.

I mentioned awhile back that I've trapped hawks and owls for a banding program years ago. There are a few things to keep in mind with raptors. First, they are not generally very brave. They will never attack you. Never even heard of that happening. Second, they are creatures of habit. They wake up, eat, hunt and roost at predictable times. Third, they are not very smart. Thats why blinds work at all. They can't see you, your not there, plain and simple.

I have some blind material from Cabela's and could even purchase one...

It just so happens that the Utility company came through earlier this year and cleaned the sides of the tree lines, but did not disturb this nest...therefore the bird returned and continued to build it up for the fall season...

Our community has finally sectioned off all access to the power line from ATV's...we just happened to have an ATV fatality in the immediate vicinity this year, and the local patrols are after the under age and adult misbehavior...

I'm glad you mentioned vandalism...here in the "sticks" where I live, environmental education is popular...however occasional problems happen and it would be a total bummer if harm came to this nest...

Therefore, i will document it for our community office files and ask that it not become a tourist attraction...Checking with the Agricultural extension office might be in order too...while a call to the state capitol and the appropriate department should be in order as well... I still have some friends in the State Department of Environmental Resources from the old college days...
Thanks for the heads up canonloader.

Sounds like a good place to start.

I checked out the nests today...

No sign of the birds yet...do you think these nests are active? The smaller nest is relatively new, I wonder if it is finished...also, I wonder if they are even used this time of the year...It was 31 degrees last night with more cold nights on the way...

And here are three pictures taken with the Canon 75-300mm III 4.0-5.6 Lens...the distant nest shots are at 75mm each and the close up of the two nests is at 155mm...

The first distant shot is from the far side of the road loop, approx.150 yards away...

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I don't think they use them year round. They may be seen near it now and then or add a stick occasionally, but it's mainly used for brooding the chicks. Still, most of them are territorial as far as I know, they don't go too far. Only population pressure will make them move. I've heard that they will range 100 miles though, in hunting.

canon loader wrote in post #2117030
I don't think they use them year round. They may be seen near it now and then or add a stick occasionally, but it's mainly used for brooding the chicks. Still, most of them are territorial as far as I know, they don't go too far. Only population pressure will make them move. I've heard that they will range 100 miles though, in hunting.

We have Bald Eagles just 30 miles away, along the Delaware River...

Might not these be the Red Tailed Hawk's nest...there is a pair of them by my house, often...

Redtails prefer trees and forest. Plenty of that around, and I've never seen a hawk nest that big. The ones I've seen were no more than a couple feet across.

Until you see something using it, there's no way to tell. That could also be a GBH nest. I've seen them build like that in Kentucky. Big and flat.

Most probably Osprey nests.
They have departed for warmer climate by now.

canonloader wrote in post #2117143
Redtails prefer trees and forest. Plenty of that around, and I've never seen a hawk nest that big. The ones I've seen were no more than a couple feet across.

Until you see something using it, there's no way to tell. That could also be a GBH nest. I've seen them build like that in Kentucky. Big and flat.

Wow, that's actually good news about the Red Tailed Hawk...

I have seen either a Female Bald Head Eagle or a Golden Eagle above the adjacent state highway several months ago...it was 10miles south of this nest heading in that general direction...

The Blue Heron is a good prospect too as we have several reservoirs and several small, 200 acre lakes nearby (within a 15 mile radius)...

busbyea wrote in post #2117151
Most probably Osprey nests.
They have departed for warmer climate by now.

The Osprey too, is making a comeback in Pennsylvania...Just a few years back, the PA Department of Environmental Resources conducted an state wide Osprey inventory/census...

It was actually conducted by some college friends of mine within the department, and executed by employees of the state...