The Homeless Bald Eagles

Fallen Trees. Front Range Plains, Colorado, 2015

The above image was captured earlier today somewhere along the Colorado Front Range where development has long been putting pressure on the native rapture population (and wildlife in general). What you see on the near horizon line are two seemingly inconsequential piles of brush which are the remains of two large trees, one of which was once home to a monstrous avian nest.

In fact, this nest was Home Sweet Home to a Bald Eagle pair.

Very recently, and quite legally, the trees were felled and the nest destroyed in order to make way for us human beans and our trappings.

Where are the eagles now? Look very closely at each end of the pump jack. See those bumps? Those are the eagles. I had no idea they were there when I tripped the shutter; I only discovered their presence later as I culled through my photos on the computer screen:

Oil Pump Eagles. Front Range Plains, Colorado, 2015

Try this cropped version. Now do you see them? This is their new, and quite ironic, temporary perch–the Bald Eagle equivalent of living under a bridge, I guess.

Oil Pump Eagles Close-Up. Front Range Prairie, Colorado, 2015