Bald Eagles at their Nest on a Cell Phone Tower

Pennsauken, NJ, May & July 2023; Update April & May 2024

 

Nest in 2023

This is a snapshot taken on May 10, 2023, from the football field parking lot on Collins Lane in Maple Shade, NJ. It shows a pair of adult Bald Eagles, one of which is feeding a chick in the nest atop the cell phone tower. Taken at 5:12 pm EDT with a handheld iPhone 11 afocally through an 88 mm Kowa apo spotting scope. Exposed 1/767 sec at f/1.8, ISO 32.

 

The snapshot above was taken on July 9, 2023, at 5:31 pm EDT from the Collins Lane spot. The view looks roughly 1,400 ft southwest to a cell phone tower on the grounds of the Pennsauken Country Club, along the South Branch of the Pennsauken Creek. Atop the tower is a Bald Eagle nest, #188 on the list kept by the New Jersey Bald Eagle Project, 2022 Report (scroll down to pg 8). Here's the Project Home Page. This is an afocal shot with a handheld iPhone 11 through a Kowa 88 mm apo spotting scope with the zoom eyepiece set to 40x. The horizontal arrows on the left point to the fledglings, the slanted arrow at the top points to the massive stick nest. Exposed 1/122 sec at f/1.8, ISO 50. Two fledgling birds are indicated with arrows on the left side; the arrow at the top points to the nest of sticks.

I first spotted an adult Bald Eagle on top of this tower in September 2019 incidentally while looking for Mercury just after sunset with the 88 mm spotter from a nearby baseball field. I've been watching it casually since then, spotting an occasional eagle. In the spring of 2023, I spotted a pair of adult eagles simultaneously and have been paying closer attention since then, ultimately spotting the heads of a couple chicks protruding from the nest being fed by an adult. Soon after, a pair of full-sized youngsters had been seen hopping around the top of the tower, still mostly brownish in color as shown in the photo (adult plumage takes four or five years to develop) and still a little awkward as they stretch their young wings. On July 9, I saw a youngster take short flights off the tower and back, but I can't tell if it was the same bird on each occasion.

  

 

Nest in 2024 & 2025

Update, April 2024: I stopped by the parking lot on April 10, about 1:30 pm, and noticed a "bump" at the top of the cell tower. Using 10x42 binoculars, I could that the "bump" was an adult Bald Eagle. I returned on April 11, around 2:30 pm, and using my 88 mm spotting scope at 60x, I could easily see the white head and tail of an adult Bald eagle, and eventually, saw the heads of two fuzzy chicks poking up periodically. At one point, the heads of both chicks were visible simultaneously. I was back on April 15, about 2 pm, and watched with the 88 mm. There was one adult perched on top of the tower, periodically hopping into the nest, tending to the chicks. Occasionally, the chicks would rise up and show their downy whitish feathers and stretch their scrawny-looking wings. Finally, about 3:45 pm, a second adult appeared (during a moment I wasn't looking). Both adults tended to the chicks, and one of them flew off at 4:10 pm. Another two-chick brood for 2024. In the New Jersey Bald Eagle Project, 2023 Report, this site is listed as #195. The 2024 Report lists Pennsauken CC as #518, incubation February 20, hatching April 9, fledging June 13, 2025, two birds fledged.

I've stopped the football field parking a number of times in March 2025, and saw nothing on a quick inspection, but finally on balmy March 19, I set up a chair and watched for a couple of hours with 15x56 binoculars. At 2:52 pm, I saw a hump with feathers at one end briefly rise out the nest's stick structure, and later, a bird's head (an eagle) appeared several times, but color was indeterminate. Regardless, there was activity in the nest. During the time I was there, I did not see any eagles flying to, or around the nest.

The picture above was taken at 12:32 pm on May 21, 2024, afocally with a handheld iPhone through the eyepiece of a Kowa 88 mm apo spotting scope. The chicks are crouched down in the nest and were not visible at the time, but when they stand up, they're an overall bronzy-brown color and about the same size as the adults. One needs to be patient while observing the nest. My most recent sighting of all four birds simultaneously was around noon on May 22; three were seen around noon on May 24 (one adult).

 

 

Observing Location

This is the view from directly behind the spotting scope, which is pointed at the distant cell tower (vertical arrow) with the eagle nest. It was taken with a handheld iPhone 11 on July 9, 2023, at 5:31 pm EDT, about 5 minutes before it started to rain; exposed 1/121 sec at f/1.8, ISO 64.

 

An iPhone 11 view of the cell tower on April 24, 2024, this time from the east bank of the Pennsauken Creek (separating Maple Shade in Burlington County from Pennsauken in Camden County). The spot is just off the curve at the west end of Collins Lane. At the time, no adult birds were present, as is often the case.

 

This is a clip of a Google Map, satellite view, of the cell tower with the eagle nest and my usual observing spot about 1,400 ft away at the parking lot on Collins Lane in Maple Shade, NJ.

 

  

Sightings and Pictures by Joe Stieber, 2023 & 2024