Source: The Island Packet
A pair of bald eagles may have the best view of the 10th hole at the Golden Bear golf course in Indigo Run.
This fall, they built their nest in a pine tree a few hundred feet from the hole. By late December, the female had laid eggs.
The nest is one of four identified in southern Beaufort County, state Department of Natural Resources officials say. An official count of nests throughout the state won't be taken until early February.
Bob Wallace, superintendent of the Golden Bear course, said he started seeing the eagles in mid-October.
"I started seeing them fly over," Wallace said, "then I started noticing them up in the tree, and then I noticed the nest being built."
He said he was amazed to see the birds use tree limbs, not twigs, to build the nest.
"We're trying not to do anything to disturb it," Wallace said. "Now's the crucial time."
Wallace said he doesn't allow any blowers or mowers in the area near the nest. Maintenance of the area is being done completely by hand. Signs provided by the Department of Natural Resources that tell people to stay away from the area have been posted on nearby trees.
Charlotte Hope, a biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources, said golfing still is allowed in the area because the birds won't be disturbed by it.
"What eagles don't mind is what they're used to seeing every day," she said. "But don't ever leave the course and walk up to the tree."
The pair could be the same one last seen nesting in Wexford Plantation, Hope said.
John Coker, a department wildlife technician, said the state will begin to survey the approximately 200 known bald eagle nesting sites throughout the state next month. The survey will give natural resources officials a better idea of the number of nests.
Coker said the season seems to be going well so far.
Hope said nests also have been reported on a small island near Pinckney Island, in Palmetto Bluff and on a hummock in the May River near Palmetto Bluff. She isn't sure which nests have eggs.
Patty Richards, Palmetto Bluff's environmental services manager, said the pair in Palmetto Bluff seems to be doing well. Construction on the golf course and lagoons that was being done near the nest last year has ended, so the area will be more peaceful for the birds this year.
Richards said homes aren't being built yet near the nest.
