Last month, Orv, the male eagle, went missing. Cautionary messages that he’d been injured or possibly deceased — that he’d lost a battle — started circulating on social media.
The theories were only further legitimized by the appearance of a previously unknown, 5-year-old male eagle who showed up the same day Orv went missing. The new male has been observed hanging out with Willa, Orv’s life partner.
According to Jen, the groundskeeper at Carillon, Willa has been “dating,” which would only be possible if Orv were truly gone. Willa’s most prominent suitor, ostensibly the unnamed 5-year-old male, has been roosting in the nest overnight with her every day this week.
“I’m thinking she may be settling down on this one,” Jen said, “but we won’t know that until they really start bringing sticks to the nest. They brought one or two, but they’re not really working on it like they should be this time of year.”
She said eagles typically gather detritus from mid-September to December to reinforce their nests, so it seems Willa and her new beau are in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, neglecting housing for the more exhilarating aspects of eagledom.
Before Orv’s disappearance, Jen said that the photogenic power couple were gathering sticks to form another nest by the picnic shelter. But since none of the sticks stayed in the tree, the two gave up on that location and browsed the housing options by the hillside. Still, nothing caught their eye, so they returned to the original nest.
It was only days later that Orv disappeared.
Documenting this dramatic narrative saga are the bird-watching photographers at Carillon Park. Many post up on Carillon Boulevard alongside the Great Miami River in Dayton. With their long lenses and fast shutter speeds, they capture our national bird in the wild, right here in the Miami Valley.
On a normal day, several cars are lined up on the side of the road. But on the first snowfall of the year, with temperatures hovering around freezing, there were two cars with photographers staying warm inside of them.
Jen has worked at Carillon for 18 years, and saw the first juvenile eagle there around 15 years ago. When asked why people watch birds, she wasn’t sure at first. It eventually came down to appreciating nature, and learning the songs that it makes: the happy ones and the heartbreaking ones.
The bird-watching community is hoping to get eyes on Orv for either treatment or a proper goodbye.
It’s been reported that Orv and Willa have parented at least 11 eaglets since 2018. We may not know of Orv’s current whereabouts, but his bloodline lives on — as do the photographs depicting the love Orv had for his life partner, Willa.
The nest is empty today, but surely not for long.
Contact this contributing writer at branberry100@gmail.com.
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