Every morning around 5 a.m., Linda Rix is woken by the same sound: the high-pitched caws of bald eagles calling out to their mother. “I don’t think they want to leave,” Rix says. The eagles — a mom, a dad, and now three massive chicks – have made Rix’s Mineville, N.S., property their home for three years. The parents arrived in 2022, built a sprawling nest steps from her back door, and have remained ever since. “In 2023 they raised one. Last year it was two. And this year, we’re so fortunate — we had three,” she says. Rix says she’s gotten used to them and the racket they make. “The only downside about it is five o’clock in the morning, the parents come with food, and they make one racket,” she laughs. “But I love it. It’s great entertainment.” She’s watched the babies grow and start to fly, although she says they still cling to the nest for mealtime. She’s spotted them swooping down with fish, eels, and even small birds. At times, the eagles have gotten so comfortable they’ve taken up space on her rocking chair, her veranda furniture, and even on her rooftop planters. One of them has a habit of sitting in place and refusing to move. “They’re so used to me now,” she says. “Even when they were learning to fly, they’d stay right beside me. “Maybe I should be, but they just don’t scare me. They don’t fly at me. They just stay wherever I am.” The original nest was damaged earlier this summer and parts of it collapsed this month, scattering the young birds around her yard. But she’s confident the parents will rebuild. “They do every year,” she says. “They start in the fall. Even over the winter and spring, they’ll have that nest hopefully fixed for next year.” Rix called Hope for Wildlife when the nest first collapsed, but was told that as long as the parents were feeding and the birds looked healthy, there was no need to intervene. “They look healthy to me,” she says. “And clearly well-fed.” While Rix hasn’t had a crowd of people knocking at her door to see the birds, she says those who pass by on boats will often slow down and marvel at the sight of massive eagles on her front veranda. “I consider myself their mother — just one without feathers,” she says. The eagles also provide entertainment to Rix, who often just sits in her backyard or porch admiring the birds. “One day, I was in the sun porch, and the three of them were lined up on the railing. One decided it would climb onto the back of another and try to balance,” she says. “Well, that didn’t work. They all ruffled their feathers and fell right off.” With every season, Rix says she learns more about the birds — their nesting habits, egg-laying cycles, and the rhythms of their lives. “I just wish I had a camera up there to see the beginning of it all,” she says. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
