STARKVILLE — The dead old pine tree stands ominous and gray in a section of woods just off the beaten path in the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge.
Much of the bark has peeled and fallen off and the branches up top are broken and lifeless.
Also nestled at the top, however, in a cone-shaped mass of branches and twigs, sits a Bald Eagle’s nest. The nest is empty this time of year. Refuge officials have come to expect the eagles to return in early winter.
But when the eagles do return to their nesting place later this year, they also will find a new home nearby.
Friends of Noxubee Refuge President Larry Box was on hand with refuge officials and a team of tree climbers Thursday to construct a new nest for the eagles in a tree about 20 yards from the dead pine. The new location is a bit higher and sits in a tree that is still very much alive.
The project is necessary for the safety of the eagles, Box said.
“The concern is, if they try to nest there (in the dead pine) again this year, it’s going to fall down,” Box said.
Climber Sammie Yate, who was part of an outfit contracted by Friends of Noxubee Refuge, dug into the side of the live tree with his climbing boots Thursday morning, swung his rope around the trunk and pulled it tight, and worked his way up to the top, about 125 feet off the ground. All the while a chainsaw dangled from his side.
Yate climbed among the branches once he reached the top and used his chainsaw to take down limbs at the request of refuge biologist David Richardson, who peered up from the ground with a pair of binoculars and called out instructions. Yate eventually cleared away a spot where three thick branches converged.
The team of four men who came with Yate to the refuge began to lash together branches and sticks, then tied them in bundles so Yate could pull them up to the top of the tree. He eventually built the base of a new nest for the eagles. The birds will build the rest, Box said.
Wildlife officials and Friends of Noxubee Refuge members are concerned the eagles’ existing nest could be blown out of the dead tree when eggs or young ones are inside. Or the branches could just become too brittle.
The dead pine was struck by lightning three years ago, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Andrea Dunstan, who works at the refuge. The eagles then nested in it the following two years, Box said, and have had two successful broods.
The old nest won’t be removed, Box said, though he hopes the eagles make the new nest their home and stay away from the dead, unstable pine.
“We’re hoping they recognize the badly deteriorated state of the old nest and at the same time they recognize a really good place to build a new one,” Box said. “The bottom line though is it is still totally up to them.”
Tim Pratt is the Starkville Bureau Reporter for The Commercial Dispatch.
