[Ashrunner]

About 10 miles north of me is Smith Rock State Park. On the eastern side of the park is a pillar known as Monument Rock. And on Monument Rock is a Golden Eagle's nest.

This past week, I have gone to rock area and sat on the opposite of the canyon from the nest, which provides a nice view of it. The nest sits about a quarter of mile away and about halfway up the rock face.

Well, Friday, I arrived for a look at the nest and noticed there wasn't a bird on the nest like there was Tuesday. So, with camera in hand, I sat down on one of the basalt pillars to wait for their return.

About fifteen minutes later, I decided to open my snack and grab a bite while I waited. Big Mistake...as I was bringing the first morsel of food to my mouth, one of the adults swooped in from low and landed on the left side of the nest. I dropped my sandwich, grabbed my camera and was just in time to get shots of the second bird swooping in.

The photos below show Monument Rock. If you draw a line across from the left side where the sky meets the ground to the right side, the nest is located in about the center of the rock. The others are of second eagle swooping in and the two on the nest.