For the past four years I've been watching, observing and photographing a beautiful pair of bald eagles in The Hudson Valley! I've made new friends during this journey, I've learned a ton about eagles and I wrote and illustrated a children's picture book about them.

Roughly three weeks ago "mom" (the female of the pair) went missing. We've all worried about her and all the different possibilities of what could have happened have run through our heads. Today we learned that an angler (fisherman) found her body floating in the Hudson River. (I would like to take a moment and say thank you to the angler for getting her to the right place.) The DEC has picked her up and brought her to a pathologist for a necropsy. It has been an extremely sad day and we've all been mourning her loss. On and off today I've shed some tears thinking about my wonderful memories of her and for the sadness that I won't see her again. Thankfully, I'm left with many memories of her. I wound up leaving work a little early to meet up with my friend, Kate, to pick up some flowers. We brought the flowers to her favorite pine tree where she liked to perch and keep an eye on her territory. We said a few words and wished her peace.

We never really knew much about her mate "dad" because he was not banded. All we knew of him is what we've learned over the years of watching him. As for "mom", she was banded in 1995 with a blue band with N42 on it. She came from a nest in Sullivan County, along the Delaware River. She's been with her mate for roughly 16-17 years and successfully fledged 16 eaglets. Last spring we celebrated her 21st birthday which is a nice old age for an eagle in the wild. We expected to have a few more years with her, but sadly that isn't the case.

May "mom" rest in peace and know that she was very loved. We all will miss her dearly and hold onto the wonderful memories she gave us!