Print edition: 
Those love birds are back, and working on building up their nest.
The two bald eagles that faithfully nested the past two winters on an island in the Twin Lakes shopping center have returned. The male was first spotted Nov. 11; the female Nov. 16.
Will this be the year for eaglets?
“I can honestly tell you I don’t have a clue,” said Bob Gress, director of the Great Plains Nature Center.
What is known is that the birds are one of the most popular and most photographed couples in Wichita.
“They are just absolutely beautiful birds,” said Bob Herington, a retired Boeing military engineer who sometimes goes two to three times a day to photograph the birds. “If you look and get to see through my lens … you can see them looking back at you.
“For me, it is just magic. I am captivated by them.”
Speculation is running high about whether the couple will produce offspring. If the biological clock is clicking, eagles typically mate in December and early January, with eggs appearing and nesting continuing through March.
“Last year it became obvious she was quite the ‘princess and the pea’ type,” Pam Hanson wrote in an e-mail to The Eagle. “Poor guy built and cushioned the nest, then he’d fly over to watch from a nearby branch while she tested its feel.”
Hanson’s Sherwin Williams district office is located across from the eagles’ nest.
And so, will this be the year?
“She seems much calmer and their rebuilding is more deliberate,” Hanson wrote. “The level of cooperation and intent seem more equal now. It’s as if our flighty teenaged bride has matured into an aware and willing wife. Only time will tell, but for now things look great!”
But there are concerns. The drought this year has dramatically lowered the water level in area lakes and rivers such as the Arkansas River.
“Shallow water makes it easier to catch fish – unless the fish have already died and there’s none to catch,” Gress said. “It was so dry earlier, most could have died. And, if that happens, we expect the eagles to push on and go somewhere else.”
