Adult Eagle With Prey Feeding Baby On Ground

It's been a very eventful week with our resident eagles.  I've been so busy observing, that it's been hard to even get my photos processed.  But today I wanted to let everyone know that the baby is being fed, and appears to be okay.  Here is what has transpired:
         Over a week ago, Saturday night, was the last time people saw the eagles nest.  On Monday a gal came by to check on it, and it was gone...the entire branch, nests included, was missing!  Many of us who have enjoyed watching the eagles, were of course worried, so the Audubon Society here in Portland was called.  After quite a few phone calls, they came out and hiked in to make sure the juvenile (about 8 weeks old) was okay.  It was determined that there were no broken wings and that it had found a dry spot in the very WET wetlands. 
       As the week wore on we finally observed the adults going down to the wetland floor bringing prey to feed the baby.  That was reassuring.
What happened next was so shocking....we were watching the female eagle on what remained of the nest tree (it was a large tree).  She seemed ready to fly and took off, and within the second the entire tree feel to the floor of the wetlands...there were large pops and cracks and it sounded like firecrackers or gunfire.  We all stood there in utter amazement and of course we were again worried for the baby eagle below.
            But over the next couple days we observed the eagles still feeding the youngster, so we are confident that it is well and growing.  It only needs a few more weeks before it will be able to fly, so we are hoping for the best.
           This photo was taken right before the adult left a branch above the baby eagle with prey...it had prey up on the branch, and it heard the baby cry...so down it went to feed it.

For photos from today, please visit my flickr page.