EUGENE, Ore. — People with binoculars have been flocking to Skinner Butte all spring, hoping to get a glimpse of Eugene’s celebrated pair of resident bald eagles and monitor the progress of their rapidly growing offspring.
For some, the stately symbols of the Union are a stop on a broader birdwatching routine. For others, it’s a first-time ornithological foray. But for Jeff Harrison and his wife, Louise Jackson, who can see the big birds’ favorite perch from their house, the annual return of the bald eagles embodies a spiritual connection with their son, Jonah Jackson, who died three years ago at age 29.
“We first heard the eagles on Feb. 27, 2007,” Harrison says. “Jonah had just died — we had just had a service for him that day at the Many Nations Longhouse (on the University of Oregon campus). We were sitting on our porch with family and friends, talking, and we heard an eagle jabbering. We had never heard an eagle here before.”
The Harrison-Jackson family has a deep connection with the bald eagle. Louise Jackson, who is Native American, was born in White Eagle, Okla., and the eagle is her family totem. Although Harrison is not Native American, he once worked in the federal government’s VISTA program, helping to start a tribal school in La Push. Because he was the only light-haired person there, the Quileute tribal members called him “Pixtadax,” their word for bald eagle.
“Eagles have always been part of our life and Jonah’s life — in our house, we have feathers or pictures or something to do with eagles in every room,” Harrison said. “That night, when we all heard the eagle, everybody’s eyes filled with tears. We all knew Jonah was still here and with us.”
Harrison has been watching the Skinner Butte nest since he first glimpsed it in 2007.
“The first year, when the birds built their nest, one of them still had a brown spot on its head, so I know it was only about 3 years old,” he said. “They usually return in February or March, and in the past three years, the chicks haven’t been mature enough to fly until the middle of July.”
He used to keep a telescope on his front porch to watch the eagles, “but somebody stole it,” Harrison said. “Now, I take a folding lawn chair up there every day to see them.”
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