High Desert may have new pair of resident bald eagles, many hope a soon-to-be mating pair

Wildflower blooms aren't the only thing the spring season seems to have brought to Southern California − a pair of bald eagles has also been swept in with the warm winds in Palmdale.
Resident wildlife enthusiasts have spotted the pair since the beginning of March, according to Lancaster resident David Emenheiser.
"I don't know if they are just passing through or [if they've found a] new habitat, but they have been around for the last couple of weeks," Emenheiser said in a comment on his post on Facebook.
The Lancaster resident photographed the couple up close on his Canon R5, which digitized spectacularly clear photos of the pair perched on barren branches in the southeast corner of Fin and Feather streets.
Emenheiser has always wanted to photograph birds of prey − specifically eagles − but didn't think there were enough around Southern California. When he finally made the decision to try and find the American icon, he was able to find them in three different locations within a couple of weeks, he told the Daily Press.
"I've been in the Antelope Valley for 43 years and I've never heard of [eagles] being here before," Emenheiser said.
Emenheiser's post generated conversation about the resident bald eagle population around the High Desert, like the Spring Lake Valley aviator who is often seen around the eastern edge of Victor Valley; and the Mojave Narrows eagle who allegedly likes the bird-friendly habitat of the Victorville fishing area and who, some residents believe, may be the same eagle from Spring Lake Valley.
High Desert resident Jacqui Fleming said she hopes the Spring Lake Valley eagle finds a mate soon for the type of happy-ever-after that the Big Bear eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow, is currently experiencing.
Read More: Public invited to help name Big Bear bald eaglets
Emenheiser reports that the last sighting of the Palmdale pair was about March 29 and thinks that they are still in the area, as they have been for weeks now.
He also saw a tagged eagle 15 minutes from Palmdale at Elizabeth Lake on March 3 which, he told the Daily Press, is supposedly from the Channel Islands and hasn't been seen in the area in eight years.
The High Desert eagle spottings come during the flurry of viral popularity of the Big Bear bald eagle couple Jackie and Shadow and their recently hatched eaglets.
The Big Bear couple welcomed their first surviving eaglets in three years in March. The whole of California watched via a Friends of Big Bear Valley YouTube livestream video of the pre- and post-hatching process, including the devastating loss of one baby chick due to winter storm weather.
The two surviving baby birds are growing rapidly, spreading their wings in preparation to fly soon (called "wingersizing"), and are healthily eating to their heart's content.
McKenna is a reporter for the Daily Press. She can be reached at mmobley@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert may have new pair of resident bald eagles

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Buzz Feed

2 hours ago

• Buzz Feed

The Hidden Dark Side Of Gifted Programs Revealed

I don't remember precisely when I first heard the word 'gifted,' but it must have been in early elementary school. I do remember being pulled out of my first-grade class and led to the fifth-grade classroom, where a teacher told me to choose a chapter book that was 'more at my level.' I appreciated the chance to choose from all sorts of new books, but it marked an early example of what would eventually be both a privilege and a curse: my foray into being 'set apart' academically from my fellow classmates. By the time I reached middle school, the gifted and talented program in my district had taken wing. The timing makes sense: In 1998, many American schools were provided with official K-12 standards for so-called 'gifted education' by the National Association of Gifted Children. While the NAGC first promoted advanced academic programming in the 1950s, its work in the late '80s and '90s represented a more structured approach to educating students who were found to be gifted. K-12 gifted education standards were preceded by the passage of the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Act in 1988, which secured funding to 'orchestrate a coordinated program of scientifically based research, demonstration projects, innovative strategies, and similar activities that build and enhance the ability of elementary and secondary schools to meet the special educational needs of gifted and talented students.' In those early days, my experience with Gifted & Talented (or G/T, as we fondly called it) was almost entirely positive. Our G/T class was tucked away in a windowless classroom whose walls we decorated with silly drawings and posters. Several of my close friends were also in the program, and there was nothing better than getting to hang out with them for an hour or two per day while working on our largely self-assigned curriculum. Our teacher was warm and encouraging, always pushing each of us to incorporate our individual interests and skills into projects. In fact, nearly all the teachers I worked with in G/T were engaged educators who genuinely wanted their students to thrive. I'm forever grateful for their personal guidance, regardless of my later reflections on the program. In so many ways, G/T was a safe place at school — a place where I could be my true (weird) self and engage in more self-directed learning. But there was a troubling flip side to the G/T experience that took me years to unpack. From what I could gather, most students qualified for the program based on standardized test scores. While the NAGC defines gifted pupils as 'those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains,' it seems inevitable that many kids would be excluded from gifted education for factors beyond their control. In her 2016 book Engaging and Challenging Gifted Students: Tips for Supporting Extraordinary Minds in Your Classroom, Jenny Grant Rankin, Ph.D., outlines gaps in gifted education. Nonwhite students, socioeconomically disadvantaged kids, girls, and those classified as English language learners are disproportionately excluded from gifted and talented programming, Rankin reports. She also cites a 2016 study by Jason A. Grissom and Christopher Redding that found that Black students were 50% less likely to be considered for gifted and talented programs than their white counterparts, even when both groups recorded similar standardized test scores. What's more, students of color were less likely to be labeled gifted when their teachers were white. In G/T, I learned quickly that much of my self-esteem came from academic praise and approval from adults. The 'gifted' label seeped into everything I did and was a stumbling block at times — if I struggled to master a concept in math class or didn't understand a question on a social studies test, I'd avoid asking for help. After all, I was gifted. I shouldn't need help with anything, right? It felt like my so-called 'natural' giftedness should pre-qualify me to succeed in any endeavor, which led me to prematurely give up on new hobbies later in life when I didn't immediately feel like a master. And when a project in a non-G/T class earned anything less than an A, I often found myself in tears and seeking reassurance from my family and friends that I was 'still smart.' The question of 'potential' was another overwhelming aspect of G/T. Gifted kids at my school were encouraged to pursue all sorts of fields — with the unspoken message that no matter what we pursued, we were expected to be excellent. Most of us went on to take as many Advanced Placement classes in high school as our schedules would allow, driven by the sense that we simply had to be high achievers. Academic excellence would translate directly to excellence in career and life in general, many of us thought. It wasn't until college that I first experienced the lingering impacts of the gifted education experience. Suddenly, I was a very small fish in the massive pond that is the University of Michigan. I wasn't the 'smart kid' anymore— I was one of thousands of 'smart kids,' all of whom had ambitions on par with or beyond my own. College instructors rarely offered direct praise, and the occasional B in a class became commonplace. When I couldn't maintain perfection, I felt like I was failing the version of myself I was supposed to become. Unsurprisingly, college was also when my mental health took its first major nosedive. Alongside a handful of personal issues, my sudden sense of academic invisibility had triggered a crisis. My path felt unclear. Wasn't I supposed to get to college, breeze through with perfect grades, and immediately jump into an impressive career? When graduation rolled around, I got a dose of validation by heading off on a Fulbright teaching grant to Malaysia, but my life beyond that looked so blurry. It took a long time to admit that I didn't want to go to grad school, which felt shameful. Without academic validation or 'high achievement' on the table, would I be untethered forever? In the decade since, I've drawn connections between my most plaguing anxieties and my early education. It's taken practice to feel more comfortable with accepting professional criticism or admitting when I'm not sure how to do something at work. I see how my G/T years merged self-worth with accolades and grades, and I feel sad for the younger version of myself — along with other 'formerly gifted' peers — who internalized so many false measures of success. At times, adulthood feels like an ongoing battle to remind myself that I'm a valuable, worthy person, regardless of outward achievements. I'm not alone: In recent years, the 'formerly gifted kid' trope has become something of a meme, with TikTokers cracking dark jokes about their lingering sense of anxiety, perfectionism and perceived failure to live up to parents' and teachers' expectations. It's funny because it's true. Data shows that while gifted programs can result in better long-term academic outcomes and college success for some students, these benefits still reflect inequities. A 2021 study by Grissom and Redding found that small associations existed between participation in gifted programming and long-term achievement in math and reading, but there was no evidence to support a correlation between gifted kids and their general engagement with school. Most glaringly, even these small positive associations were skewed toward higher-income white pupils, with low-income or Black gifted students excluded from long-term academic gains. What's more, this research doesn't begin to explore gifted education's extended impact on social and emotional development for all participants. I don't regret my time as a gifted kid, but I do wish G/T had offered more care for students' mental health and more inclusivity for children who didn't fit the program's relatively narrow mold of exceptionalism. I wish I could unlearn the idea that outward praise equals true success, and measure excellence in the form of learning for learning's sake. Above all, I wish we'd had an environment where every single student was reminded how smart and talented they were, and given the tools to explore their gifts — no matter what form they took.

American Press

15 hours ago

• American Press

Joseph 'Joe' Julius LeDoux Sr.

Msg. Joseph Julius LeDoux Sr. (Retired), 84, passed away peacefully with his family by him. Born and raised in Pine Island, La., Joe was a hunter and fisherman helping to provide for his family, but hunting was his passion. Joe went on to enlist in the United States Army. He and some buddies, while stationed in New York, went out on a blind date one night and that is where he met a 'YANKEE' name Phyllis, who later became his wife for 65 years. They faced wonderful times and turbulent times, but their marriage vows were seared into the hearts of each of them. Joe and Phyllis raised three great children. He enjoyed sharing history with his family, he and his family traveled to locations of American History. Joe Spent 22 years in the military in some form or fashion with active service and reserves. On Sept. 11, when the country was attacked, Joe was in a room with others at the Pentagon where they left that room approximately 20 minutes before the plane flew into the Pentagon, into that very room. Joe is survived by his wonderful wife, Phyllis LeDoux; a daughter, Kim Marie Garland; two sons, Joseph Julius LeDoux II and Dale Anthony LeDoux; four sisters, Shirley Shaw, Jane Ruff, Juanita Ardoin, and Veronica LeBlanc; sister-in-law, Laura LeDoux; two grandchildren, Kyle LeDoux and Haley LeDoux; six great-grandchildren, Cooper, Tiffani, Brittany, Joanna, Camilla, and Michael; four great-great-grandchildren, Tyreek, Arriana, Brandon, and Brianna. Preceding him in death is his sister, Anna Faul; three brothers, Paul LeDoux, James LeDoux, and John LeDoux; grandson, Michael Garner, and his parents, Eugene and Hannah LeDoux. The family will welcome relatives and friends on Monday, June 23, 2025 at Hixson Funeral Home of Lake Charles beginning at 4 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. with a rosary to prayed at 5 p.m. Visitation will resume on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at 11 a.m. until the procession leaves for the church at 2 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady Queen of Heaven at 2:30 p.m. Burial will follow at Pine Island Cemetery. Msgr. Daniel Torres will officiate at the services. The family would like to express a heartfelt thank you to Heart of Hospice and the family and friends who assisted with Joe's care. Please leave fond memories for the LeDoux family at

Boston Globe

20 hours ago

• Boston Globe

Today in History: June 21, US Constitution becomes law

Advertisement In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his mechanical reaper. In 1893, the first Ferris wheel opened to the public as part of the Chicago World's Fair. In 1942, an Imperial Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, but caused little damage. In 1954, scientists of the American Cancer Society presented a study to a meeting of the American Medical Association in San Francisco, Calif., which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died, particularly from lung cancer, at a considerably higher rate than non-smokers. In 1964, civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered in Neshoba County, Miss. Their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. (Forty-one years later, on this date in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughter in their deaths; he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in January 2018.) Advertisement In 1982, a jury in Washington, D.C., found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Washington D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy. In 1989, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled, in Texas v. Johnson, that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment. In 1997, the WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the host Los Angeles Sparks 67-57. In 2004, the aircraft SpaceShipOne made the first privately funded human spaceflight. In 2010, Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born US citizen, pleaded guilty to charges of plotting a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square. (Shahzad was later sentenced to life in prison.)