A bald eagle survived an unlikely lightning strike to her nest near Stearns Lake in Boulder County, Colorado. A trail camera caught the moment the tree explodes on video, and wildlife officials are both thrilled and shocked that the eagle flew away from the incident.
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In the video, you see an eagle and a red-tailed hawk perched in a tree, alongside the eagle’s nest. Suddenly, with a burst of light, lightning strikes the nest and obliterates it. After the strike, the birds dangle upside-down as they recover from electrocution. The eagle then flies away.
Front Range Eagles manages the trail cam and tracks mated pairs of eagles in the area. The surviving bald eagle and her mate had successfully raised eaglets in this nest and general Stearns Lake area for years. Since the lightning strike, volunteers have seen the eagle and her mate searching for new nesting sites.
Watch as lightning strikes an eagle’s nest here:
See local news coverage of the incident, including an interview with Front Range Eagles, here:
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