Once upon a time, eagles used to nest in the tops of the towering pine trees that grew along the ridge of Hurley Mountain and so the area came to be called the Eagle’s Nest. That’s the usual explanation behind the evocative name. These pines might have been old growth specimens that somehow escaped the intensive logging in this area. Or they might have been second growth pines that had no competition after the deciduous chestnuts and oaks were cut down. Gail Whistance provided this photo of Hurley Mountain circa 1900 that shows a white pine rising above the rest of the canopy.
A perfect place for an eagle’s nest, right? Actually, probably not. Eagles usually build their nests in trees that border a lake or creek. Before the Ashokan Reservoir was built, the Esopus Creek that winds its way around the foot of Hurley Mountain flooded every spring and submerged a portion of the fields, sometimes leaving oxbow lakes after receding, but in general there would have been an expanse of field between the crest of the mountain and the creek banks. Pre-DDT there might have been a healthy population of bald eagles nesting along the creek, as we are happily beginning to see again. They may have swooped over the tall pines up on the hill on their way down to the creek, but it’s doubtful that they were nesting there.
