Eagles Return to Quechee

Photos courtesy of VINS

On a Friday afternoon in June, from the top of the Forest Canopy Walk tower, we watched a Bald Eagle fly right by us, then turn several spirals in the breeze. At that moment, I was photographing a family of five, using one of their phones, and I called for them to turn around. “Look at Windsor!” I knew it was Windsor because I had been pointing her out to visitors for the past hour, perched in a White Pine. Her eaglet, V-2, was sleeping in the nest 400 yards away to the North.

Dewey and V-2 in June.

By now thousands of people know Windsor, her mate Dewey, and V-2, from having watched them on the VINS Eagle Cam since February 2026. For 24 hours a day, the livestream chronicled the life of V-2 and their parents on the nest — from the egg laying on March 24 to the eaglet’s first flight in July. These, of course, are wild eagles who chose to nest along the Ottauquechee River on VINS property, not captive or rehabbed eagles — though VINS has those, too.

You can still see these and other eagles by visiting VINS in Quechee. You can start by getting a close view of Wyoming and Minnesota, two Bald Eagles who live in an enclosure, alongside dozens of other ambassador birds — mostly birds of prey too injured to be released into the wild. Then walk out to the Forest Canopy Walk and climb 99 stairs to the viewing platform, above the canopy 100 feet above the forest floor. From there you see the Bald Eagle nest in the distance and may catch sight of Windsor and Dewey flying around Dewey’s Pond.

The VINS Eagle Cam chronicles wild eagles that nest along the Ottauquechee River.

We’ve been humbled and heartened by the way Quechee and the Upper Valley have rallied around Windsor and Dewey. While the purpose of the Eagle Cam was to provide a free education about eagles, it’s been inspiring to hear stories about the joy and mental health boost this eagle family has brought to so many. We’ve read grateful messages from teachers of young children, from the families of memory care patients, and from separated families brought together by their fascination with the eagle nest.

Part of why watching the Eagle Cam gives me such hope is that the Bald Eagle, after nearly going extinct in the mid-20th century, is enjoying a remarkable comeback. Over the past quarter century in Vermont, we’ve surged from zero nesting pairs of Bald Eagles to 38! There are lots of people to thank for this recovery: icons like Rachel Carson, who proved the toxic potency of DDT, and lesser-known heroes like David Laughlin, a dentist in Woodstock who led the clean-up of a polluted Ottauquechee River and later went on to help found VINS.

The Bald Eagle is enjoying a remarkable comeback.

When I think back to that Friday in June, when Windsor did her spiraling fly-by, I wish I had had the presence of mind to switch the family’s phone camera to video mode and take some footage of them watching Winsor fly at eye level. Next year! For now, we turn our focus at VINS to improving the livestream setup for next year’s nesting season. And we invite you this fall and winter to join us on the Forest Canopy Walk to catch a glimpse of Windsor and Dewey in action.