Bald eagle dies from suspected poisoning

Love birds since 2007, bald eagles Celeste and Major made their nest high above on a power pole in Palm Harbor, Fla.

"They've always been a good breeding couple," said Eagle Watch volunteer Louise Roy.

Roy makes daily trips to document the eagles through a telephoto lens. Mates for life, they were working together to hatch two eggs. Alternating incubating, one sits while the other soars off to find food. Celeste found her final meal on Wednesday.

Celeste was discovered distressed near a retention pond. Volunteers reported her drinking excessive amounts of water: a sign of poisoning.

"I went down there and stayed with her and kept everybody away from her until they could rescue her and on the way to rehab...she died," Roy said.

It's an all too common death for birds of prey. Rodents digest poison bait from traps set around the outside of homes and businesses. When the raptors eat the rodents, they too are poisoned.

"We get dozens and dozens of them annually," said Barb Walker with the Clearwater Audubon Society.

The Audubon Society has written extensively about the dangers of non-targeted rodentcide poisoning.

The female bald eagle's death also doomed her eggs. Something her mate hasn't discovered yet.

"He'll probably sit on there for another week or so, which is really sad. He just sits up there and he calls for her," Roy said.

Roy bought her telephoto lens to document life. Now, she is capturing a glimpse of grief.

"People say that they are just animals and they don't grieve, but they do," Roy said.