Tina Overley Holmes holds a broken umbrella bedecked with angels.
Standing on a neighbor's lawn in the driving rain, she gives a shrill whistle.
Far in the misty distance, Overley Holmes points out a nest of sticks camouflaged in a towering fir tree and a bald eagle tending two babies, one hatched April 3, one the following day.
She whistles again and another eagle appears atop a neighboring fir tree. It's the female, Overley Holmes says, ready to take her turn on the nest.
Overley Holmes has followed the saga of this eagle family since 2011, when she was recovering from neck surgery. It's a story of love, loss, new life and cruel death captured in vivid detail through a high--definition webcam her husband, Mark Holmes, set up in the couple's home on a hilltop above the nest.
"These eagles taught me so much about persistence, diligence and faith," Overley Holmes said. "Their daily routines and their commitment to one another."
The real-time story of the majestic birds she calls "Mr. E and Mrs. E" has captivated a legion of online fans through her Facebook group, "The Creator's Creations Captured," which she updates often during breeding season with photos and videos.
A brief post she put up wondering if she was oversharing brought a near-viral flood of replies. "Please keep posting!" "I love to see eagle pictures! Keep them coming!" The post made clear that hundreds, if not thousands, of people are following the eagles from near and far.
Bald eagles have made a dramatic recovery in Washington state and across the nation over the last 30 years due to a variety of conservation efforts, notably the federal ban on the pesticide DDT, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife notes. The iconic bird was removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007 and from the state's list in 2017.
Wildlife officials still recommend giving eagles wide berth and enjoying them from a distance.
Overley Holmes first encountered her neighborhood's eagles in 2010, when she spotted a pair in the tree behind her home. "It was love at first sight," she said.
Overley Holmes was forced into early retirement in 2009 due to an on-the-job neck injury. Her world was bleak, but the eagles lifted her spirits, she said.
She had surgery in 2011 and a long road to recovery. That year, she noticed the pair in a distant tree that would become their home, apparently building a nest. She tracked the eagles on her daily walks, noting their habits and movements. The eagles took note of her, too, and began calling back when she whistled.
By the fall of 2013, the nest building started again. In early 2014, Mark Holmes, a computer technician, installed the webcam in anticipation of the spring breeding season.
The Holmeses were rewarded that year to witness the hatching of the eaglet they called "Eggie." Overley Holmes was taken with the care the eagle parents show for their young ... and each other. They take turns, one on the nest while the other hunts and watches out for predators. She's even seen the adults building "baby gates" of sticks to keep the eaglets safe.
Overley Holmes is mesmerized by the webcam and often loses track of time while watching the eagles' daily activities.
"It has really shown me so much of God's amazing grace watching these eagles love each other, take care of each other and feed the young," she said. "What people can learn from these animals has taught me so much and healed so much inside of me that I doubted. It's crazy to think nature takes care of itself this well. Why don't we take care of ourselves this well?"
The couple still sees Eggie around. They expect she will find a mate of her own in the next year or two and begin breeding.
In 2015, tragedy struck when Mr. E was found dead. Overley Holmes suspects he was poisoned. That year's baby died also. "Mrs. E was going crazy. That's how I knew something was wrong," Overley Holmes said with tears. "That was crushing. What was crushing was her reaction to it, all of it."
Bald eagles mate for life, often returning to the same nest year after year, according to the Audubon Society. But if one of the pair dies, the survivor will accept a new mate. So it was the following year, when a new Mr. E appeared on the scene. The eaglet born in 2016 died a couple of days after hatching, however. Overley Holmes watched the adults remove the remains from the nest.
In 2017, a healthy eaglet hatched April 4. They called her "Freedom."
"She was huge, the hugest juvenile I've ever seen," Overley Holmes said. "She fledged early. She flew early."
Though not a professional photographer, Overley Holmes has captured stunning photos of the eagles with her Nikkon "pray and click." Photos of her feathered friends, living and dead, adorn her walls. Every morning, she prays the Rosary and says a prayer for the eagles.
“What it has done is brought home the reality of nature. So many times we’re closed to what’s around us,” Overley Holmes said. “That’s the grace of God. God taught me so much through these birds. My faith was increased watching them.”
Overley Holmes, for the most part, leaves talk of religion out of her eagle-cam posts, which document feedings, nest building and territory patrols. The fact that two eaglets hatched this year is a bounty she’s happy to share.
“The main reason I do this, there are so many people who are shut in. There are so many people who don’t get to see what I see,” she said. “I open the window for people to see what I see.”
