From Eagle Scouts to Bald Eagles: A Walk to Coaches Field

There was another good summer turnout of 44 walkers and two K-9 best friends at the Exedra on an overcast, cool morning last Wednesday for our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays weekly walk.

We were going to have a special guest and tour for our walk. Piedmont Scout Sammy R partnered with Piedmont’s Public Works Department for his Eagle Scout Project to build new batting cages at Coaches Field. This type of project is required to reach the highest rank in Scouting. Sammy was going to meet us at the cage, talk about his Scouting experience and the project, and show us the work he did.

Since we were going to Coaches Field via Moraga Avenue, we could also check on the eaglets in their Mountain View Cemetery nest with a Moraga stop. It was reported that they had gotten big and at least one had “fledged” (i.e., left the nest), so it was great time to see them.

Some background on Scouting in Piedmont was shared before we got started. The Reverend John Evans Stuchell of the Piedmont Community Church started a local scouting program in October 1910 with 25 boys and parents. This was the same year that Boy Scouts was formed in the United States. Later, Piedmont decided to establish its own council separate from the Oakland-Piedmont Council and on March 21, 1921 the Piedmont Council was chartered by BSA as its 42^nd Council. Piedmont philanthropist Wallace Alexander was a driving force behind creating Piedmont’s council. The Piedmont Council is one of the smallest in the BSA, but today it serves over 1,000 youth in diverse programs ranging from Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts to coed teen programs including crews for Community Service, Sea Scouts, and Police Explorers.

We headed off for Coaches Field going down Highland Avenue. We crossed Moraga Avenue at the stop light and went up it. At Monte Avenue there were the seemingly ever-present eagle watchers across the street with binoculars, telescopes, and cameras looking for the birds. We stopped and joined in the watching fun. A large, gray eaglet wing was seen occasionally flapping on a distant branch and a surprising light shower of small, white feathers blew in the breeze toward us.

After this eagle-watching we continued up to Coaches Field for a different kind of eagle watching. Soon-to-be Eagle Scout Sammy R was at the new batting cages with his mother, Leora, waiting for us. After introductions, Sammy told us about his Scouting experience that started in 6^th  grade as a cub scout. Sammy is now in Troop 15 and has a 50 mile hike of Mt. Whitney planned for later this summer. His Eagle project is even more impressive. The new batting cages were recently finished after months of work partnering with Piedmont’s Public Works Department. The new cages replaced the original ones with new turf, nets, and space for a second batter. Sammy chose the batting cages as his Eagle project to help benefit the Piedmont Baseball-Softball Foundation (PBSF) with whom he has played baseball for 10 years. He is also now on the PHS baseball team. The project builds on the service of Troop 15 Eagle Scout Alexander M who built the original batting cage for his Eagle project in 2006.

Sammy first approached the City with his proposed project in 2023. After receiving the endorsement of both the Park and Recreation Commissions, the City Council allocated $50,000 in last year’s budget for the cage replacement. The PBSF raised $11,000 in community donations to supplement the project. Sammy planned, organized, and managed this extensive community service project.

The previous batting cage was almost 20 years old. Baseballs could fly out of the cage through holes in the fencing and nets, and water pooled in the winter on the dirt floors. The new cages are 12 feet high with space for two batters. The City flattened the surface to provide for the larger cages and added a two-foot retaining wall behind the cages. Electrical power was also added to support pitching machines.

Sammy worked with his Scout volunteers to prepare the site and the cage construction and earth work was performed by a City contractor. The Scouts dismantled the original cage last December, removed the old nets, poles, mats, and fencing, and then installed new nets and turf. The cages are now open and being used. Sammy took the walkers inside them for an inspection. After taking a group photo outside the cages with Sammy and Leora, we thanked Sammy for sharing what he had done and his service to Piedmont.

We started our return to the Exedra going back down Moraga and had another, longer chance to see the eaglets. Two hatched in May and had grown dramatically. They typically fledge at between 10 and 14 weeks after they hatch and were in that process. It can be gradual, with the young ones initially “branching” out to nearby areas before fully taking flight. They often remain nearby for several weeks or even months, learning to hunt and fly from their parents. Parents continue to feed their young even after they leave the nest, helping them develop their life skills. The young bald eagles are dark in color but develop their characteristic white head and tail at about four to five years. After getting some more good looks at the birds, we retraced our steps back Highland for our returned to the Exedra.