Caught on camera: Lightning bolt blasts bald eagle from tree

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - It's like something out of a movie: Video shows two birds perched on a dying cottonwood tree in the Carolyn Holmberg Preserve in Boulder County, Colorado.

The one in the higher branch is the female eagle and the one closest to the nest is a red-tailed hawk.

It's a serene setting – until, suddenly, the nest explodes and both birds of prey are rendered unconscious.

Dana Bove, the chief researcher for Front Range Eagle Studies, says he has never seen anything like this before.

"It was, it was, really pretty jarring. That's an understatement," he told FOX 31. "I've always figured that it probably happens. But no, I've never seen it and I've never heard of it documented, but I'm sure it’s not terribly uncommon."

Moments before the strike: The female eagle is seen left, and the hawk to the right.

What struck Bove the most was that the female eagle survived and could even be seen later flying back into the tree.

"I've seen them go through a lot," he continued.

Bove says they have been studying this pair for a decade now and watched as their habitat shrunk over the years, starting with construction on an apartment complex nearby.

As developments continued around the preserve, the bald eagles had another challenge: A lack of large cottonwood trees to build their nests.

"There isn't a lot of choices a lot of times in these territories, if these nests go down, for them to rebuild in."

The female eagle later returned to the damaged tree.

The trails will be closing October 15 to give the pair some peace and quiet to rebuild their nest.

But Bove says he would like to see more done to support these eagles.

"One would be to close the trail, and two would be to not exterminate prairie dogs within a quarter mile of where they nest."

Bove plans to continue studying the pair as they recover and rebuild their nest.