- Don't go anywhere.

- [Voiceover] Being in a bald eagle nest is surreal.

This is a wild animal.

- She's being rowdy.

- [Voiceover] It's very capable of hurting you

if you're not careful,

so you have to take your time.

- A little rough, huh? Sorry about that.

- [Voiceover] It's an experience that's hard to describe.

- My name is Jim Campbell-Spickler.

I'm a forest canopy ecologist

and a wildlife biologist.

And I'm pretty sure I have the best job in the world.

(birds tweeting)

- [Voiceover] My job is to climb into the eagle's nest

and capture and work with chicks.

- Yeah, he's a monster.

- [Voiceover] And the reason why we're doing this is,

we're trying to get blood samples.

and we can use those blood samples

to look at environmental contaminants

and how they get into the bald eagles' food source.

- Gonna make me chase ya, huh?

Why don't you come off there. Come down.

- [Voiceover] It's a challenging species to work with.

It's got a really sharp, hooked beak.

And its talons are big and powerful.

And you don't wanna let him grab ahold of you,

because they can really do some damage.

- Alright. Let's go down.

- [Voiceover] This is a wild animal

so you never know what could happen.

(gasps and groans)

The Channel Islands are an island chain

off the coast of Southern California.

- These two guys don't look too bad.

- [Voiceover] They're a desert island system.

You get out there and you can stand on top of these bluffs

and you can see the Pacific.

A whole 360-degree view

of just the most beautiful ocean you can ever imagine.

You've got not only bald eagles,

you have peregrine falcons

that are nesting on the sea cliffs.

- Just tell me if she's comin' in.

(grunts)

- [Voiceover] You've got a host of different sea birds.

And it's just a magical place.

Our research, it may look invasive, but really,

one of our primary concerns is the safety

of these young birds that we're handling,

so we go to great lengths

to ensure that we don't injure them

and that when we put them back in the nest,

they're just as well-off

as when we first encountered them.

- He likes you.

- [Woman] Oh, hi!

- The bald eagle's our national bird

so it's quite an honor for me

to get to work with this species.

Quite often I'll just sit in that nest for a moment

and just take in the view

and just think, "wow," you know,

It's just an honor to get up there,

be able to share that view and that experience with them

just for that moment in time.