Patti Reum is on the trail of a mystery in Virginia's high mountains, and you're invited to join the team.

Reum (pronounced "rhyme") is a wildlife biologist and former teacher who now runs Bear Mountain Farm and Wilderness Retreat in Highland County.

She is convinced that golden eagles are nesting on rocky crags in the county. To prove it, she is conducting the second annual Eagle Nest Search Weekend March 29-30.

The magnificent golden eagle, with a wingspread of 6 to 7 feet, is known to nest west of the Mississippi and in Quebec and farther north in Canada. They're not supposed to nest in the eastern United States.

It's not hard to see golden eagles in Virginia. Winter birding trips to Highland County and to Burkes Garden in Tazewell County and surrounding areas frequently produce golden eagle records. I've seen goldens myself in Burkes Garden.

But nesting is a different story. Unlike bald eagles, which dine on fish, goldens require a good prey density of larger mammals, reptiles and smaller birds for breeding success. Out west, jackrabbits make up much of the menu. The eagles are solitary and avoid proximity with humans.

Reum says she's got good reason to believe golden eagles are nesting in Highland County.

"We've seen adults and immatures, in all the age groups, every month of the year," she said. "We didn't find any nests last year, but we still suspect they're hidden in the rocky outcroppings here."

During the two days of the Eagle Nest Search Weekend, she and a group of volunteers will fan out to check the most likely spots for nest sites.

"We know the kind of terrain they prefer for nesting," Reum said. "They like rocky outcrops in remote and inaccessible country. Golden eagles are secretive, and they hunt over high knobs. We suspect they're up in the Snowy Mountain and Lantz Mountain area, in the northwest corner of the county."

Last year Reum conducted what she called the "Golden Chase," in which donors pledged a certain amount per eagle sighted, including both bald eagles and goldens.

She raised $7,800 for the Highland County Eagle Survey, which was co-founded by Reum and Sandy Hevener of Bluegrass.

Reum and Hevener work with scientists from the Center for Conservation Biology at William and Mary, who have been trying to trap and band a golden eagle.

On March 13, the center's Fletcher Smith and Libby Mojica were successful, trapping, banding and fitting with a telemetry unit a 3-year-old golden eagle in Highland County.

Although the discovery of a nesting golden eagle wouldn't be on a par with, say, turning up an ivorybilled woodpecker in Arkansas or Florida, it would still be a prize.

If Reum and her volunteers find a golden eagle nest, it would be big news in ornithology and birding circles.

The lure of making such a discovery attracted about a dozen searchers last year, including three or four birders from the Roanoke area and one couple from North Carolina.

If you'd like to join this year's effort, contact Reum for details at (540) 468-2700, or bearmountain@ntelos.net.