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420 character piece on bald eagles, 420 characters, Bald Eagles, Chaucer, eagles are no longer in danger, Mating Bald Eagles, Nepaug Reservoir's Mating Eagles, Parliament of Fowls revisited
A few years ago Bald Eagles teetered on the edge of extinction, but now I’m deep in the woods around a reservoir,”hunting” them. The sun shifts and spotlights a huge nest of sticks laced in the fork of a tall bare tree, amidst some white pines and spruce in a small cove. She watches Him fly in, and, with much flapping and positioning, they mate. Eagles teeter, but these days on the edges of nests and not extinction.
Patty 2/16/12
http://www.flickr.com/photos/-jon-/3262040282/
Come to Florida and see lots of Bald Eagles! Down here the very
birds that were nearing extinction are responsible for saving
lots of endangered wildlife and ecosystems. That is because it is
against the law to cut trees any where near eagle nests. Several
large building projects near here have been nixed due to their
presence. Kind of divine retribution, I think!
Sayra,
In Alaska, the eagles are as common as pigeons in Central Park. After a while, watching them is ho-hum.
I’d rather scout around sunny FL or here in New England for them, where they seem so mush more majestic because they aren’t littering the landscape.
That rare and astounding moment that Patty witnessed is insanely thrilling! Eyes up everyone!
Toni
Remember when we did a Birds of Vogel-Wetmore School study? And we had the kids make a habit of looking up? We began to notice Great Blue Herons flying overhead, and we learned that they had a rookery in our own Sunnybrook Park. Up until then some of the other faculty thought we were ridiculous to think that birds would grace our dear school grounds. One day I was teaching a writing lesson up in one of the fifth grade rooms. I looked out the window in the midst of modeling how to write a story. Suddenly I saw a Sharpie zoom out of a tree and clobber a smaller bird, maybe a House Sparrow. It was hard to stay focused. I thought about getting the kids to the window to watch the Sharpie go at it, but we’d just had a bit of a kerfuffle with one kid beating up on another. Just didn’t seem like a good diversion. But, still, yes! Look up.
Patty
Who would have thought that the protections for this bird would be so successful!
Patty
it always amazes me as to what each of us is engaged in as a passion. bird watching for some…for me bird watching at the feeders as i yet read another book on the what it all means…life that is.
watched the mating video and for me it felt like it was an invasion…somewhere i need not go…where my presence intrudes. that’s just my observation, not a criticism
Ah, the what-it-all-means mystery…..a never-ending quest.
Toni
But, Ellie, it was such a celebratory act and one that, but for Rachel Carson, we would probably never see in 2012. But dangers abound for birds. So it is important for birders to find these birds and send data on where they are and how they’re doing to Cornell. They keep track of Bald Eagle couples. Ray? If you’re out there help me with why this is a noble act–hunting for Bald Eagles and what they’re doing?
Patty
Wow! That was great. I felt as though I were there!!
So, Ray, I’d love to see the snowy owl photo from the Providence paper. I’m just a late riser living the vicarious birding life!
Toni
Toni and Ray,
The online version of the Providence Journal has another Snowy Owl pictured. It doesn’t have the photo Mr. Wheeler–Middletown RI Audubon Guide–took, the one that was on some of the editions of the paper. I wonder how we can get ahold of it? For our readers: it was a picture of a Black Back Gull–a large gull–harassing the Snowy Owl. The expressions on their faces were hilarious.
Patty
For our readers, that guy, Ray who wished he was there. He’s the one who lead the way through the deep, dark woods to where we were able to spot the Bald Eagles. Ray, help out with a positive slant on watching mating birds.
Patty
Join the fun….this weekend is the Big Backyard Bird Count!
http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/whycount.html
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