Hello everyone faithful enough to believe I’ll keep this thing going. That’s the plan, but you’ve likely noticed it’s been more-than-spotty. Hell! Just keep checking back and “one fine morning…”

So you won’t believe what I came across this early afternoon coming around snowy Lake Harriet in the Jeep…two American Bald Eagles perched atop a tree on the west shore not far from “upper lake” (44th/45th sts.) stunning!

Apparently there have been several recent sightings around Harriet & Calhoun. And to think they were endangered not all that long ago. Marvelous! I’ll never forget it, especially as it becomes my first blog post from a phone. Man o man, Eagles in the city and telling the world from handheld device…(I’m easily astounded).

Sorry about the marginal iPhone pic…shouldvd learned long ago to take my camera everywhere.

See you back here soon…yes YOU!

Peace,
DVE

When I first saw these eagles and began taking pictures, I had thought I was getting a rare glimpse of Golden Eagles.  Golden Eagles rarely venture this far east, preferring the more mountainous regions of Western Canada, Western United States and Mexico.  It is common to mistake adolescent Bald Eagles for Golden Eagles and in my defense I’m not a wildlife biologist, I am a history major.  With that said here is a good picture of an adolescent Bald Eagle.

This was a big bird and it cruised above me mostly by itself, while the other adolescent Bald Eagles left it alone.  The mottled coloring underneath helps to camouflage it, and, as you can see, it has not got white tail feathers or a white head.  In the next photo, which is somewhat overexposed, this adolescent has begun to get white feathers.

One of the disadvantages of using manual settings on my camera and shooting wildlife, as happened with this photo, is that I was shooting toward some trees at the adult Bald Eagles across the river and this bird flew over-head in the bright sky.  I snapped pictures before I adjusted the aperture.  But as you can see the bird has white tail feathers, but does not have a white head, nor does it have a yellow beak.  Bald Eagles will get their white feathers somewhere between three to five years of age.

Bald Eagles will also migrate.  You’ll see family units gather along the Wisconsin River before heading southwest toward the Mississippi River, where some will spend Winter and others will continue further south.  I happened on this family of eagles along US 60 which runs along the edge of the Wisconsin River between Muscoda and Gotham.

Here a pair of adolescent eagles chase each other while an adult looks on from the trees.

An adolescent eagle perched near the river’s edge.

One of the adult eagles flew out of the trees to grab some breakfast.

And then had to fend off a pair of crows while it ate.

Then the adult returned to the trees.

And the young eagles continued to play.

In this group of eagles there were four adult Bald Eagles and five adolescent eagles.  The adults mostly hung out in the trees, leaving their perches occasionally to grab fish, while the younger eagles never stopped playing.

For immediate release . . .  

Bald Eagle Days Art Show

Night Owl Photography & Jonathan James Moore Photography
Present the first annual Bald Eagle Days Art Show!!! 

Cambridge, IL – 5 Nov 2009 – Midwest area photographer’s Richard James Nagle of Night Owl Photography and Jonathan James Moore of Jonathan James Moore Photography have announced their first annual Bald Eagle Days Art Show to occur January 23^rd, 2010 at the home of Nick & Judie Moore in Cambridge, IL.  There are many area “Bald Eagle Days” in January, which is our favorite subject to photography, and why we’ve chosen this title for our show.  

Mr. Nagle and Mr. Moore spend many of the coldest winter days outside, photographing eagles along the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois.  They’ve captured numerous outstanding action photos of the majestic American Bald Eagle.  These photos, as well as other sunset, nature, wildlife, and portrait photography will be featured as part of the Bald Eagle Days Art Show.  

Kathy Stinson says of Mr. Nagle: “Rich is a fantastic photographer. I bought some of his eagle photos for my father’s birthday and he just loved them. I am giving him this calendar for Christmas. He has a such great eye for detail. You will not be disappointed!” 

Mr. Nagle says: “Jonathan took me out for the first time to photograph the American Bald Eagle many years ago, and I was hooked from the start.  Ever since then, we’ve made it a tradition to go out at least a few times each winter to try to capture these majestic birds with our cameras.  We’re happy to share our experiences with you in our photographs.” 

The Bald Eagle Days Art Show will be on Saturday, January 23^rd, 2010 from 10AM – 4PM.  It will be hosted at the home of Nick & Judie Moore at 326 South Ridge Street, Cambridge, IL  61238.  Refreshments will be available. 

### 

Richard Nagle is sole proprietor and owner of Night Owl Photography.  Night Owl Photography can be located online at http://www.nightowlphotography.com/. 

Jonathan James Moore is sole proprietor and owner of Jonathan James Moore Photography.  Jonathan James Moore Photography can be found online at http://jonathanjamesmoore.smugmug.com/

While working in the park on Friday I happened to catch sight of a bald eagle in a tree along the canal. My camera not being the best, I knew I had to get closer to get a good shot. But despite their size, bald eagles are somewhat skittish. So, I tried to take a rambling, random-seeming route in the general direction of his perch; all the while being careful to avoid eye contact and still trying to snap a couple pictures on the way. I’m glad no one else was around because I probably looked pretty foolish. And to add insult to injury I was unsuccessful, anyway: the eagle flew away before I got very close at all. The picture above is the best one I got.

Bald eagles are occasional visitors here at the Susquehanna Riverlands, and becoming more frequent. Researchers for www.Hawkcount.org have reported seeing 34 eagles moving past the park along the Susquehanna since August of this year.

Sorry y’all. Haven’t had much of anything interesting or funny to say lately, but a good friend was nice enough to take me on a swamp tour recently. So how about some pictures and I will save you from having to read my dribble?

For immediate release:

American Bald Eagle Calendar

Night Owl Photography Releases 2^nd Annual
Quad Cities Eagles Calendar

Suburban Chicago, IL – 25 Sep 2009 – Midwest area photographer Richard Nagle of Night Owl Photography has published his highly anticipated second annual Quad Cities Eagles Calendar for 2010 on Lulu.com, the online market place for digital content. 

 Mr. Nagle spent many of the coldest winter days of 2009, in warm weather gear, photographing eagles, when everyone else was inside staying warm.  Through many hours of editing, composing, and writing, Mr. Nagle created next years high demand calendar in plenty of time to purchase for the holidays. 

 Sheila Johnson says “You know we have a house full of Eagle stuff!! So of course he had to have your calender!”

 Mr. Nagle’s Quad Cities Eagle Calendar is composed of photographs taken entirely in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois.  Mr. Nagle’s ability to capture moving eagles, and literally freeze them in time is stunning.  Magazine worthy images mark each page of his calendar.  The Quad Cities Eagles Calendar is not just a collection of images though.  Unlike most self published calendars, Mr. Nagle has added his own personal touch to each of the images, by including month titles and eagle facts on each months images.

 Mr. Nagle says “I’ve been photographing the American Bald Eagle on the Mississippi Riverway in the Quad Cities for many years now, and I’ve finally learned enough about eagles, photography, and light, to be able to get the images I want.  This calendar is my American Bald Eagle portfolio for your home, for a steal of a price.”

 Mr. Nagle’s calendar can be ordered at Lulu.com at the following link:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/quad-cities-eagles-calendar-2010/7674349

# # # 

Lulu.com is the premier marketplace for digital content on the
Internet, with over 300,000 recently published titles, and more than 4,000 new
titles added each week, created by people in 80 different countries. Lulu is
changing the world of publishing by enabling the creators of books, video,
periodicals, multimedia and other content to publish their work themselves with
complete editorial and copyright control. With Lulu offices in the US, Canada the
UK and Europe, Lulu customers can reach the globe.

Richard Nagle is sole proprietor and owner of Night Owl Photography.  Richard learned his craft from his father, and godfathers as a young teen.  Richard’s favorite tools of the trade are his Nikon D300, and his Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Lens.  Night Owl Photography can be located online at http://www.nightowlphotography.com/.

As evidenced by Diane’s blog photos and mine below.

Did you know that American bald eagles fly south to inhabit their six-foot wide nests in the fall of the year?  They spruce up their nests, typically the ones they used the year before, breed, lay their eggs, hatch them, teach them to fly and then leave around May the following year?  Yep.  They do.

This week they arrived at their nesting grounds in Terrebonne Parish.

Look closely in the cypress tree!  Up there!  Do you see it?

Here, use these binoculars for a better look.  The feathers look ruffled, don’t they?

Hey is that a pair?  I think so, but the sites are a little blurry.   It IS a pair!

WAIT!  Please don’t go!  We just want a closer look!

What is this eagle looking at so intently?

Do you really want to know?

It’s a swamp monster!  Hurry!  Run!  Oh no, don’t run!  Paddle!!!  Paddle fast!

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures of Bayou Woman and the swamp things and a chance to win cool, neato things from Community Coffee, assuming you have all forgiven me for the previous contest, that is.

BW

So, to start off, it has been a little longer than I thought since I last posted.  Sorry about that.  We have stayed in a few places that claimed to have internet but didn’t really, a few that didn’t claim it and a few that were so far away from anything we were happy that they even had electricity.  You know how it goes!

Day 15:  We traveled from Seward to Valdez via the Marine Highway stop in Whittier.  Getting to Whittier is an experience in itself as you drive through a single lane, 3 mile, modified train tunnel to get to it.  Of course I was driving when we hit this gem of a driving experience!  Seriously, you are driving on the train tracks the entire time you are in the tunnel.  I swear that my ass didn’t unclench for at least 5 hours!

We took the ferry from Whittier to Valdez and I have to say that that has been one of my favorite experiences so far.  If I were doing this alone, I think that I would somehow ditch the car for a week or so and just take the ferries up and down the coast and visit the costal communities.  The ferry was clean and well run and I was able to knit LACE for more or less 6 hours straight.  It was awesome to get to see some of Alaska without having to keep an eye on the road.

The good ship Aurora

The other end of the Alaskan pipeline.

We got to Valdez and went out to eat.  There, in the restaurant, was the Barrow Whalers football team.  Yes.  That Barrow.  I think that the Whalers are stalking me!  Is this a sign that I should move there?

Anyway, that night in Valdez we had what has been really our first really bad hotel experience.  The place that we were staying was where a bunch of construction guys were at as well and it was dirty (like easily visible Doritos crumbs under and around the bed) and the walls were so thin that I literally could hear the guy in the next room fart in his sleep.  A couple of guys got thrown out for fighting and someone kept trying to get into our room throughout the night.  We were originally going to stay 2 nights there but we cut our stay at that particular hotel short.  However, we still went on the tour of Prince William Sound the next morning and we were really glad that we did!

A "raft" of sea otters doing what they do best, floating on their backs!

I so want one as a pet now....

My favorite Bald Eagle picture so far. Notice the no fishing sign below it.

A sea lion posing for pictures.

It's hard being this beautiful!

Part of the surreal landscape.

Waterfalls everywhere.

Water is, of course, important in this Northernmost temperate rainforest.

This is a group of juveniles and what are called "unsuccessful males". AKA, these guys weren't good enough to get a date to the prom so to speak...

Otters or Sea Lions on an iceberg.

Icebergs calved by the Columbia Glacier

One of the best views was from right behind the captain of the boat.

The Captain, who was cute in a sort-of young Kevin Costner sort of way. (Think: Dances With Wolves)

Water. Ice. Mountains.

Some of the pieces of ice were out of the water as much as 3 stories!

I did nothing to the colors of these photos. I can only imagine the blue colors on a sunny day!

The dark black and grey stripes are actually pieces of ground up mountain.

"Man...Why do I always get the hard pillow?!?!?"

Afternoon Siesta

However, that night we didn’t have a hotel room booked so we decided to try to get as far as we could on down the road.  We made it about 100 miles past Glenallen quite late that night.  It was a really long drive and the last several hours of it were in the dark with signs warning of moose and caribou all over the place.  That night we stayed in a lovely lodge that was as quiet as a tomb as we were the only guests staying there!  The next morning we got up and headed back towards Tok (rhymes with joke) where we got gas and girded ourselves for the area of road near the border with Canada.  On the way up to Tok, we saw this guy on the side of the road rather nervous about crossing in front of us:

We crossed over into Canada and made it down to Haines Junction which is at the base of some amazingly pretty mountains.  This was our view out the windows of our nice (despite the lack of internet signal) hotel.

We then drove a little more down the Alaskan Highway before turning South on 37 in British Columbia.  This was a new road for us and it is, admittedly, even a little more exciting that most of the Alaskan Highway.  It was only finished in the 1970’s so it doesn’t have nearly as much “development” on it.  We stayed the night in a cabin at a great RV park called The Red Goat Lodge that is just South of Iskut.  It’s right on a lake and has lamas running around!!  The guy that runs the place is super friendly and the setting is just amazing!  Definitely check it out if you are headed up (or down) 37.

We left from there and kept on Southward.  The big highlight of the day was seeing some authentic totem poles in one of the villages that we went through.

Last night we stayed in a town called Prince George and then pushed on for the US.  We passed through some pretty serious rain shadow country caused by the Coast Mountains.  It was amazing, one minute we are in more or less a temperate rain forest and the next there is sage brush.  It was honestly one of the more disconcerting travel experiences that I have had as the landscape didn’t change, just what was growing in it.  Anyway, we made it down to the US Border and now we are in Bellingham, WA.  Tomorrow we plan on seeing Seattle and then after that, well, I’m not really sure at this point.  I think that we are all getting sort of tired of traveling and staying in hotel rooms and such.  I’ll let you know when I find out (assuming that I have internet of course!).

This is a picture of the big-assed mountain that we saw as we were coming into the country and could still see right up to Bellingham.  Anyone know the name of it?

And a totally random picture that was just cool…

This years Quad Cities Eagles Calendar is a collection of my American Bald Eagle images taken entirely in 2009, in the Quad Cities region of Iowa/Illinois.  If you’re someone who likes my eagle photography, this is the best way for you to get a collection of my best eagle images for 1 cheap price.  I try to make my calendars stand out from others that you see online, by adding eagle facts, trivia, and other information to the calendar pages.  I also name each image with it’s corresponding month, so that it’s easily noticable.  Some of the images in this calendar have never been seen in this form before, so you’ll be getting something really unique from me.  After you click the link below, you’ll be able to preview the calendar pages on the Lulu website.  I hope you like it. 

If you have friends, family, or know anyone who might like a copy of my calendar, please feel free to cross post the link to my blog, or the direct link to the calendar.  I’d really love your help in getting the word out for this years calendar, since I’ve gotten it done in plenty of time for Christmas, and the new year.  Thanks for your help everyone!

http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/quad-cities-eagles-calendar-2010/7674349

Lemuel Briggs was a farmer in Mendocino County, California, in 1895. He had a lamb and two sons. Bald eagles were not as scarce in those days as they are today. One day, a bald eagle left its nest in the mountains near Mr. Briggs’s farm, soaring on wings that measured over 8 feet across, and carried off Mr. Briggs’s lamb. He was furious.

He sent his sons, Willie, aged 13, and Eddie, 11, up into the mountains to find the eagle’s nest. They obeyed.

However, as they went up the narrow mountain path, they neared the eagle’s nest before they realized it, and the eagle attacked. It circled around them, swooping in relentlessly, talons tearing and beak pecking. The attack ended with Eddie permanently scarred, having lost an eye.

One can only imagine the grief felt by Lemuel Briggs every time he saw his boy’s patched and scarred face. In the Bible, there was a tradition among the Jewish people of cutting off their hair or shaving their heads during times of devastating grief. As God’s people faced the chastening of God for their idol-worship and spiritual adultery, the prophet Micah used a bit of holy irony to drive home what would have been a sore point.

Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

Micah 1:16

The irony has to do with his description of their children as “delicate.” Parents who are not strict with their children when it comes to Bible study, church attendance, and Christian conduct, may gloss over the suggestion that they are spoiling them. However, when the enemy comes to take them captive, it will quickly become apparent that children who were too “delicate” to be subjected to discipline, are likewise too delicate to withstand the rough treatment they will experience at the hands of their captor.

Well, actually at least one of them is probably not a boy. As long as we are on a nature kick this week, take a look at this impressive couple!

There has been a nesting pair of bald eagles near our campus as long as I have worked here. Until last winter, they only made rare appearances. Then, last January, they decided the cell phone antennae on top of our water tower made for good perches. They took off again sometime in the late winter, and just reappeared this week.

Unfortunately, the birds were not very interested in posing for photos the afternoon I took these shots, hence the only angle I could get was pretty much shooting up their butts. Sorry, ‘bout that. I’ll try to do better next time. Meanwhile, most of us here just think having bald eagles hanging out on our water tower is pretty cool.

A pair of bald eagles and a juvenile bird was sighted near Rhinecliff during Monday's sunset tour.

We spend a lot of time on the Hudson River and get a chance to see amazing wildlife out on the water. Throughout the season our guests have gotten to see many eagles during our tours, but during last night’s sunset tour we came across this pair of eagles with two young birds in one of the back bays along the river.

We sat and watched the birds for quite some time. They were curious and allowed us to view them from our kayaks. After sitting a while we paddled off in peace, leaving the birds to there roosting, heading back t0 Rhinecliff in the light of the setting sun. What a beautiful evening.

Join us, we will share the wonders of the Hudson River with you.

New rules will supposedly still protect eagles-

I also read the actual new regulations. One thing I didn’t know is that while bald eagle populations continue to grow, golden eagles might be in decline.

Interior Releases New Rules for Disturbances to Bald and Golden Eagles. By Allison Winter. New York Times.

Last night Frank and I decided to go in search of eagles.  He wanted to use his fancy camera to snap pictures and i brought my camera and binoculars in the hopes of spotting them.  I believe we only saw one bird the entire time we were out.  We did find a spot to take lovely pictures of the sun setting.  I ended up wearing two sweatshirts and a windbreaker and was still freezing!  It gets cold quick when the sun goes down.

But Frank got some great pictures so it was worth it.  This morning when I woke up the sun was rising, so I start yelling Frank you have to come take pictures of the sunrise.  He shows up at the patio door in his underwear and holding his camera.  I had to take them so the neighbors didn’t get more of a show than they bargained for.  We will be back on the eagle search the next time the kids go off and visit their mom.

Today’s my first solo kayaking day!  We wake again in the fog, a magical look in the woods. 

Frontenac camp in early mist

8:30 Mac takes me down to Lake City Landing.  It’s even foggier here.  But I’ll be running close to shore, and the power boats won’t be out in the fog.  So it’s just me and the ducks and a few fishermen on the mighty Mississippi, silent in the fog. 

On the edge of the world: ducks & me, on the River

Gray water into gray mist, everywhere I turn. 

I glide silently by, in the steady rythm of the paddle.  Glad to be somewhat visible, wearing white sleeves and paddling with yellow tips.  And so it continues, paddling in a suspended, alternate world. 

Into thin air

I’m looking for Maple Spring, the only public landing between Lake City and Wabasha.  It’s a place to take a break and assess whether I can make it to Wabasha.  At 13 miles it’s the longest run I’ve undertaken.  But a mile south of Maple Spring, I realize I’ve glided right past it in the fog, without a clue.   So on to Plan B: try my luck at a private landing a mile further down.  I see a ramp, this has to be it.  A lone fisher on the pier; his tiny dog makes a ruckus as I pull in.  I must look dangerous in my puffy life vest and long red kayak.  It’s a makeshift camp for RVs, with a pleasant tiny marina for small craft on the other side.  I break for water, walnuts and dates and some stretches.  The fog has lifted. 

On a clear day

I’m pushing on to Wah-ba-sha.  Where the Chippewa River flows into the Mississippi on the Wisconsin side, an amazing wildlife refuge begins, continuing 260 miles to Rock Island, IL.  Something makes me look up, beyond my baseball cap beak, to see my first bald eagle.  And then two more.  They love this spot, that never freezes over, rich in fish in all seasons.  On the Minnesota side, long Drury Island separates the River from shallow tributaries.  They could be difficult or impossible for a kayak to pass through, but curiosity wins the day, and I turn off the River onto the right side of Drury Island, hoping to see more wildlife in this secluded area where no boats pass.  And then the water turns so shallow I’m hitting bottom and the watery weeds bring me to a dead stop. 

Weeds & algae = dead stop

So I backtrack back into the River.  The Wabasha Bridge is now in sight, so I pull close to a quiet sandy spot on the shore to text Mac that I’m arriving soon.  Then it occurs to me that this is not a good plan if power boat waves break onto the island.  No sooner said than done, a boat passes and waves come rolling over the boat, soaking through the kayak’s skirt.  Quick dry shorts are definitely the way to go.  Wabasha was a port of call for the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen before they ceased service (last year?).  It’s a fine old town, surprisingly sophisticated.

Wabasha

  I meet Eve and Mac; we wander over to the Flour Mill Pizzeria, with WiFi and beautiful river terrace and enjoy our first dinner “out” since my arrival.  The adjoining chocolate shop has gourmet French chocolates; a few doors down, collector’s vintage kimonos, just the thing for river expeditions.  Then high up to the new Krugel camp sight.  I bed down for the first time in the hammock.  Once I get the *@!*#? liner to lay straight instead of diagonally, I relish the view of the moonlit treetops, deep in the woods.  Shades of the Dakota glide by.

From the Petoskey News-Review (miigwetch to A.K.):

BLISS TOWNSHIP — Spurred by last year’s public outcry not to drain Lake O’Neal, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians set out to collect fishery, wildlife and water quality data.

Now that the compilation is complete, the tribe will present its findings to the public beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Bliss Township Hall.

Doug Craven, the natural resources director for the tribe, said Lake O’Neal is unique to the tribe and the data was collected to help inform better decisions for it in the future.

“It’s one of the few lakes that’s completely within the tribal reservation area,” he said. “We recognized the gap regarding fisheries data and there was substantial public interest. We conducted the data to see if it matched the public’s perception and it appears that it does.”

Bill Parsons, an inland fisheries biologist with the tribe, said the data helps provide a baseline inventory on the lake cataloguing both the types of fish and birds that populate it. Parsons said he found smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, blue gill, yellow perch, rock bass, pumpkinseed and northern pike making up the fishing, and a large population of water fowl, including osprey and loons, as well as bald eagles nesting around the lake.

“We’ve determined that it’s an important fishery for the wildlife,” he said.

Since wildlife habitat biologist for the Department of Natural Resources in Gaylord Bill Mastenbrook’s plans were met with such a backlash in February 2008 and shifting priorities, any plan to drain Lake O’Neal has been tabled indefinitely. Mastenbrook said before any decisions are made he needs to complete a draft management plan for the lake and he intends to use the tribe’s newly collected data to help him.

“When the dam was put in, the intent was to manage migratory water fowl,” he said. “But since then the department hasn’t done a good job of that and other interests have superseded the original intent. We have to decide whether or not to change the original intent or put that intent back into a plan, or if we’ll manage it at all.”

Jeff Lange, an area coordinator for the Michigan Loon Watch, pointed out from the perspective of managing water fowl, draining the lake would be counter productive.

“Should the lake remain drained, or nearly so, over a season or two, the loons would almost certainly not return to nest,” he said. “The common loon is listed as ‘threatened’ in Michigan, and cannot afford to lose another breeding lake.”

Parsons pointed out that the tribe is aware of the repairs needed at the dam as well as breech, that continues to grow each year, on the northern side of the lake.

“We may have some funding in the future that would allow us to help pay for those repairs,” he said.

I’ve got half a dozen partially formulated blog posts about life and rehabbing roaming around in my head, but nothing’s quite done baking yet. So while those are still in the oven, I thought I’d entertain (or bore) you with more tales of bad birdwatching.

Being at the wildlife hospital affords me some interesting opportunities to see species I’ve never seen before. It’s not so much that they’re rare species, but because I’m new to the area (as a birder, at least), even a lot of the more common species are unfamiliar to me. And unless you know where to look and what to look for, you don’t necessarily see some of them every day.  So, I saw my first hummingbird ever in the exam room (an Anna’s Hummingbird), and my first Cedar Waxwings in the baby bird nursery. I saw my first (juvenile) Green Heron in a 2′ square raptor box (and even in there, he tried to pull the characteristic heron Jedi mind trick: “You don’t see me. I’m a reed. These are not the droids you’re looking for.”) and my first adult one dead on the exam table (where I got to practice administring sub-cu fluids on it).

Now, most birdwatchers would not consider sightings of captives true sightings, and rightly so. The thrill (and the point) of birding is to see these amazing creatures in their natural environment, not in a ward cage. But having seen them there has helped me in my bad-birdwatching endeavors elsewhere. I can get a sense of the jizz of a lot of species just from observing them in the aviaries, and while I haven’t done any official birding since I got here (the binocs are still in their case on the windowsill), I’ve managed to spot quite a few species in and around work/home. I see Flickers almost every day as I walk to and from work and can recognize their burst of spastic energy when they take to the wing. I know that the “crickets” I heard coming from high up in a tree near my apartment the other day was likely a nest of Waxwings. There are lots and lots of Steller’s Jays around, and I often hear them before I see them. Aside from the ubiquitous American Crows and Mallards (who hang out on the “pond” in front of my apartment), I see lots of  tit-like Black-capped Chickadees flitting from tree to tree around the community. And the PAWS campus is aswarm in American Robins (whose songs and alarm calls remind me of a less throaty version of our European Blackbirds - not strange since they’re both thrushes). These are all fairly common species, but the big thrill and bad birdwatching triumph was spotting a magnificent Bald Eagle riding the thermals overhead as I was standing waiting for the bus at a local Park & Ride. I haven’t actually seen one of these at PAWS, and while I generally suck at identifying raptors, Bald Eagles are pretty unmistakable. I even managed to get a picture of this one:

An unexpected thrill!

Anyway, one of these days I’m hoping to get out there with the binocs and attempt to do some “official” birdwatching. I’m quite taken with the Green Herons so I need to ask the naturalist where would be a good place to go out and see one in the wild and, you know, alive. Until then, I’m keeping my eyes and ears open in the neighborhood for some of the species I’m getting to know in close quarters at work.