Eagles

Despite a late night visiting with a friend, I rose early on Saturday morning to go with my father to see the eagles.  The fledglings have long-since hatched and are almost as big as the mature birds now (do you like that bird lingo my dad taught me?).  They're practicing their flying skills as they prepare to leave the south.  On the way to the dam Dad told me about all the guys with their huge lenses on tripods just waiting for an eagle to show up on the scene.  To catch a shot of an eagle in flight is the grand prize, one that you wait for hours to achieve.  When we arrived on the scene a mature eagle was already sitting on an old tree, and within two minutes...or less...

Well, hello there.

That's a baby.

And just a few minutes later, mama (or daddy?) flew off to get breakfast.

That bird went on to swoop up a fish and bring it back to their nest.

Cameramen with longer zoom lenses could later see the blood dripping from his beak.

I definitely did not have a very "fair" first experience eagle-watching,

but it sure was fun.