On Prince Edward Island, Greg and I (and Olive,
the pug, of course) rented a cottage for the week. We were pleased with our choice. It was a comfortable rustic chic house with a
wrap around deck and Adirondack chairs to relax in so we could enjoy the wonderful
view of Southwest River and the farms beyond.
But the most spectacular thing about our view
was this…
 |
| Would you shut up, kid?! |
…a bald eagle baby.
The owner of the cottage told us that there was a bald eagle family
living in a tree a couple hundred yards away from the back deck. We were thrilled be able to see the
nest. But, we didn’t see the baby the
first day and were afraid that he had grown up and was off on his own. As it turns out, we sure heard him the next
morning at 4:30 on the dot as soon as the sun started to rise. He made quite the racket calling for one of
his parents to bring him breakfast. Greg
found out that closing the window of the bedroom shut out most of the noise and
we hoped that this vocalization wasn’t a daily habit. But the next morning, there he was yelling at
the top of his lungs for food or whatever it is that baby eagles yell for. Since I had never been around bald eagles, I
was unaware of their habits and not too thrilled about this particular
one. We did get used to it eventually
and learned to enjoy watching the “little” one up in the tree bellowing out his
demands.
The eagle made me think while I was watching him. He made me think of a photograph I remembered
that was taken by a Flickr friend of mine, Mary Virginia Stroud, who lives in
Alaska. (She’s an excellent
photographer, by the way. If you have a
few minutes, you might want to check out her Flickr site.) Mary Virginia has a photo of a slew of eagles
sitting in an “eagle feeding” area.
There are about 20 bald eagles sitting there. I have to wonder if people who approach them
need earplugs to drown out the din. I’ve
heard that eagles are not that well liked in Alaska because, in large numbers,
they can be pests. It just reminded me
of the relativity of things. Getting to
see one eagle (or two…because the mother/father did show up one day while we were watching) was a joy for
us. Having twenty of them land on a
picnic table nearby might be a little frightening.
It also made me think that I wish I had one of those
fantastic long lenses that cost about $10,000 and the patience to use it. Oh, well… maybe in another lifetime.
