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Hello Eagle Friends,
Today was a wonderful day in the valley. When I arrived in the valley it was 31 degrees and overcast. However, the sun peaked in and out of the cloudy skies all day and by afternoon a light misty-snow fell began falling. I met an new photographer from Rochester, and an old friend stopped by while I was covering nest 4. It's amazing the gifts God has planned each day for us, little surprises, blessings and all within miles of my project area.
When I arrived I hiked out to Daedee and Dancer's nest and I found Dancer flying the valley. There was another adult eagle further south, but it was a migrating eagle. Daedee was deep in the nest so I never saw her at all, but I trusted she was there, incubating her 18 day old egg(s).
I have to admit I began feeling a little uneasy sitting on the riverbank watching and listening to clumps of the bank cascading into the heavy flowing river, which has risen even more since yesterday. As I was getting ready to leave I noticed a tiny mosquito-like bug crawling up the riverbank, over it, and up towards me.
I video taped the little guy, and it was a male as he had thick fuzzy antennae, however, when I went to photograph him with my camera he up and flew off. Sometimes, that's the way things happen. I decided to move on.
When I reached nest 2, I noticed a Rochester photographer parked, and getting out to look at the nest. "Is she up there?" I asked Don Anderson.
"Lisa Loucks?"
"Lisa Loucks Christenson. Good to meet you Don." That's how we met. I told him she'd been on the nest for 29 days today and I'm expecting an eaglet this week, maybe even for Easter. We talked about his owl nest, the eagles, and photo opportunities in this valley. Then we parted.
I saw The Mayor flying above Judy, but neither eagle is exhibiting what I would call, "Giddiness". I hung out for awhile and moved on to nest 6. I saw Linda or Dick up on the nest, this was day 14 incubation for them. Then there was a lot of splashing going on so I moved up closer to the pond where I found several male hooded merganser ducks courting a female hooded merganser.
As this was going on I watched four of five sandhill cranes lift and fly north, while two remained on the back marsh. I grabbed a couple of them and went back to video taping these male ducks throwing their heads back making low pitched 'bob-bob-bob-bob" vocalization.
Then in a blink they all lifted and headed north.
Nest 5 was on their nest incubating their 24 day old egg(s), and nest 3 was up on their nest. I stopped to shoot some aquatic
life on the melting ponds, but all I found were some red water spiders. Little red pencil dots crawling all over the undersides of
the pebbles.
I moved on to see if I could find the cottontail, but no sign of her at all. I stared at a wing and tail pattern left in the snow, with small foot prints walking away trying to figure out what kind of bird made those tracks, maybe a hawk, it wasn't an eagle, too big for a crow and as I was studying this I heard someone ask if I owned a photography studio in Rochester.
I turned to find, Brad, a Winona County Sheriff Diver. We both came to the conclusion that it must have been two years since we last saw each other. We caught up on old times for a bit then he had to leave pick up his wife and dog up the road who were taking a nature walk,so I got to see her again too. She has such a friendly smile. Both of them so kind to me.
I told Brad that I added him into my Year End story, The 14 Pt. Buck, after meeting a couple years ago. I'll have to find a copy of that and send it to him. Great guy though, he was the one who encouraged me to keep on my 590 day project, even when some not so nice things were going on. He assured me sometimes it takes awhile to catch people, but they usually get caught.
I'm glad I listened.
I headed back to Rochester and we went to dinner with my mom, and then I did something I haven't done with her in about thirty five years, we all dyed Easter eggs. She even found old egg holders, those octagon-shaped holders all twist tied together
in the back of a kitchen drawer.
Then we played a board game, mom, Em, and me, and I won and my prize was a new memory of the night before Easter, in my childhood home, where my daughter stood and sat in my old place at our old kitchen table.
Dave ran to the store to get a Shel Silversteen book for Em, the only one she doesn't have, and he came back and said, "They didn't have the book, so I bought a couple more things we needed and when I got to the checkout lane there was a white book on top of display case, "Runny Babbit," that's weird, huh? What's the chances of that?
Happy Easter. He is Risen.
Looking forward to Easter, day 75.
See you on the journey--
Lisa
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