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Hello Eagle Friends,
Today, like every day, was a gift from above. The end of March snow storm was down graded from 8 inches to a 1-3 inch prediction, however; even that storm missed us. It was 35 degrees when we arrived in the valley and the sun barely
penetrated the thick cloud cover.
Today Meghan Sparks, a KTTC reporter accompanied me. She didn't think she had ever seen an eagle, at least not up close. She mentioned she was from the Twin Cities before moving to Rochester. I said an extra prayer that she would get that opportunity today.
We hiked out to nest 1, and Dancer was up on the nest. We weren't there long before the afternoon nest exchange took place.
Dancer flew off the nest and circled landing in a nearby tree. Then Daedee came in. Daedee flew to tree trying to entice Dancer to mate her. I told Meghan to keep her camera on the female eagle, the male will follow her.
He did, following her to two different trees, she would rub up against him, they would call out, he would lift his leg as if he was going to climb on her but then she flew off and took over her nest shift.
My prayer was answered, Meghan saw her eagles and was able to get some wonderful footage of eagle behavior, and the eagles, well, I think Meghan said it best, "I think they want to be television stars."
I added, "They were acting almost as if trained to come in and pose for you." The pair of eagles I love so dearly will soon be a part of your broadcast world, too in the greater Rochester, Minnesota area that is.
Meghan had a story back in Rochester, so we said parted, and I moved on to finish my project. I enjoyed working with her today, she is full of energy and has a zest for life. Mostly though, I enjoyed watching her get to see and experience the eagles up close.
I moved on to nest 2. Judy was sitting contently, and while I had my lens on her she got up. I watched every detail of her rise, and then her turn, I was hoping to hear an eaglet as she stood, or see her dip her beak down into the nest feeding an eaglet, but she simply repositioned herself and laid back down. Maybe tomorrow.
Nest 6 was on her nest watching all the ducks and goose courtships below. From 100 wood ducks, to blue bills, and hooded mergansers the ponds and flooded field was full of migrating waterfowl.
The goose that was on the nest box yesterday, was not there today. Nesting hasn't begun, it just appeared that way.
I moved on to a back pool and spent a good hour back there. I found a pile of bluebird feathers, who was obviously a snack for some raptor. I found a dying blue gill who swam in just inches of water and I felt so bad for him. His back and fins were white, colorless, and his eyes clouded over with a blue haze.
I watched two small brook trout dart in and out under a log in the bottom of the stream-fed pond, and then I saw the chipmunk. He was foraging through every leaf on the ground. I took a couple dozen pictures but the one I liked best was the one I included in today's blog. I think this shot is the one that captured his personality best.
As I moved on to nest 5 I found four sandhill cranes calling out. I spent an hour just watching them call out every time a gull flew overhead they threw their heads back and called up. Then two immature eagles dashed past and that sent them into a calling spree.
Nest 5 was on their nest for day 29 incubation. I know that this day, next week we'll have at least two new eaglets in the valley. I hope.
I photographed nest 3 and nest 4 and that's when I saw two large sandhill cranes flying in just above me. The lighting was dull, flat, with a fleeting splash of sun peeking through the clouds. The cranes dropped their legs, turned and literally floated down landing into the tall grasses with so much grace that they appeared to be moving in slow motion.
I thought that would be my last shots of the day. However, a wayward opossum proved me wrong. I shot video of him, and grabbed for two shots as he disappeared under a log. All I had was two shots of an opossum tail straight up in the air, which was hard to tell apart from the grasses and dried marsh foilage.
The seagulls, at least two dozen were flying above and landing below the sandhill cranes causing them to vocalize their opinion of their sudden appearance.
I found a goose banded with an aluminum band on his left leg, number 988. I wonder where this one is from.
On my drive out I discovered a seventh nest, and I could only shoot a few images because I'd used both of my flash cards to their capacity today. I was going home with over 4 gigabytes of new images. 98% of those to be discarded, 1% to be further considered, a 1/2 % selected for use in my blog and book, with the remaining half to be selected for the book. Give or take a few images.
I'm looking forward to day 80.
See you on the journey--
Lisa
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